Cause of death:
a thousand little truths
discovered all at once.

Early morning,
my chest was light,
a spring in my step,
the world stretched before me
with promises yet to be kept.

In my mind,
I knew my path,
the life we would build,
the love that would last,
a future I thought
was already written.

I did not know
that by nightfall,
the woman I was
would become a stranger
whose face I still wore.

The evidence appeared,
merciless and clear,
each revelation a wound,
each lie another year
of memories I could no longer trust.

My world shattered
beneath the weight of the truth.
I searched through our history,
desperate for proof
that something between us
had been real.

Late evening,
a twister tore through my chest.
My lungs seized,
my nose bled,
and I could hardly catch my breath
as the life I imagined
lay dying in my head.

An inferno raged
where certainty once lived.
Anger tangled with grief,
and somehow,
despite everything he’d taken,
I still had more to give.

I stayed.

Through the apologies,
the promises,
the nights spent wondering
what else I didn’t know.

I stayed
until the man who broke my trust
became the one
who chose to go.

And somewhere
between the first betrayal
and the final goodbye,
I lost the woman
who once believed
that love could never lie.

Now, in hindsight,
I examine the remains,
the wounds I overlooked,
the scars beneath my skin,
the ways I abandoned myself
trying to be enough for him.

I wish I had held her,
that girl who trusted so freely,
instead of blaming her
for the things she couldn’t see.

I wish I had been her friend,
had taken her trembling hand,
and taught her that loving someone
doesn’t mean accepting
everything they demand.

But the final examination
reveals something I couldn’t see:

The woman I was
did not die
because she loved too deeply.

She died believing
that another person’s betrayal
was a reflection of her worth.

And from the wreckage
of everything I once knew,
I am learning
that I can love again
without surrendering
the love I owe myself.

Final findings:
Innocence lost.
Trust fractured.
Identity altered.

Cause of survival:
The woman I became
finally chose herself.