True Love Comes Without Words
His wife — Emily — wasn’t exactly a model. She had gained weight, stopped taking care of herself the way she used to, shuffled around the house in an old robe and worn slippers. She always looked tired… or irritated. Her life was endless work for low pay, grocery bags, laundry, cooking, kids. Even her voice annoyed him — he repeated that to himself often.
And Mark?
He brought home a paycheck, sighed heavily in front of the TV, and watched shows where tall, elegant actresses played great loves and passionate romances.
In real life, he glanced at women too, even though he himself wasn’t anyone’s dream. He treated Emily like… a tenant. He didn’t love her. Not even a little.
One weekend, Mark went fishing with his buddies. Without Emily — he never invited her anywhere. He only took the family to the beach for the kids’ sake, and even then Emily ended up stressed, counting receipts, complaining that everything was expensive.
She wore simple sandals, a cotton dress, and walked around with papers, coupons, and grocery lists. Nothing romantic about it.
So fishing trips with the guys were easier. That evening by the lake, they drank beer, grilled sausages, told jokes. And then one of the guys started laughing at Emily:
“Dude, how can someone let herself go like that? Give it a little time and she’ll start grunting.”
Everyone laughed. Someone added that Mark should’ve divorced her long ago, “Before she ruined the rest of his life.”
Mark had complained before…
So they assumed they had the right to mock her. And suddenly — something snapped inside him. Mark realized something he had never dared to admit:
You can betray someone you don’t love. You can hurt a person even if you tell yourself.
“It doesn’t matter — I don’t love her anymore.”
But it does matter. Because that person is still a human being. Still vulnerable. Still deserving of dignity. He stood up. Looked at his friends and said quietly, but firmly:
“Say one more thing about my wife… and I swear I won’t stay here another minute.
That woman is the mother of my kids. Show some respect.”
Then he gathered his things in silence and walked five miles to the nearest bus stop. The guy who drove them there had been drinking — Mark wasn’t going to get in that car.
All the way back, riding a shaking old bus through fields and woods, he felt something heavy — but honest — forming inside him.
He returned late, cold, exhausted.
Emily stepped out of the kitchen in her worn robe. Her soft, tired eyes — kind, simple — looked surprised to see him. She didn’t ask why he was home early. She stopped asking anything long ago.
Mark simply said softly: “I came home.”
And then he hugged her. For the first time in years. No reason. No explanation. He held this ordinary, warm, loyal woman tightly… And she slowly hugged him back. They stood in the hallway for a long, long time.
Lack of love is not an excuse for cruelty. No one deserves betrayal — not even someone you’ve grown apart from. Sometimes, right when we’re one step from doing something irreversible, life forces us to look closer and ask:
Do I really not care? Or did I just forget what love looks like when it stops being shiny and becomes real?
All pictures are for illustration purpose only.
Adapted from the article shared by Lullaby for the Soul, via Facebook posting yesterday, Sunday 23 November 2025.
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| Adapted by Fauzi Kadir Chief Editor |
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