'Wait, Andrea,' Oliver called out in a voice that reflected his anguish and desperation, making me stop dead in my tracks in the hallway. 'Don't leave me, please, don't leave me in this state.'

I came to an abrupt halt, and Oliver stopped a few steps away from me, his gaze fixed on mine, making me feel uncomfortable. His eyes, which had shone with confidence when he arrived, were now clouded with the anguish of having been found out.

'How d'you expect me not to leave?' I asked, my voice cracking and a lump in my throat preventing me from speaking normally. 'Is there any way to justify what you've done? You've lied to me, Oliver; you've betrayed me in the worst possible way.'

My words, laden with bitterness and pain, reflected the storm raging within me. I had been the one who, on more than one occasion, had cried and begged him to stay, not to leave me alone. But this time, the feeling of having been betrayed and the urge to flee were too strong.

'Don't go,' Oliver pleaded, cautiously approaching me. He seemed to fear that if he took a wrong step, I would leave for good.

I moved away from him, dodging his hand, as if touching me could make me crumble completely.

'You should've thought about that before you destroyed twenty years of relationship,' I said, my voice breaking with bitterness and rage. 'Twenty years, Oliver! Two decades of my life, my love, my trust in you... all reduced to ashes.'

A wave of memories flooded my mind. Moments of joy that now seemed tainted by bitterness, as if his betrayal poisoned every memory, emotion, and feeling. My heart was painfully dividing itself between the love I still had for him and the betrayal that was tearing me apart from the inside.

The initial disappointment turned into a rage that coursed through my body like an uncontrolled fire. I didn't want to keep arguing or keep listening to his excuses and lies, so I left him standing in the hallway, begging. I headed for the bedroom, determined to finish packing my suitcase and leave. I needed to leave behind the lie that our relationship had been. I didn't look back because I couldn't allow myself to doubt, I couldn't let myself feel the slightest shred of compassion for him.

Oliver had been my first and only love, the pillar of my life since I was fifteen. We had built a life together that was now crumbling like a house of cards in the middle of a storm, exposing a very painful reality.

'Darling, we all make mistakes,' he said in a voice that tried to sound convincing but only managed to sound hollow. 'I didn't realise, she seduced me, she made me fall into her trap...'

I turned towards him, consumed by a fury and pain from within. I didn't want to hear his excuses or apologies, nor did I want him to try to blame the other person. He was the only one to blame for having destroyed our relationship.

'Six months, Oliver! Six bloody months!' I shouted, letting the rage and fury come pouring out. 'You've been deceiving me for half a year!' My voice resonated through the room, making the walls and my body tremble, as if I were about to explode at any moment. 'How could you not have realised the first time you slept with her?' I took a breath, trying to calm down, but to no avail.

I knew Oliver well enough to know that inside, he was torn between guilt and pride. But it was too late, the damage was done. The decision had already been made, and nothing could make me change my mind.

'Andy, don't exaggerate,' he pleaded in a condescending tone that made my blood boil. 'We've been together half our lives, it's normal to have disagreements. You're the love of my life, it was just a slip-up,' he said, as if he believed he could justify his betrayal and make it seem like a minor mistake without consequences.

His words felt like a mortal blow to my heart, shattering my self-esteem and the image I had of him, as if he had taken off his mask and finally revealed his true face to me.

'Exaggerated?' I scoffed, feeling a new wave of annoyance and rage. 'I've been an idiot for believing your lies. Now I understand why you needed to convince me that I was the only person in your life. You were just trying to manipulate me, control me, and make me feel guilty for not believing you.'

I angrily threw my clothes into the suitcase, as if each garment were a symbol of the lie and betrayal I had suffered. When I finished, I forcefully closed the suitcase, pressing it with all my might to make sure it was properly closed.

'Come on, my love, I love you,' he said, but his voice sounded hollow and artificial, as if he were reading a script he didn't truly feel. 'You're confused, but tomorrow you'll see things clearly,' he said in a tone that managed to sound false and manipulative.

'I don't care whether it was real or not, Oliver,' I stated, looking him in the eye with determination and firmness. 'It's over. I'm not going to be the idiot who stays crying and begging for something to change.'

'Andy, please, let me fix this, I'll do better, I promise,' Oliver pleaded in anguish and desperation. 'It won't happen again, I promise, I'll do everything possible to show you that I'm capable of changing and being the man you deserve. I realise I've failed you, but I'm asking you to give me another chance.'

I wanted to believe him, but Oliver didn't understand the magnitude of the damage; he didn't understand that his infidelity had destroyed everything. My eyes rested on the engagement ring I wore on my finger, a symbol of a love that now meant nothing. With a firm gesture, I took it off and handed it to him, cutting the last ties that bound us together. He rejected the ring with a brusque gesture, and his expression changed from pleading and incomprehension to anger and resentment as he realised that my decision was final.

'Let's not make this more difficult,' I whispered, my voice trembling and my heart shattered. 'There's no going back, Oliver. What you did is irreversible. There's nothing you can do to fix things.'

I left the ring on the bedside table and headed for the door, feeling the adrenaline coursing through my veins like a river of fire, giving me the strength to escape the situation. Oliver's rage was a dark force I felt behind me, a looming shadow that grew larger and larger, like an approaching storm. It was time to leave.

'I'm the one making things difficult?' he shouted resentfully, his face filling with anger and his voice rising to an aggressive tone. 'I'm the one acting irrationally over a simple mistake, right, Andrea? I've given you everything for twenty years, and this is how you thank me. You're a bloody ingrate,' he spat the words with hatred and resentment.

His words felt like a slap in the face, a blow that made me feel the reality of his selfishness and lack of empathy. The caring and understanding Oliver I once loved was fading away, revealing a selfish and resentful man who only thought of himself, unconcerned about the harm he caused others. I stopped at the door, feeling a stab of pain in my chest, as if my heart were being crushed by the reality of his true nature. What hurt me the most was his lack of remorse and his attempt to blame me, as if I were the guilty one and he were the innocent victim. I felt as if I were seeing Oliver for the first time, as if the mask of love and care he had always shown me had fallen off, revealing the truth behind his eyes.

I took the keys out of my pocket and left them on the wooden cabinet near the entrance, as a symbolic act of farewell. My life with Oliver had ended, and it was time to start over, to find my own identity and my own path, without the shadow of his selfishness and lack of empathy.

'Andrea, you'll regret this,' he shouted with rage and a look full of hatred and resentment. 'No one will love you like I did. When you want to come back, it'll be me who slams the door in your face!' he said, as if he were issuing an ultimatum, an attempt to make me feel alone and without a way out, abandoned and helpless.

His words kept on being painful, but I didn't stop. I knew it was a tactic to manipulate me, to make me doubt my own ability to make decisions, to make me feel insecure and vulnerable. It was a strategy he'd used many times before, but this time it wasn't gonna work. I'd caught on to his tricks and wasn't gonna fall into the trap.

'I hope so,' I said firmly, without looking back as I walked away, feeling a sense of liberation and relief at leaving behind the toxic and emotionally draining relationship. I felt like I was escaping from a prison, like I'd regained my freedom.

I left the house with a lump in my throat, feeling the air grow thick and heavy in my lungs, as if I was about to suffocate. I prayed for the lift to arrive soon, to escape the situation and leave behind the weight of his accusations. I wasn't prepared to face his accusations in front of all the neighbours, who seemed to judge me with their silent gazes.

Luckily, just in time, the lift doors opened, giving me the chance to escape from his life and the toxicity that surrounded it.

But...what if he was right? What if my inability to forgive infidelity meant I was doomed to be alone? What if it was too late to start anew? The idea scared me, but I couldn't fall back into the trap of codependency and low self-esteem. My life had revolved around Oliver, I'd become his complement, sacrificing my own dreams and aspirations in the process, and I'd lost my identity along the way.

I descended in the lift, surrounded by a sepulchral silence that seemed to weigh on me like a tombstone. His words, full of resentment and hatred, echoed in my mind, warning me of how disappointed our friends would be when they discovered what a disloyal and evil person I was, according to his distorted version of reality. I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to contain a sob that threatened to escape, as I struggled to maintain my composure in the midst of the emotional storm that was battering me.

I left the building where I'd lived for the past few years, with the feeling of leaving behind a part of myself, a part that had been conditioned by the toxic relationship I'd maintained with Oliver. With uncertain steps, I dragged my suitcase through the streets of Madrid, feeling the cold night air that seeped into my bones like a reminder of the loneliness that awaited me, but also as a symbol of the freedom I'd conquered. But it was nothing compared to the cold I felt inside, an emotional void that seemed to have taken up residence, a void created by the lack of self-love and loss of identity. In that cold, I found a clarity that allowed me to see things with precision, a clarity that made me realise I'd been living a life that wasn't mine. I'd been wanting to escape my golden cage for years, always finding excuses not to do so out of fear of the unknown, but that morning, upon discovering his betrayal, I knew it was now or never. Anger and determination drove me to move forward, to leave the past behind and start from scratch, without looking back, without lamenting what I'd lost, but focusing on what I would gain.

One last tear rolled down my cheek as I bid farewell to the golden cage that had once seemed like a refuge, a place where I felt safe and protected. But now, as I looked back, I saw that it had been a prison that, despite its comfort and luxury, had suffocated me with its loneliness and routine, had taken away my identity and autonomy. It was time to leave behind security and monotony, and embark on the adventure of starting anew, of rebuilding myself, of finding my own path and my own voice.

Finally, a stifled sob escaped my lips as I saw my reflection in a dimly lit shop window, a reflection that showed me an image that had been hidden for so long. In it, I saw a woman with untamed curls and caramel-coloured eyes that reflected a deep sadness, a woman who seemed to have lost everything in life, a woman who had been moulded by the expectations and needs of others, and who had forgotten who she really was.

'To hell with Oliver, love, and all men!' I shouted with fury, releasing a part of me that had been repressed for too long, a part that had been waiting to break free from the chains of dependence and submission, to leave behind the need for approval and validation from others. 'I don't need him, I don't need anyone. I'll find my own way, and I won't need anyone to do it.'

In that moment, I knew I was ready to face life on my own, without attachments or burdens, without the weight of guilt and doubt that had accompanied me for so long. I would start from scratch, leaving behind the past and all that had hurt me, like a blank page ready to be written, ready for me to fill it with my own stories, my own decisions, and my own victories.

I made a promise to myself: never again would I allow someone to control me, and never again would I let myself be subjugated.