Never

 (Side note: can omit the word "never" but this was all happening before I found that out)

He never cheated.

But every concern she

raised turned into a

CONFLICT she had to survive.

He never cheated.

But he let her go to sleep hurting,

night after night, without ever

trying to reach her.

He never cheated.

But she had to practically BEG

to feel seen, to feel heard,

to feel like she mattered

enough to talk to.

He never cheated.

But she was LONELY inside the

relationship in ways that left

marks just as deep.

Cheating is not the only way

to DAMAGE someone who

loves you. Sometimes 

the slow erosion of neglect

does far more harm.