When I Stopped Loving You

"I'll go to F Country for the new medical research project."

Alice Baker's voice was steady, calm and resolute.

On the other end of the line, the man's tone sharpened with excitement. "You mean it?"

"Yes."

Then his voice shifted, quieter this time. "But what about your husband? Your daughter? You've always said you couldn't leave them. Three years, Alice. That's a long time. What happens to them while you're gone?"

Alice did not answer right away. Her gaze drifted across the room to the couple on the sofa, surrounded by a small crowd of admirers.

Brandon Robinson stood there in a custom-tailored suit that fit him like a second skin. Sharp jawline. Deep-set eyes. A nose chiseled like marble. He looked like something displayed in a museum—untouchable, cold, and immaculate.

Except tonight, he wasn't cold at all.

"Stella, this is for you. Your birthday gift. Let me put it on you."

The woman beside him was dressed to perfection, her pale cheeks flushed pink as she dipped her head with a shy smile.

They looked at each other as though no one else existed.

Even Alice's daughter, Ella Robinson, was curled up in Stella Hall's lap, proudly showing off the necklace she had made with her tiny hands.

"Daddy and I made this together! We polished every single bead ourselves. It's completely handmade. One of a kind in the whole world. Isn't it pretty?"

She tilted her face up, eyes bright with hope.

Stella tapped her nose gently. "It's beautiful. The best gift I've ever gotten."

Something twisted inside Alice’s chest.

She had seen this before. Too many times. Yet it never stopped hurting. Every time, it felt like a hook dragging through her ribs, tearing something loose.

She had not seen her husband or her daughter in a month. She had thought maybe they would be happy to see her. Maybe they would ask how she was.

They had not even looked at her.

She was the one who belonged there. She was the wife. The mother. The family.

So why did all their warmth, all their attention, always drift to Stella?

It had been this way for so long. And it still hadn’t stopped.

Alice turned away, her voice flat. "What happens to them doesn't matter anymore."

If all they wanted was Stella, then fine. They could have her.

As for this family—she was done begging to belong.

"Come on, don't just stand there!"

Ella waved at her from across the room.

Alice ended the call. She swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat and forced her exhausted body to move forward.

"Happy birthday, Stella."

Stella's smile was sweet as sugar. "Thank you, Alice. That means so much to me."

Brandon glanced up. His eyes skimmed over her, then moved away. "You're back. Sit down."

He said it as if she were a stranger who had wandered in off the street.

A minute ago, he had been looking at Stella as though she hung the moon.

Alice's throat tightened.

Ella was not done with her yet.

"Mommy, it's Aunt Stella's birthday. Why can't you just be happy for once?"

She hugged Stella tighter, pouting. "You're making everyone uncomfortable. You're so bad at this, Mommy. You ruin everything."

"Ella..."

Stella's voice was soft, chiding. "Don't talk to Alice like that."

But Ella had been spoiled her whole life. The scolding only made her bolder.

"Why not? Aunt Stella, she's always so mean to you, and you still defend her."

"Don't worry. It's your birthday. Daddy and I will take care of you."

"We like you way more than her. I wish you were my mommy instead!"

She was four years old. Yet every word from her small mouth landed like a knife.

Alice lifted her gaze to Brandon, her eyes were burning.

"Ella. That's enough."

His voice was flat, detached. Then he said nothing else.

That silence was worse than anything he could have said.

Alice let out a bitter laugh. A dull ache spread through her chest.

What had she been expecting?

Brandon loved Stella. She had known that for years.

Around her, the party went on. Laughter. Clinking glasses. Alice lifted her wine and drank, letting the alcohol drown the taste of bile in her mouth.

She had just come back from a surgery that had stretched beyond ten hours—a high-risk heart transplant. A child's life saved.

The moment it was over, she had booked the first flight home.

Because she could not wait to see them.

Her daughter.

Her husband.

How stupid she had been, thinking they had missed her at all.

Thinking this party had something to do with her. That it was meant to welcome her home.

But it wasn't.

Did it hurt?

Of course it did.

But in this house, her pain had never mattered to anyone but her..

Her husband ignored her. Her daughter resented her. Five years of marriage, and this was all she had to show for it.

Alice's eyes stung as she watched them gather around Stella, singing happy birthday.

Ella's face was lit up with joy, giggling as Stella tickled her.

Brandon filmed them on his phone, his expression softened in a way Alice had never once seen directed at her.

They looked like a family.

Alice's lips quivered. She slipped out of the room unnoticed.

The house was dark by the time she got home.

Empty.

Silent.

She walked into the bedroom and sat at the desk. Then she pulled out the divorce papers she had had drafted months ago.

Her hand never trembled as she signed her name.

Then she scheduled the email to send it automatically. One week from now.

The same day she would board a flight to F Country.

The same day Brandon would receive the papers.

A final gift from the wife he had long stopped seeing.

Alice exhaled slowly. The exhaustion still clung to her bones, heavy and unrelenting, but beneath it, something else stirred.

Relief.

She had married Brandon because she thought he was the one she had been searching for. After seven long years of yearning, she had believed she had finally found the man meant for her.

Now she knew better. Love wasn't enough. It never had been. A marriage could not survive on one heart alone.

And this one had been dead long before she found the courage to bury it.

She had spent five years playing Mrs. Robinson. Four years being a mommy.

Now, at last—she could be Alice Baker again.