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"You Were Just My Backup Plan in Case He Flaked," She Said Without Shame

"You Were Just My Backup Plan in Case He Flaked," She Said Without Shame

Chapter 5

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"You already did."I grabbed my bag and keys. Walked toward the door."You're just going to walk out?" she yelled after me.I stopped and turned to look at her. "You walked out first. I'm just catching up."Then I left. Didn't slam the door. Didn't say another word. And I never looked back.After I walked out of that apartment, I didn't go back. Not for a conversation, not for closure, not even for the stuff I left behind: a few shirts, a set of headphones, some old books. She could keep it all. I didn't want a single thing that reminded me of her.I blocked her number, deleted our chats, muted her on every platform. I didn't make some grand announcement. I didn't post some dramatic caption about moving on. I just went dark. I vanished from her life as if I'd never been in it.And that's when it hit her.The first email came three days later:Subject: Can we please talk?Body: I know you're hurt. I made mistakes. I panicked, but I never stopped caring about you. Can we please just talk face-to-face?I didn't respond.A few days later, I got another one. Longer this time. Rambling, emotional. She said she missed me, that she didn't realize how much I meant to her until I was gone, that she was confused when she said those things, that she didn't mean it like it sounded.Of course she didn't. It only sounded bad once she realized I wasn't going to beg for her back.But the truth was, I didn't miss her. Not anymore. What I missed was the version of her I thought existed, the person I believed she was. That person died the moment I heard her say I was just a backup plan.The silence that followed became my therapy. At first, it was hard. I'd have moments in the middle of the night where I'd wonder if maybe I overreacted, if maybe I should have fought harder. But those thoughts didn't last long, because every time I started to waver, I'd remember her exact words: I only stuck with him because Ryan kept ghosting me.It wasn't a mistake; it was a decision. A cold, calculated choice to string me along while she waited for someone she liked more.So, I did what she never expected: I built a life without her in it.
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"You Were Just My Backup Plan in Case He Flaked," She Said Without Shame

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