Novel & Cerita The Lies We Leave Behind

A sob came out, but she bit her lip and forced it back down. I crouched until our eyes were level. "You still have a chance. Leave Central University and start over somewhere else. Stop staring at what other people have. Pay attention to what you still have." I stood up and walked away. Behind me, her sobs faded into the evening wind. By the time I passed through the university gates, night had fallen. The streetlights stretched the trees' shadows into thin lines. I sighed and the last weight in my chest eased. My phone lit up with a text message from Sophie: [Check your email now!]

Leah’s throat tightened. They did not speak of the marriage. Not directly. Not of the Grants. Not of the support office. Not of the phone call. Instead, Helen asked whether she was eating, and Leah lied that she was. Leah asked whether the new medicine helped, and Helen lied that she felt stronger. They both knew. They both let the lies stand because love sometimes needed small shelters before it could bear truth. When Leah finally left the room, Noah was waiting in the hall. “She smiled,” he said.

“You collapsed after Marcus spoke.” Something twists in my stomach. “Because of what he said?” “Yes.” “And you don’t want me to hear it.” “No.” “Why?” Adrian hesitates again. Then— “Because you begged me to let you leave.” The words knock the air from my lungs. “Leave… the hospital?” “No.” His voice lowers. “Leave me.” My chest tightens painfully. “Why would I do that?” Adrian’s eyes darken slightly. “Because you thought our marriage was built on a lie.”

The silence between us wasn’t comfortable like it used to be; now it was loaded with everything we hadn’t said. I took a deep breath and sat across from him. "We can’t just pretend this didn’t happen," I said quietly. He turned to me, his eyes tired but soft. "I know." And just like that, the dam broke. Words spilled out, anger, hurt, fear. The lies had shaken us, made us question things we never thought we’d have to. But beneath it all, there was still the love we had for each other. When the air finally cleared, Rami reached for my hand. "Let’s get away,"

For eight years, I'd managed the career of my boyfriend, Aiden White, a famous celebrity. I was also a partner at Veyra Media and the one pulling the strings behind his career. But on our anniversary trip, Aiden and one of the company's top influencers left me behind at a hotel near a volcano. They drove for forty minutes before they even realized I wasn't with them. When Aiden finally answered my call, he sounded more annoyed than concerned. "Scarlett, why didn't you get in the car? We need to hike to the crater by five, or we'll miss the blue flames! We're already almost there. I can't turn around and drive all the way back for you!" "Scarlett can find a ride and meet us here," Karina said

I lied but somehow I was telling the truth. He didn’t speak for a while. Just stared, like he was trying to see through me. Then he nodded once and turned away again. “You may go.” I left the room with legs that barely held me up. The moment the door closed behind me, I pressed my back to the wall and let out a slow breath. My chest ached. I had lied to protect us. To protect Julian. But a lie like that doesn’t vanish. It stays. It stains. ---

My voice cracked on the last word, though I swallowed it down quickly. “You should’ve seen their faces,” I said, forcing a smile she couldn’t see. “You’d have been proud. Or maybe you’d have scolded me for being too aggressive.” I paused, tracing the lines of her palm with my thumb, as though she could feel it. “I’m doing this for you,” I said softly. “All of it. Because when you leave here, I don’t want you to come back to a world built on his lies.” I rested my forehead against the back of her hand, letting the silence stretch between us. There were so many things I wanted to tell her. About Caleb. About Andre. About how much I needed her to leave here and be together.

The place where we were supposed to promise each other forever. My throat tightens again. “I wanted this,” I whisper. “I wanted this so much.” Marcus doesn’t interrupt. “I wanted a life that wasn’t full of lies,” I continue quietly. “A life that wasn’t full of manipulation and secrets and people using each other.” I turn slowly to face him again. “That’s why I left Ryan.” My eyes meet his. “I left because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering what was real and what wasn’t.”

others. To you. We lied because lying was easier than truth. Because false hope was better than honest despair. Because pretending cure existed was preferable to accepting permanent torture. We lied. We knew we lied. We continued lying. Because lying allowed us to continue. To endure. To exist. Without lie, without false hope, without pretended belief... we would have nothing. No reason to continue. No justification for enduring. No purpose for existing. We would have only suffering. Only torture. Only agony. Nothing else. Just pain. Forever. We could not accept that. Could not endure that. Could not exist with that. So we lied. We created false hope. We pretended cure existed. We acted as

She knows when and why she should leave something. Liesa also knew that the government would look for her, which is why she didn't leave a trace for her siblings. He doesn't want them to feel any more and Liesa also knows that William will also pretend that he doesn't know anything if something bad happens. "I'm sorry..." Liesa murmured as she took a last glance at their house and left. "I know you're smart, Liam. I know that you'll do everything once you discover it. I just hope that it won't be too late when you discover the thing that I did."