Serena It started with a question I couldn’t answer, and ended with my whole world collapsing. For five days, my mother asked the same question. And for five days, I swallowed the answer like poison. “Who is he, Serena?” She never let me breathe. It didn’t matter if I was scrubbing dishes, sweeping ash off the floor, or folding uniforms. Her voice always found me. Quiet sometimes, a whisper when we crossed paths. Other times sharp, cutting through silence like a knife. She wasn’t asking because she was nosy. I knew that. She was asking because she wanted to protect me. To fix things. But I couldn’t give her the name. Not because I was saving him. Because I was saving myself. Once I said it out loud—everything would shatter. And tonight, the shattering came. I was sitting on my bed, hands raw from bleach, stomach twisting from hunger. Ma stood by the window, arms crossed, apron still tied around her waist, her bun slipping loose. Her voice was low. Cold. Tired.
Last Updated : 2025-08-12 Read more