Ibiza was meant to be an escape. Isabel had chosen it precisely because it was a world away from everything she knew. Her hometown, her ex, and the shattered remnants of the life she had believed was hers. The flight had been long, but even the exhaustion could not dull the persistent ache in her chest. Her mind remained cluttered, echoing with the final, painful months of her relationship with Jason.

She stared out the airplane window as it began its descent over the sparkling Mediterranean waters. The island shimmered like a postcard paradise. White beaches, crystal-clear blue seas, and a vibrant world where the sun seemed to orchestrate an endless party. It was exactly what she needed. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.

Ibiza had not been her first choice. In fact, she had not planned this trip at all, not until the night everything fell apart. After months of gnawing suspicion, months of second-guessing her own instincts, Jason’s affair had finally come to light. The betrayal was a gut punch, but it was the insidious way he had manipulated her, always twisting her reality to fit his lies, that had left her feeling utterly destroyed.

"Are you sure you’re not imagining things? You always overreact. Why can’t you just trust me?" His voice still echoed in her head, his gaslighting a lingering poison. Even now, a part of her yearned to believe it was her fault. That if only she had been more loving, more forgiving, maybe things would not have ended this way. Yet, deep down, Isabel knew better. She knew what Jason did was wrong, but the scars he left had burrowed deep into her heart.

The landing was smooth, a stark contrast to the turbulence in her heart. As the plane touched down, Isabel felt a knot of anxiety tighten inside her. She had run all the way to Ibiza, only to find herself still nursing the very wounds she had hoped to leave behind.

The drive from the airport to her hotel was a blur of swaying palm trees, whitewashed buildings, and carefree tourists spilling onto the streets. Isabel watched it all through the taxi window, her own faint reflection superimposed against a world she felt utterly disconnected from. The driver attempted small talk, asking where she was from, how long she would be staying, but she could barely summon the energy to respond. Her answers were curt, clipped. Her mind was too consumed by Jason’s lies and the constant replay of their last argument. As the taxi sped along the coastline, the ocean stretched endlessly to her right, yet even the breathtaking views could not dispel the heaviness that had settled in her chest. The island buzzed with excitement and joyful abandon, but all Isabel felt was a profound numbness.

Ibiza was supposed to be a place to forget and to heal, but how could she when everything inside her felt so broken?

The sun had just begun its slow dip below the horizon when Isabel arrived at her hotel, its fading rays casting long, dramatic shadows across the island. Her room was small but cozy, a private sanctuary where she could hide from the world for a while. She tossed her suitcase onto the bed and sat beside it, letting the quiet envelop her.

It had been her sister's idea to come here. "Get away from it all," she had urged.

At the time, Isabel had readily agreed. She desperately needed distance from the toxicity Jason had left in his wake, and Ibiza seemed like a place where the chaos of her emotions might be drowned out by the island's ceaseless energy but now, sitting alone in this unfamiliar room, the stark reality of being so far from home, from everything she knew, felt overwhelming. A part of her wondered if she had made the right choice.

She pulled out her phone and called her sister.

"Izzy?" The voice answered almost immediately.

"Hey. I just... I needed to talk."

"Did you land safely? How are you feeling?"

Isabel hesitated. "Like I made a mistake. Like I ran halfway across the world only to bring all the pain with me."

Her sister was quiet for a beat. "It’s going to take time. You’re not going to feel better overnight."

"I keep thinking about the little things," Isabel whispered, her voice cracking. "How he used to hide my keys so I wouldn’t leave when we argued. How he made me feel guilty for going out without him."

"That’s control, Izzy. That’s not love."

She swallowed hard. "But he said it was because he loved me so much that he couldn't bear to lose me. He cried when I left."

"Because manipulators cry when they lose control, not when they lose love."

Her sister’s words hit deep, shaking something loose inside her. Tears burned at the corners of Isabel’s eyes. She remembered how Jason had once deleted a message from her best friend, claiming it was to protect her from "negativity." How he insisted she quit her job because "they didn’t appreciate her." How he convinced her that her family just did not understand "them." Every memory was another crack in the foundation she had built with him. It was all a house made of shadows and lies.

"I don’t even know who I am without him," Isabel admitted, her voice barely a whisper.

"You’re someone brave enough to leave."

Isabel clutched the phone tighter. "I don’t feel brave. I feel scared. And alone. Like I’ve stepped into a void, and I don’t know which way is forward."

"That’s part of healing, Izzy. It’s messy and confusing and terrifying, but you are not alone."

Isabel nodded, even though her sister could not see her. "Thank you. I just needed to hear your voice."

After they hung up, Isabel lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The sounds of the city grew louder outside. Music, laughter, life. Part of her longed to lose herself in it, to forget everything for a few hours but the other part, the bigger part, craved stillness.

Her phone buzzed. A message from Jason.

I hope you’re happy. You always were good at running away.

Her stomach twisted. The manipulation was still there, even in text. Still trying to reel her back in. She deleted the message without replying.

In the quiet that followed, Isabel realized something important. Healing was not about forgetting. It was about remembering who she was before someone tried to change her.

And maybe, just maybe, Ibiza could be the beginning of remembering herself before Jason.

CONTINUE READING