The Next Morning, I Didn’t Confront Him
He asked to borrow my car to meet his friend at the gym.
I tossed him the keys.
“Sure,” I said. “Have a good workout.”
The second the door closed, I moved like someone doing inventory after a break-in.
His iPad was on the nightstand.
Passcode?
1234.
Of course.
Messages synced instantly.
If the group chat was ugly, his private messages were worse.
He had a timeline.
A plan.
A script.
“Waiting until after the holidays. She’s gonna buy me expensive stuff for Christmas.”
His friend replied like this was a smart business strategy.
He answered like he was proud.
“Gotta milk the cow before I send her to the slaughterhouse.”
That’s when it stopped being “immature.”
It stopped being “guy talk.”
It became something colder: entitlement with a smile.
Then I Found the Recordings
Voice memos. Dozens.
Me on the phone with my mom, sharing hope like it was safe.
Me humming while folding laundry.
Me sleeping.
Just my breathing.
That’s not teasing.
That’s violating someone’s life and calling it content.
I saved everything.
Not dramatically.
Not impulsively.
Methodically.
I backed it up in more than one place.
I labeled it like it was paperwork.
Because at that point, it was.
When he came home, he tried the same routine.
Same grin.
Same “I’m broke” joke while eating food I paid for.
I played along.
And I started planning what he didn’t think I was smart enough to plan.
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