CHAPTER 31

The next day]

The rain hadn’t stopped since morning.

It fell in steady sheets, a rhythm he used to hum along to, a rhythm that once became songs. Now, it just sounded like everything he’d lost.

Williams sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, head bowed.

The room was dim. Dust clung to the corners. Posters of singers he had idolized stared down at him, silent witnesses to a boy who once believed music could fix the world.

He remembered the first time he sang for someone who mattered. His mother had stood in the doorway, arms folded, that quiet smile that always made him feel alive.

“You sound just like me,” she had said. “ I used to sing like that….from the heart…. But don’t worry son, I’m rooting hard for you. You’re going to become the biggest artist soon.”

Her voice echoed in his memory now, soft and fragile, carrying a warmth that the world had slowly stolen away.

He traced the edge of the desk absentmindedly. His guitar lay untouched in the corner, strings gathering dust