Chapter: Chapter Six: Between BreathsLight came first.Too bright. Too close.It pressed against the inside of her eyelids like a question she wasn’t ready to answer. Mia tried to turn away from it, but her body didn’t follow. Something tugged at her from everywhere at once—sharp in her ribs, dull and throbbing in her head, a deep ache that felt stitched into her bones.A sound slipped out of her. Not a word. Just breath. Thin. Broken.“Ma'am?”The voice was distant. Female. Calm in that practiced way that never meant calm. It meant trained.She swallowed. Or tried to. Her throat felt raw, scraped clean. Her mouth tasted like metal and something bitter she couldn’t place.“Stay with us,” the voice said again.With us.Her mind snagged on the word. Us.She opened her eyes. Or maybe they opened themselves. The world came back in pieces—white ceiling tiles swimming into focus, a harsh light overhead, shadows moving where people should have been. Everything looked wrong. Too loud.Hospital.The word arrived slowly, like it h
Huling Na-update: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter Five: Pieces of UsThe apartment was silent when she woke up.Not the quiet of peace, not the calm of early morning. Just absence.Allen hadn’t come home. Mia lay on her side, staring at the ceiling. The shadows of the blinds stretched across the walls, sharp and cold, cutting lines through the dim light. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the hollow where his warmth had been. His absence wasn’t just emptiness. It was a weight pressing down, a slow, suffocating pressure she hadn’t known she could feel.She stayed there for a long time, listening to the faint hum of the city outside, to the quiet rhythm of her own breathing. Each inhale was shallow. Each exhale trembled. She wondered when this had started—this creeping, gnawing feeling that the life she had built with him was nothing more than a story she had told herself to sleep at night.Eventually, she rose. Her legs felt heavy, almost foreign. She moved through the apartment slowly, as if rediscovering it for the first time. Everything smelle
Huling Na-update: 2025-12-24
Chapter: Chapter Four: The Silence Between UsThe apartment felt impossibly still.Mia sat on the edge of the couch, one hand resting lightly on her lap, the other on the armrest. Her fingers tapped a slow rhythm, barely noticeable, a quiet punctuation to the thoughts racing through her head. The city hummed outside—cars, people, life—but inside, there was only this hollow space, this unbearable quiet.The knock at the door came suddenly, sharp.Her heart jolted.“Who is it?” she whispered, voice trembling.“Me,” Allen said. His voice carried the calm, measured indifference she knew too well. That same tone that could strip warmth from a room.Mia hesitated. Her hand hovered near the doorknob. Part of her wanted to close the door and pretend none of this existed. Part of her wanted to throw herself at him, to scream, to beg him not to leave her life like this.She opened it.Allen was there, briefcase in hand, standing too tall, too composed, too indifferent. His eyes swept over her, lingering just long enough to note her presenc
Huling Na-update: 2025-12-24
Chapter: Chapter Three: He Might ChangeThe hospital smelled like antiseptic and something faintly sweet, like flowers left too long in water.Mia sat in the plastic chair with her hands folded in her lap, staring at the scuffed toe of her shoe. The room was too white. Too bright. Every sound echoed—the shuffle of nurses’ shoes, the soft murmur of voices behind curtains that didn’t quite close all the way.She hadn’t told anyone she was there.Not Allen. Not a friend. Not even herself, really. She’d just woken up with that feeling again—heavy, insistent. A quiet knowing that refused to be ignored.The nurse smiled at her kindly. Too kindly. “You can look now.”Mia’s breath caught.She looked down.Two lines.Her fingers tightened around the edge of the counter.“Oh,” she whispered.The sound came out small. Fragile. Like it might break if she said it any louder.The nurse said something—congratulations, next steps, dates—but Mia barely heard her. Her heart was pounding too hard, a dull roar in her ears. She pressed her palm
Huling Na-update: 2025-12-24
Chapter: Chapter Two: ColdMia got home before Allen.That alone felt wrong.The apartment lights were off when she stepped inside, the city’s glow slipping through the windows in thin, indifferent lines. She didn’t turn anything on right away. Just stood there, keys still in her hand, listening to the quiet settle around her like dust.She kicked off her heels near the door. One tipped over, the sound sharp in the stillness. She flinched at it. Funny—she hadn’t flinched at seeing him with her.Her purse went on the counter. Slowly. Carefully. Like if she moved too fast, something might break that was already cracked.She walked into the living room, touching nothing. The couch where they’d once fallen asleep together during late movies. The coffee table Allen insisted stay clear of clutter. The framed photo on the shelf—five years ago, a gala, his arm firm around her waist, her smile unguarded.She turned the frame face down.Not angrily. Just… decisively.The gift came next.She opened the closet and pulled i
Huling Na-update: 2025-12-24
Chapter: Chapter One: The Wedding AnniversaryAllen had already left when Mia woke up.She noticed it in pieces.The other side of the bed was cold. Too neat. The faint dip in the pillow gone, like it had never been touched. His phone charger unplugged. His closet door half open, one hanger turned the wrong way.She lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, listening.Nothing.No shower running. No footsteps. No low voice on a call he thought she couldn’t hear. Just the hum of the city outside and the soft tick of the clock on the nightstand.She checked the time.6:12 a.m.He never left that early unless something was wrong—or important.Her first instinct was disappointment. It rose quietly, like a bruise you don’t notice until you press it. Today, of all days.Then she pushed it aside. She’d gotten good at that. At rearranging her expectations so they didn’t hurt as much.She rolled onto her side and reached for her phone.No message.Not even a note on the counter.Still, she smiled a little. A small, private one.He’s
Huling Na-update: 2025-12-24
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