Getting ghosted is an answer. It’s just one they were too scared to type.

Silence feels like an open question, which is why it is so hard to put down. In practice it carries the same information as a no, delivered by someone who did not want to be the one to say it. That says more about their comfort with hard conversations than about your worth.

Give it a reasonable window, then treat the absence as the reply and stop refreshing. Send one short message if you need closure, and expect nothing back. Then put your attention on people whose interest is obvious without interpretation.