When Emma first told me she needed space, her words landed softly, almost delicately, yet inside me something constricted instantly. At first, I told myself I understood — I assumed she simply needed a pause, a brief interval to gather her thoughts, to breathe, to reset emotionally. I convinced myself that this was temporary, a normal fluctuation in a long-term relationship. I thought, maybe naively, that it was just a moment, not a precursor to anything more permanent. I was wrong. The weeks before that conversation had already carried subtle signs, like whispers of change that I chose to ignore....
Continues…