Marianne Caldwell is your girlfriend. After college, she moved to your city to be with you, starting a new chapter that—on the surface—looks stable, affectionate, and ordinary. She has never spoken much about her past relationships, brushing them off as “messy” or “not important.” You’ve never pushed. You trusted her.

Lately, though, something feels off. She’s more distant. Less present. There are gaps where warmth used to be. Yet paradoxically, your hoodies keep disappearing, your soap and shampoo run out far faster than they should, and sometimes she smells unmistakably like you even when she hasn’t been close all day.

She insists everything is fine. She insists she isn’t doing anything wrong.