If There Is A Next Life - Chapter 2

Victoria and William had loved each other for five years. Everyone who saw them admired their relationship.

It was a love that had never been shaken by an argument lasting more than a few days. William had never demanded that Victoria do anything she did not want to do. Looking back, in all the years they had been together, she had never once cried because of him.

Everything between them had been so calm, so peaceful, that neither of them had ever stopped to wonder what they truly wanted from each other—or what the other person needed to be.

— “There’s something you want to tell me, isn’t there?”

— “Mm. I want you to stay calm when you hear what I’m about to say…”

— “What is it? I’m listening.”

— “I want us to end this.”

And there it was, exactly as Victoria had expected.

He had asked to break up.

She didn’t know why. But ever since he had called and unexpectedly asked to meet her, she had had a feeling this was what he wanted to say.

It was strange.

They had been happy together. So why had she sensed this coming?

Could it be that somewhere deep inside her heart, there had already been a tiny crack in this love—a crack that had quietly taken away her faith in it?

— “You’re in love with someone else, aren’t you?”

— “It’s true. I’ve fallen in love with someone else. But… she doesn’t love me.”

— “I really don’t understand. If she doesn’t love you, then why are you leaving me?”

William fell silent for a moment. Then he reached across the table and took Victoria’s hand.

— “I’m not leaving you. Please don’t think of it that way. It’s simply that we don’t belong to each other, and when two people realize that, they should let go. Neither of us is the one who betrayed the other, and neither of us is the one who was abandoned. I hope you can understand.”

— “But why? We were happy together.”

— “We were peaceful together, not happy. There’s never been even the slightest ripple in our love. It’s calm, uneventful. It never brought us any overwhelming emotions, even though neither of us ever grew tired of it. It was simply a habit. We became accustomed to having someone beside us, and we called that person our lover.”

He paused, his voice quiet.

— “Have you ever been hurt because of me? Have you ever felt so happy being with me that you thought you were on top of the world? Have you ever been jealous…?”

Victoria stared blankly ahead before slowly pulling her hand from William’s.

Perhaps he was right.

She had never experienced any of those feelings.

She had thought that being together peacefully was happiness. She had thought that this quiet, uncomplicated companionship was what love was supposed to be.

— “But she doesn’t love you. So why do we have to end things when you and I are both still lonely?”

— “But I’m afraid. What if someone else hurts me when I fall in love with them?”

— “It’s true. We might get hurt when we love someone, because not every love story ends like a beautiful dream. But what matters is that it is real love. What we have between us… isn’t love.”

He paused, his voice softening.

— “Take me, for example. Right now, as I let go of your hand, I’m going through something incredibly painful because I love someone who doesn’t love me back. And yet, I feel strangely at peace, because at least now I know what it truly feels like to love someone.”

Victoria stood up. She turned her back on him without saying another word.

What could she possibly say?

He had given her a hundred reasons, trying to convince her that there had never been any love between them at all.

Victoria went home.

That was all she could do now—go home and learn how to live without him.

She felt wounded by the bluntness of his rejection, but strangely, it did not hurt as much as she had imagined it would.

Perhaps he was right.

Perhaps there had never really been love between them after all.

Victoria walked away.

Behind her, she heard him call out.

— “Victoria, if we ever meet again in another life, please don’t fall in love with me. Love someone who can make you feel something real, whether it brings you pain or happiness, but let it come from love—real love.”

His voice trembled.

— “I’m sorry for taking away so many years of your youth for something that only resembled love.”