CHAPTER THREE: WHEN HOME DIED

My heart felt like it was being ripped apart. My hands shook as I paced around the hospital hallway, unable to catch my breath. I kept grabbing any doctor I saw, clutching onto their sleeves like a desperate child.

“Please, bring her back,” I whispered, over and over. “Please… my mom… please…”

They looked at me with pity in their eyes. No one said anything for a while. Then the doctor, her doctor, the one with kind eyes and a voice too calm for this moment, came up to me.

“I’m sorry,” he said gently. “Her condition worsened quickly. Her heart couldn’t take it. She had severe coronary artery disease; her arteries were almost completely blocked. It caused a massive heart attack. We did everything we could, but…

His voice faded Into the background. My knees gave way, and I fell to the floor, gripping my chest like I was the one whose heart had just stopped. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real.

I watched as they moved her body away. They took her to the morgue, and I couldn’t even follow. I couldn’t even touch her one last time.

I was cold. I was empty. But something told me I had to tell my dad.

Maybe… maybe he would show some emotion this time. Maybe he would regret the way he treated her. Maybe he would say, “I’m sorry.” Just once.

I left the hospital with no energy in my body. I was wearing the same dress from yesterday the one I found in the dressing room before rushing to Mom. It was wrinkled, stained with tears, and it felt like it didn’t belong to me.

When I reached home, no, his house, I pushed the door open and called out.

“Dad?”

He came down the stairs, not a single trace of sadness on his face. Behind him, a woman I had never seen before appeared. She was wearing a fancy silk blouse and diamond earrings. Beside her was a boy about my age, looking bored and chewing gum with a bag beside him like he was here to stay.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

“Oh, Rachel,” my dad said, like he had just noticed me for the first time. “This is my wife, Angela. And that’s my son, Eden. They will be staying with us from today.”

I blinked. My mouth went dry. “Your… what?”

The hospital had called.

“Your mom’s time was due anyway,” he said, cold as stone. “No need to act surprised. People die.”

I stepped back. My heart shattered all over again. Did I just hear him right?

“You… you were married? While Mom was still alive?” I asked specifically. “All those years you were married to Mom, you had another wife?”

He shrugged. “We’ve been together for years. Your mother and I hadn’t been anything for a long time. Angela makes me happy. I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

I stared at him as he wrapped his arm lovingly around the woman, this woman who now got the love my mom begged for all her life.

My mom gave birth to me and my sister when she was just nineteen, stayed through the abuse, the neglect, the cold looks… for twenty-six years.

And now I saw my dad smiling. Smiling like love was something he was capable of but just not for us.

He didn’t even have the decency to at least wait for Mom to properly rest in peace. It was as if they had always been waiting for this moment.

Pain and rage rose in me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. But instead, I turned around and walked out.

I couldn’t come back here. I couldn’t live in that house. That place held nothing for me anymore. Not family. Not comfort. Nothing.

I walked until my legs gave up again. I sat on a park bench, staring into space, wondering where I was supposed to go now. Who did I have?

Liam.

His name flashed in my mind like a dying light. Maybe if he heard about Mom… maybe he’d soften. Maybe he’d take me back, even if it was out of pity. I just needed someone to tell me I mattered. Someone to hold me and tell me I’d be okay.

I gave up everything for Liam. I had a promising catering career. People loved my food. I had clients, bookings, a future. But Liam told me he didn’t like seeing me stress over money.

“Let me take care of you,” he had said. “I make enough for both of us.”

So I gave it up. For him. For us.

But now, I had nothing. No home. No mother. No job. The money I had left in my bag could barely feed me for two weeks, let alone get me a place to stay.

I pulled out my phone and called Liam. It rang and rang.

No answer.

I called again.

Still nothing.

I kept calling, one ring after another, like I was dialing for my life. But he didn’t pick up. Not even once.

I decided to go to his workplace. Maybe he was there. Maybe I’d find him and explain everything. Maybe he’d hold me again like he used to.

Liam worked in one of the biggest buildings in the city. A shining glass tower with the company’s name “Cole’s Enterprise” in bold letters at the top. He worked as a developer in the company, one of those that made the news for big investments and billion-dollar deals. Everyone respected him In his department. Everyone listened when he talked.

I walked into the lobby, looking like a stranger from another world. My dress was still from yesterday. The zipper was half-closed. My hair was messy, and my eyes were red from crying. People turned to stare. Some whispered. Others gave me judgmental looks, like I was crazy or homeless.

I hugged myself, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me. I hadn’t felt this humiliated since college.

And back then, Liam was the only one who stood up for me. I wished he could be that again now.

I waited at the front desk and asked for him. The receptionist frowned.

“Liam is currently on his wedding leave,” she said.

My heart stopped.

Wedding leave?

The pain hit me fresh and raw. I staggered back, nearly tripping over my own feet. I turned away before anyone saw me break again. I made my way to the elevator, hiding my face behind my hands. I got inside, the doors closed… and I was alone.

And that was when I broke.

I started crying loud, painful sobs that shook my entire body. My face was soaked, my chest felt like it was caving in, and I couldn’t breathe. I slid to my knees, pressing my forehead against the cold metal wall of the elevator. My hands clutched at the hem of my dress like it could anchor me, like it could pull me back to a version of myself that still made sense.

But there was no version of me left. Not the bride. Not the daughter.

I was falling apart in a building where the man who had walked away from me like I never mattered work.

Suddenly, the elevator dinged and stopped.

The doors opened.

And standing there was a man.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Wearing a clean black suit that hugged his body perfectly. His beard was neat and well-trimmed, and his skin looked smooth like velvet. A strong, expensive cologne filled the air, sharp, almost suffocating, but oddly comforting.

He looked like he had just walked out of a luxury magazine cover.

He stepped into the elevator without hesitation, and the doors closed behind him. He didn’t speak right away, but I felt his presence like a weight. Heavy. Commanding.

I shrank into the corner, wiping at my face quickly. I didn’t want to be seen like this. Not by someone like him.

“Are you a worker here?” he asked, his voice deep, husky, smooth like honey poured over gravel.

I looked up, lips trembling. I tried to answer, but nothing came out.

He glanced at me with sharp, disapproving eyes.

“Untidy dressing and tears aren’t allowed on this premises.”

I flinched.

His tone wasn’t cruel. Just indifferent. But it cut deeper than a blade. Like I wasn’t even worth his curiosity.

Before either of us could say another word, the elevator dinged again. The doors opened to the ground floor.

And I ran.

I rushed out like the space was choking me, like his silence and presence were smothering what was left of me. I didn’t dare look back.

I didn’t look at anyone. I didn’t look at the walls, or the lights, or the people who might still be watching.

I kept walking until I was outside.

And even then…

I still couldn’t breathe.

Not properly.

Not anymore.

I was breaking in slow motion, and no one in the world noticed.

And somehow, that hurt more than anything else.

Because it meant I didn’t matter.

To anyone.

I started heading to Liam’s house. I needed reasons, empathy, closure, just something to make me feel better.”