Facing the Past
347 Words
Though Nina was making strides toward healing, there were still moments when the past would come crashing in, uninvited. The trauma of her years with Mark wasn’t something she could just erase. She had spent so long believing that her emotions and needs didn’t matter, that it would take time for her to re-learn how to trust her feelings again.
One day, while at work at the gallery, Nina received a letter. It was from Mark.
The letter was long, filled with apologies and pleas for reconciliation. He wrote about how much he missed her, how he regretted everything, how he wanted to make things right. Nina read the letter in silence, her heart heavy. She could hear his voice in her mind as she read, that same smooth, convincing tone that had once made her believe in his promises.
For a moment, she was tempted to respond, to reach out, to hope that maybe—just maybe—things could go back to how they were. But then she remembered the woman she had become—the woman who had fought to reclaim her life, who had rediscovered her worth, who had learned that love shouldn’t feel like a prison.
She put the letter down, taking a deep breath. She didn’t need his approval to be whole. She didn’t need his apology to move forward. With a sense of finality, she threw the letter away, knowing that this was a decision she had to make for herself.
Mark would never change, and Nina had to accept that. She had spent too many years waiting for him to become the man she had once hoped he could be. It was time to let go for good.
In the weeks that followed, Nina focused even more on herself. She took long walks through the city, enjoyed afternoons with Maya, and began painting more frequently. There were still days when she felt the weight of her past, when memories of Mark would resurface, but Nina had learned to face them head-on, acknowledging the pain without letting it control her.
- Writer
