I stopped reading the messages between my ex and his new wife

Dear Delyara, During divorce proceedings, I discovered messages between my husband and the woman he later married. I saved screenshots and reread them for years. Every time I felt lonely, I reopened the evidence and let myself be hurt freshly. Therapy helped me see that I was using proof of betrayal as a way to keep the marriage emotionally active. The screenshots were legally unnecessary once proceedings ended. Last month, I moved them to an encrypted archive rather than keeping them on my phone. Today, I realized I no longer remember the exact wording of one message I used to know by heart. That frightened me for a second. Then relief followed. Inner peace has not required pretending what happened was acceptable. It has meant allowing details to blur once they have finished protecting me from denial.