The Anniversary I Spent Alone
Chapter 17 - The Anniversary I Spent Alone
The fifteenth anniversary of Anna's wedding arrived quietly.
For fourteen years, the date belonged to David.
Now it belonged to no one.
Anna considered ignoring it.
Instead, she booked a room near Charleston Harbor.
Alone.
She ordered dinner.
Walked by the water.
Called Rachel.
Visited The Evelyn.
At sunset, she opened the photograph album from her marriage.
She expected anger.
Instead, she found memories she still loved.
A camping trip.
Christmas mornings.
David asleep on the sofa.
Anna realized something important.
She didn't need to declare every happy memory fake just because the marriage ended badly.
She had been happy sometimes.
She had loved honestly.
That mattered.
David's betrayal changed the future.
It didn't get to rewrite every moment of the past.
Anna closed the album.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
Happy anniversary.
Her heart stopped.
Then a second message arrived.
SORRY. WRONG ANNA.
She burst out laughing.
Alone in the hotel room, Anna laughed until she cried.
For years, anniversaries had meant proving a marriage survived.
Now survival meant something different.
May you like
She had survived losing it.
And she was still here.
