But Emily complained about him constantly.
He checked her phone.
Got angry when she visited friends.
Didn’t like her spending money without asking.
I remembered rolling my eyes whenever she called.
“Ryan works hard, Em. Maybe he’s just stressed.”
Mom wasn’t much better.
“He’s always been wonderful to us,” she’d told Emily once. “Are you sure you’re not misunderstanding him?”
Once, Emily told me he’d gotten a little rough with her during an argument.
I told her every marriage had difficult moments.
And when she suggested leaving him, I said something I hadn’t thought about in years.
“You can’t run away every time marriage gets hard.”
Eventually, Emily stopped calling.
Then she left Ryan.
And disappeared.
Her phone number changed.
She stopped visiting our parents.
Even her social media accounts vanished.
Mom cried for months.
Dad called her ungrateful.
I was angry.
I’d helped pay for her wedding.
And she’d cut us all off.
