At her family barbecue, Nicole laughed in front of…

“You’ve been disrespecting me for years. Tonight was just the first time you finally did it with an audience.”

She shook her head. “You’re blowing this out of proportion.

We can fix it.”

“No,” I said firmly. “We can’t fix something you keep breaking.”

She looked around the room, desperate, searching for some familiar ground. “I don’t understand where all this is coming from.

I thought we were fine.”

I almost laughed. “That’s the problem. You thought fine was enough.

You thought I’d keep showing up, keep paying the bills, keep forgiving you while you gave nothing back.”

She clenched her fists. “You always have to make yourself the victim.”

“Victim?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not a victim.

I’m just done pretending that love means endurance.”