Silence doesn’t keep the peace, it slowly bleeds the relationship dry. And you feel it every time the room goes quiet. You were taught that staying quiet was “mature.” That swallowing the hard truth was safer than risking conflict or rejection. So you called it calm. Growth. Self-control. But that cold distance in your chest? That isn’t peace, it’s unspoken tension fermenting. Left untouched, silence doesn’t protect love. It mutates into resentment. Connection turns transactional. Two people sta