Briella Monroe
Ten years. Ten years of loving Mason Brooks, and somehow I was still standing in the same house wondering when the man I fell in love with disappeared.
The sound of the shower running upstairs echoed faintly through the house. Kai and Karsyn were down the hallway watching cartoons, their quiet giggles drifting through the living room.
For a moment, everything felt normal. Too normal.
I walked into the kitchen and started cleaning up the last of the dishes from dinner when I noticed something sitting on the counter.
Mason's phone.
That alone wasn't strange. What was strange was the screen lighting up.
A message notification appeared across the lock screen.
My stomach tightened immediately.
I shouldn't look.
That thought crossed my mind instantly, but something inside me already knew.
Slowly, I picked up the phone.
The screen lit up again.
And there it was.
The name I hadn't seen in almost two years.
The same woman Mason swore meant nothing. The same woman he promised he had cut out of his life after I found out he had been sleeping with her while I was pregnant with Karsyn.
My fingers felt numb as another message appeared.
Kayla: Last night was worth the wait.
The words blurred in front of me. For a moment I just stood there staring at the screen while the sound of the shower continued upstairs like nothing in the world had changed.
But everything had.
Two years ago, I stood in our bathroom holding Mason's phone with one hand and my stomach with the other. Seven months pregnant. Crying while he promised me it would never happen again.
I believed him.
God help me, I believed him.
But standing in the kitchen now, the truth finally settled into my chest.
Nothing had changed.
He never stopped.
Footsteps creaked on the stairs. The shower had turned off.
I slowly placed the phone back on the counter exactly where I found it. My hands were shaking, but my mind felt strangely calm.
Ten years. Ten years of loving him.
And somehow tonight was the first time I finally understood something.
Mason Brooks wasn't going to change.
And for the first time in a long time…
I was finally ready to stop waiting for him to.
The bathroom door upstairs opened and the sound of footsteps moved across the hallway.
My heart started pounding, but my hands were steady as I leaned against the kitchen counter.
For the first time in a long time, I wasn't trying to figure out how to fix this.
I was just… done.
Mason walked into the kitchen a few seconds later, his hair still damp from the shower and a towel slung over his shoulder.
"Hey," he said casually, opening the fridge. "Did the kids go to bed yet?"
I didn't answer.
He glanced over at me, confused.
"Bri?"
I slid his phone across the counter toward him.
He looked down at it, then back at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Your phone," I said calmly. "You left it on the counter."
Mason shrugged. "Okay?"
"Another message came through."
His body stiffened slightly. I watched his eyes flick down to the phone again.
"From her."
The words hung in the air between us.
For a moment Mason didn't move. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Briella…"
"No," I said quietly. "Don't start with that."
He leaned back against the counter, clearly irritated. "It's not what you think."
A short laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it.
"You know what's funny?" I said. "You said that same exact sentence two years ago."
His jaw tightened. "That was different."
"Was it?" I crossed my arms. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks exactly the same."
Mason grabbed the phone and unlocked it quickly. "It's just messages."
I stared at him.
"'Last night was worth the wait,' Mason."
The color drained slightly from his face.
"You really gonna stand there and tell me that means nothing?"
He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "It didn't mean anything."
The words hit harder than if he'd just admitted it.
Ten years together. Two kids.
And the best explanation he had was that it didn't mean anything.
"Wow," I whispered.
Mason stepped closer. "Bri, listen—"
"No," I said again, shaking my head.
"You told me you ended it."
"I did."
"You told me she was a mistake."
"She was."
"You told me it would never happen again."
"It didn't mean—"
"Stop."
The word came out sharper than I expected.
Silence filled the kitchen.
For a moment we just stared at each other. I could see it in his face—the guilt. But also something worse.
He wasn't even surprised that I knew.
Like part of him expected this moment eventually.
My chest tightened.
"Ten years, Mason." My voice cracked slightly. "Ten years and this is where we are."
He looked frustrated now.
"I didn't tell you to go through my phone," Mason said, his voice sharp.
I stared at him in disbelief.
"I didn't tell you to cheat either."
"It's not like that and you know it," he said. "You're twisting things again."
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
"I'm not twisting things," I said quietly. "I'm just not ignoring them anymore."
He dragged a hand down his face, clearly frustrated now.
"You act like I'm the worst person in the world."
"I never said that."
"But you think it."
"No," I said, my voice steady now. "I just think I deserve better than this."
Silence filled the kitchen. For the first time since the conversation started, Mason looked unsure.
Like maybe he finally understood what I was saying.
But it was too late.
"I stayed when you cheated while I was pregnant," I said.
Mason looked down at the floor.
"I stayed because I believed you when you said our family mattered more than anything."
My voice steadied.
"But I'm not doing this again."
His head snapped up.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm done, Mason."
The words felt strange leaving my mouth.
But also freeing.
"You don't mean that."
"I do."
"You're just upset right now."
"No," I said softly. "I'm finally thinking clearly."
Down the hallway, I heard Karsyn laugh at something on the TV. Kai shushed her.
The sound of my kids grounded me instantly.
I looked back at Mason.
"You can keep lying to yourself if you want," I said. "But I'm done pretending this is still the life I want."
Mason stared at me like he didn't recognize the woman standing in front of him.
And maybe he didn't.
Because the woman who spent ten years trying to keep him from leaving…
was finally the one walking away.