Bright I woke with a heavy heart, as if the night had left a stone on my chest. Dawn seeped a pale light through the window of the guest room in Sophia’s parents’ house. I stayed still, listening to the silence broken only by the ticking of the wall clock. Sophia hadn’t spoken a word to me since our last argument. The image of her face —cold, wounded— kept piercing me again and again. You’re crazy, Bright. You’re sick with jealousy, she had said. I shut my eyes tightly. That phrase echoed like a sound I couldn’t silence. I got up carefully, trying not to make noise. Sophia slept in the next room under the strict watch of her mother and James. I didn’t even want to peek in; I knew that if I saw her, guilt would freeze me. I needed air. I slipped out of the house before anyone noticed I was gone. I walked aimlessly through the quiet village streets, hands in my pockets, head down. The morning smelled of damp earth. Each step felt like a sentence. No one understands me, I thought. No
SophiaI woke with a strange feeling, as if the morning were too quiet to be real. Pale, timid sunlight filtered through the curtains, and the room smelled of cold coffee and clean laundry. Instinctively, I reached for the right side of the bed, the space that had always been his, but my hand met only warm, empty sheets. Bright wasn’t there.It took a few seconds to remember why his absence surprised me so little. Since the doctor told us about the hematoma on the placenta, he had chosen to sleep on the sofa at the foot of the bed, saying it would give me more room to rest. But deep down, I knew he did it because he couldn’t bear to lie beside me. His guilt kept him at a distance. And I, despite my anger, felt that distance as a silent weight on my chest.I sat up carefully, feeling the tightness in my belly. Bed rest was mandatory, and every movement reminded me I couldn’t afford mistakes. I turned my head toward the sofa. There he was, wrapped in a gray blanket, one leg dangling, hi
SophiaThe hospital corridor smelled of disinfectant and fear. My hands trembled so much I could barely hold my coat against my chest. Bright walked beside me, jaw clenched, eyes fixed straight ahead as if the air I breathed depended on his concentration.“Everything will be fine,” he murmured, but his voice sounded more tense than reassuring.I couldn’t answer. The memory of the fall played over and over: the slip at the entrance, the sharp blow to my hip, the instant the pain shot through my belly. Since then, a foreboding feeling had been strangling my throat. Every step toward the ultrasound room felt like walking on thin ice.The nurse told me to lie down. The stretcher was icy; the sheet crackled as I settled in. Bright stayed beside me and held my hand, though his palm was as sweaty as mine. The doctor, a man with gray hair and attentive eyes, entered with a professional smile.“Let’s see how our little traveler is doing,” he said while preparing the gel for the ultrasound.Whe
BrightThe sound of her groan still drilled through my head. It was sharp, unlike anything I’d ever heard before, a cry that wasn’t just pain: it was fear. And I was the one who caused it.The scene from just minutes ago spun in my mind like a lightning flash that wouldn’t fade. My elbow hitting her cheek as I turned to face Dante. The shock in her eyes. And then, that strangled scream that froze my blood: the baby.Now, as I drove with my hands so tight my knuckles ached, I could only watch the rear-view mirror. James sat in the back with his arm around her. Sophia looked pale, too pale. Every time she flinched from another stab of pain, it felt like someone ripped my heart out.I wanted to say something, anything, but my throat closed up. The images kept replaying: Dante kneeling beside her, reaching out, and me… leaping like an animal, roaring at him not to touch her. I couldn’t bear him being close, not after all his insinuations, not after the way he looked at her. But now it all
SophiaThe whole world seemed to fall silent, except for the sharp buzzing in my ears. My cheek burned where Bright’s elbow had struck me, but it wasn’t the pain that paralyzed me. It was the shock: Bright —my Bright— drenched in rage, completely out of control. I tried to sit up, but a stabbing pain shot through my abdomen like lightning. A moan escaped before I could hold it back.“Ah…” I gasped, clutching my stomach.The entire room froze. I could feel every gaze fixed on me, but another, stronger pain made me double over. A strangled cry tore from my throat.“Sophia!” My mother’s voice rang out, full of alarm.My heart pounded, fast and frantic. It wasn’t just the blow to my face: something inside me… something with the baby. Fear stole my breath.“It hurts!” I managed to say, my voice breaking. “My stomach… the baby…”Bright turned immediately, his eyes wide, the earlier fury replaced by pure terror. He took a step toward me, but a quicker shadow moved to my side: Dante.“Move, l
BrightRage consumed me like fire in my throat. I couldn’t stay silent any longer, couldn’t keep pretending everything was fine when inside me every fiber screamed that Dante had something to do with what I was thinking. And the worst of all was the way Sophia looked at me, as if I were the crazy one, as if I were raving in front of everyone. No. Damn it. This wasn’t some fantasy of mine. Something didn’t add up. Dante was always there, always lurking, always showing up at the worst possible moments. Coincidence? Not for me. And when the pieces fit together, even if you have to force them, you listen.“I won’t let you stop me from saying what I think,” I spat, staring straight into her eyes.The disappointment on her face cut through me like a knife. To see my wife, the one who was supposed to be on my side, pulling me back to silence me in front of everyone… that hurt worse than any punch. And still, I didn’t stop.I turned to Dante and marked him in my mind as the enemy hiding insi