Kasia returned home from work on a Friday evening, completely unaware that the day would change her life forever. As she opened the door, she called out, as usual:
— Honey, I’m home!
Silence. The house was strangely quiet, unnaturally still.
— Strange… He should be here by now, — she thought to herself, heading toward the bedroom.
She pushed open the door — and froze in place. Marek, her husband, was standing by the bed, hastily packing his belongings into a suitcase.
— Marek… What are you doing? — Kasia whispered, unable to believe her own eyes.
— I’m leaving, — he answered calmly, not even looking at her.
— Leaving? Why?! What happened?
— It’s because of your father, — he said irritably.
— My father? What does he have to do with this?
Kasia couldn’t understand the words, the meaning, or what was happening at all. Meanwhile, her married life, into which she had poured so much love, warmth, and patience, was crumbling before her eyes.
They met when Kasia was twenty-eight. Marek was eight years older — confident, handsome, experienced. At that time, she thought she had met a real man. Family, friends, everyone around her kept saying it was time to get married. The clock was ticking, and her age was no longer considered “young.” Kasia started viewing every potential man as a future husband, and that pushed them away.
But with Marek, it was different. They met through a colleague from work at a café, and the conversation sparked — and the rest just followed. He was polite, attentive. And when he found out that Kasia had her own apartment, a new car, a good job at the city hall, and a father who was a businessman — suddenly, he became particularly caring and affectionate.
A year later, they had a lavish wedding. Her father paid for everything. Marek didn’t protest. On the contrary — he enthusiastically accepted a sales position at one of his father-in-law’s stores.
The first few months of marriage seemed like a fairy tale: trips abroad, dinners, gifts. The only detail that spoiled the picture was that Marek never paid for anything. Kasia covered it all. At first, she ignored it. Later, she began asking. Eventually, she was begging.
— Why am I doing everything alone? — she complained to her friend. — I want to feel like a woman, delicate, someone who is cared for.
But Marek just laughed:
— Honey, don’t be childish. Everything is fine with us. Don’t worry about the little things.
At work, he did almost nothing, spending most of his time on his phone, and the money he earned went into his own account. Kasia suspected nothing.
Then she fell seriously ill. She was hospitalized for a month. Her parents visited her every day, while Marek came sporadically. When she returned home, she was stunned: the house was dirty, dishes piled up, and the floor was covered in trash.
— You didn’t clean at all?! — she yelled.
— Why bother? That’s women’s work — he answered lazily.
— But I was in the hospital, Marek! And now I have to clean all of this?!
— Well, you’re home now. So, clean up.
Weak from her illness, Kasia hired a cleaning company. The doctor had said her recovery would take at least a year. She couldn’t even think about pregnancy at that time.
It was then that Kasia realized that true strength didn’t lie in holding onto illusions, but in the courage to let them go.