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Home / Romance / Scars She Carries, Love She Deserves / Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Lahat ng Kabanata ng Scars She Carries, Love She Deserves: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

47 Kabanata

Chapter Twenty-One — Paper Boats

Chapter Twenty-One — Paper BoatsLila loved the rain.It was a Saturday morning, and puddles lined the sidewalks like little lakes. Jack helped her fold paper boats from magazine pages while Elena watched from the porch swing, coffee in hand and heart unexpectedly light.They were making a memory—one that didn’t hurt.Lila ran ahead, giggling as her boats floated down the curb stream. Her rain boots splashed, her cheeks pink from the cold."Watch this one, Mommy!"Elena laughed. "I’m watching, baby."Jack joined her on the swing, damp curls plastered to his forehead. "She beat me. Again.""She always wins," Elena said, eyes shining.They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the water, the sky.Then Elena said, "Do you think she’ll remember the bad parts?"Jack didn’t pretend to have an easy answer. "She’ll remember pieces. But they won’t be the only ones. You’re giving her new ones every day."They had almost forgotten what day it was.By late morning, Elena was dressing Lila in

Chapter Twenty-Two — Tension and Tea

Chapter Twenty-Two — Tension and TeaIt started with a phone call.Elena’s phone buzzed on the kitchen counter as she chopped onions for soup. She wiped her hands on a dish towel and glanced at the screen: Brandon.The name alone turned her stomach.She didn’t answer. Let it go to voicemail. But her hands trembled as she returned to the cutting board, the knife suddenly feeling too heavy in her grip. The sound of the blade hitting the wood echoed too loudly in the quiet kitchen.Jack came in a few minutes later, rosy-cheeked from the playground with Lila trailing behind him, a crown of dandelions on her head.“Mommy, look what we made!” Lila announced proudly, climbing onto the barstool.Elena forced a smile, bending to kiss the top of her daughter's head. “It’s beautiful, baby.”Jack’s eyes were on her. He noticed the way her shoulders were stiff, the way she stirred the soup with just a little too much focus.“You okay?” he asked, voice soft.She nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Just tire

Chapter Twenty-Three — The Box

Chapter Twenty-Three — The BoxIt started with a drawer.Elena had been reorganizing the closet while Jack helped Lila sort through old toys in her room. She opened a box she hadn’t touched in nearly three years—a plain cardboard lid sealed with old packing tape and something like dread.Inside were pieces of a life she no longer claimed.The ultrasound photo. Her wedding veil. The journal she kept the year after Lila was born.And at the bottom, folded small and tight, was a letter she had written to herself. Her hand hovered over it for a moment before she pulled it out, her chest tightening.She sat cross-legged on the floor, the paper trembling in her hands.Jack came in quietly and knelt beside her, sensing the shift in the air. “What is it?” he asked gently.“A letter I wrote… when I didn’t know if I’d make it out.”She unfolded the paper and began to read aloud, her voice low but steady."You are not safe here.You flinch every time his key turns in the lock.You count the foot

Chapter Twenty-Four — Wounds and Wishes

Chapter Twenty-Four — Wounds and WishesJack didn’t talk much about his father.Elena noticed it in the pauses. The way he hesitated when Lila asked about his parents. The quiet tightness in his jaw when old hymns came on the radio. The subtle flicker in his eyes whenever someone mentioned forgiveness as if it were a currency to be handed out regardless of damage.One evening, after Lila had fallen asleep and the TV hummed with some forgotten show, Elena curled into his side.“Will you tell me?” she asked softly.Jack turned to her. “Tell you what?”“About him. About what it was like. You don’t have to, but… I want to know what made you, Jack.”He was quiet for a long time. Then he took a breath.“He preached love and practiced control. Told me I’d go to hell for crying. That I was a disgrace if I flinched when he raised his hand. My mother was quiet. Too scared to stop him.”Elena’s eyes filled.“He used to make me kneel on rice when I disobeyed,” Jack continued, his voice flat. “Sai

Chapter Twenty-Five — The List

Chapter Twenty-Five — The ListIt started with a joke.Lila had asked if Jack was going to “marry Mommy so we can all have the same last name.” Elena had nearly choked on her tea, and Jack’s eyes had widened like someone had just proposed to him.Lila giggled and skipped off, humming to herself, twirling her stuffed fox in her arms like a bouquet. But the silence that followed lingered between them like dust in a sunbeam—visible, quiet, and impossible to ignore.Later that night, after Lila was asleep and the house had settled into its soft nighttime hush, Elena sat on the edge of the bed brushing her hair. Jack was reading on the other side, the glow of the bedside lamp catching the edge of his book, but his eyes kept flicking up—watching her."Was that weird?" she asked, setting down the brush.He looked up. "No. Just… surprising. She’s got a good sense of timing."Elena gave a soft laugh. "She does."A beat passed. Then Jack closed the book and set it on the nightstand."Do you thi

Chapter Twenty-Six — Firsts Again

Chapter Twenty-Six — Firsts AgainSome days, Elena forgot how far she’d come.Until the first time she took Lila to the park without checking over her shoulder. Until she walked past a man wearing Brandon’s cologne and didn’t freeze. Until she looked in the mirror and didn’t automatically flinch.Healing, she realized, wasn’t just the big moments. It was the firsts she was reclaiming.The first time she let Jack see her laugh so hard she snorted. The first time she burned dinner and didn’t apologize. The first time she wore the dress she used to think made her look “too much.”That Saturday, they took Lila to a nature preserve. Jack brought his camera, and Lila insisted on wearing her “explorer vest” covered in patches. Elena had braided her hair and packed a lunch—simple things, but they felt like luxuries.As Jack crouched beside Lila to teach her how to take a photo of a mushroom, Elena just watched. She didn’t reach for her phone. She committed it to memory. The way Jack brushed a

Chapter Twenty-Seven — Aftershocks

Chapter Twenty-Seven — AftershocksIt happened on an ordinary Wednesday.Elena was at the grocery store with Lila, debating between two brands of cereal, when she heard it—a laugh. Familiar. Sharp. Brandon’s.Her chest locked. The boxes blurred. Lila tugged on her hand, asking something, but her voice sounded far away.Elena turned. He wasn’t there.Just a man with the same pitch in his voice, talking to a cashier.But her body didn’t know the difference.She left the cart. Pulled Lila outside. Her hands shook as she buckled her daughter in, murmuring reassurances she barely heard herself.At home, she sat on the floor in the kitchen, breathing too fast.Jack came in minutes later. He didn’t ask questions. Just knelt beside her and placed her hand over his heart.“Feel that?” he whispered.She nodded.“That’s you, right here with me. You’re safe. He’s not here.”She leaned into him and cried. Not because she was broken—but because she finally could.Later, when Lila was playing in her

Chapter Twenty-Eight — Permission

Chapter Twenty-Eight — PermissionIt was a quiet night.Not just quiet in sound—but in pressure. The kind of stillness that feels earned, not empty. Lila was at her grandparents’ house for a sleepover, and the apartment was unusually still. Elena hadn’t packed the evening with distractions. No laundry. No overdue emails. No frantic to-do list running in her head.Jack had brought takeout and lit a candle without comment. Now they sat on the couch, not really watching the movie playing in the background. Elena’s legs were folded beneath her, a blanket pooled at her waist, a carton of curry resting in her lap. She found herself looking at Jack—again.His jaw, the way it ticked when he focused. His thumb rubbing circles on her knee. His scent—clean, warm, familiar.Comfort used to scare her more than chaos.Because chaos was predictable. Comfort felt fragile, like a dream she might wake up from.She set the carton aside and shifted closer. “Do you remember the first time we touched?”Jac

Chapter Twenty-Nine — Aftermath

Chapter Twenty-Nine — AftermathThe morning came slowly.Soft light filtered through the curtains, casting pale gold across the tangled bedsheets. Elena stirred first, not startled, not panicked—just… aware. Her body was sore in ways that weren’t painful, and her mind floated in that strange space between exhaustion and renewal. Her cheek was pressed against Jack’s chest, her hand resting over his heart. He was still asleep, one arm slung over her waist, protective even in unconsciousness.For the first time in years, she didn’t feel the need to rush out of bed and pretend.There was no performance. No apology. No need to disappear into a bathroom and scrub herself raw.She was still here.Still in his arms.And the world hadn’t fallen apart.Elena tilted her head back slightly to look at him. His lashes were thick and dark against his cheek, his mouth slightly parted. His face, usually full of quick wit and clever retorts, looked soft in sleep—unguarded. She wondered if he always loo

Chapter Thirty — Custody Isn’t the Same as Safety

Chapter Thirty — Custody Isn’t the Same as SafetyElena checked the clock again.2:55 p.m.The court-ordered visitation started at 3:00 sharp. Thirty minutes, once a month. Supervised. Public setting. Non-negotiable. That’s what the judge ordered—not because anyone believed Brandon had changed, but because family court still clung to the outdated fantasy that biology made someone a father.It didn’t.Being a father meant protecting a child. Showing up. Staying safe. And Brandon had failed every part of that—until he found a way to paint over the damage and call himself rehabilitated.Jack stood beside her, silent but steady. His fingers brushed hers in quiet solidarity. Elena didn’t grab on, but she didn’t pull away either. She needed his calm.Lila sat cross-legged on the floor near the door, her small backpack beside her feet, cradling her stuffed fox like a security blanket. She didn’t speak, didn’t whine, didn’t ask questions. But she wasn’t playing either.She knew.She always kn

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