YOU ONCE LEFT

ISABELLA POV

The sun filtered through the curtains, casting soft stripes of light across the wooden floor. Everything was quiet. Peaceful, almost. But I felt none of it.

I sat at the edge of the bed, still in my robe, hair damp from the shower I didn’t remember taking. My hands rested on my lap, fingers twined together too tightly. The silence in the house was heavy. Smothering.

I had won.

Eva was mine. Legally, completely. The judge had ruled in my favor. I was granted sole custody, just like Xavier wanted.

And yet... I didn’t feel victorious.

If anything, I felt... lost.

A part of me had been waiting for a sense of relief, a sense of freedom. But it never came. The weight in my chest hadn’t lifted. If anything, it had grown heavier. More unbearable.

I closed my eyes, and the memory of Drake's face appeared..his tear-stained eyes, the way his voice cracked when he begged me not to do this. The way Eva screamed after him as he walked out the door.

It haunted me.

I told myself I did w