INICIAR SESIÓNThe phone rang while Liam was sitting alone in his car, parked beneath a flickering streetlight two blocks away from the house he still couldn’t bring himself to enter.He stared at the dashboard, jaw tight, knuckles white around the steering wheel.The caller ID lit up.Mother.He let it ring once.Twice.Then he exhaled sharply and answered. “What?”There was a pause on the other end, the kind filled with practiced restraint.“Liam,” his mother said coolly. “We heard you haven’t come home.”Liam scoffed. “This is my home.”“No,” she replied without hesitation. “That place is a mistake you keep refusing to correct.”He leaned his head back against the seat. “What do you want?”“We want you to come back,” his father’s voice cut in, firm and unyielding. “Tonight.”Liam closed his eyes. “I’m not leaving my children.”“You already have,” his father snapped. “You’re sleeping in your car like a runaway teenager.”“That’s my choice.”“Exactly,” his mother said. “And you’ve been making the w
Liam stood at the doorway longer than he needed to.The house looked the same—same pale walls, same shoes scattered near the entrance—but it no longer felt like his. There was a quiet tension in the air, like the aftermath of a storm that no one wanted to talk about.He stepped inside.“Elara?” he called.No answer.He set his keys down slowly, as if any sudden sound might break something fragile. Then he heard it—soft footsteps on the stairs.Devano appeared at the top, clutching the railing with both hands.Their eyes met.Liam smiled instinctively. “Hey, champ.”Devano didn’t smile back.Instead, he froze.Liam’s smile faltered. “Hey… what’s wrong?”Devano glanced behind him, as if checking whether Elara was watching. Then he took a hesitant step backward.That single movement hit Liam harder than any argument ever had.“Dev?” Liam moved forward. “It’s okay. Come here.”Devano shook his head.“No,” he whispered.Liam stopped walking. “No?”Devano swallowed. His fingers tightened ar
“Why did you leave like that?”Elara’s voice trembled as she stood at the edge of the living room, her phone clenched tightly in her hand. She had rehearsed the question a hundred times in her head before finally dialing Liam’s number. Now that he had answered, everything she wanted to say felt tangled and fragile.On the other end of the line, Liam exhaled slowly.“Why does it matter?” he replied, his tone restrained, almost too calm. “You didn’t stop me.”Elara closed her eyes. The memory of his back as he walked out still burned behind her eyelids. “I didn’t stop you because every time I try to hold you, you pull away first.”There was a brief silence—thick, charged.“And every time I stay,” Liam said quietly, “I feel like I’m standing between you and someone else.”Her breath hitched. “What are you talking about?”“Adrian,” he said. The name landed like a sharp stone dropped into still water. “Tell me, Elara… is he more important to you now?”The question stunned her.She lowered
“I’m just here to get a few things.”Liam’s voice cut through the quiet house like a blade.Elara froze near the kitchen doorway, her fingers still wrapped around a damp dishcloth. She hadn’t heard the car pull in. She hadn’t heard the door open. Suddenly, he was just there—standing in the living room, tall, distant, carrying a duffel bag that looked far too final.“Oh,” she said softly. “I didn’t know you were coming.”Liam didn’t look at her right away. His eyes moved instead over the room—the couch where he had slept, the blanket folded too neatly, the children’s shoes by the door. Evidence of a life still moving, still breathing, without him.“I won’t take long,” he said flatly.The silence that followed was heavy, swollen with words neither of them dared to release.Elara stepped aside instinctively, giving him space. Too much space. The kind that hurt.“Do you want coffee?” she asked, hating how small her voice sounded.“No.”Too fast. Too sharp.Liam walked past her toward the
“Mom, is that… food?” Devano’s voice drifted from the living room, soft but hopeful.Elara looked up from the sink, startled. The afternoon light slanted through the window, catching the steam rising from the mug she had forgotten she was holding. Her eyes flicked toward the door just as a gentle knock sounded—slow, careful, as if whoever stood outside didn’t want to intrude.“I’ll get it,” she said quickly, wiping her hands on a towel.When she opened the door, Adrian stood there holding two paper bags, rain still clinging to the shoulders of his coat. He didn’t smile widely. He didn’t look curious or probing. He just looked… present.“I made too much,” he said quietly. “Thought the kids might like it.”Elara hesitated, the weight of the past few days pressing hard against her ribs. “You didn’t have to,” she replied, her voice tired but polite.“I know.” Adrian shifted the bags slightly. “But I wanted to.”She stepped aside without another word, allowing him in.The children noticed
Liam sat alone in the dim interior of his car, the engine long turned off, the city lights blurring beyond the rain-speckled windshield. His phone rested in his palm, its screen glowing softly in the darkness. Elara’s name sat at the top of the screen, painfully familiar, like a wound that refused to close.He exhaled slowly and began to type.Elara, I don’t know where to start. I don’t even know if you want to hear from me…His thumbs hovered, then continued.Last night broke something in me. I thought I was strong enough to handle doubt, jealousy, fear—but seeing you with him made me realize how small I feel right now. I hate that about myself.He stopped. His jaw tightened. Outside, a car passed, spraying water across the pavement with a harsh hiss. Liam leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes for a brief second, then looked at the phone again.I keep telling myself that I don’t care anymore. That maybe this is easier—walking away before I lose what little pride I have left.







