Things We Left Behind Novels & Stories

I got to the Warwolf pack's border checkpoint in the middle of the night. As soon as I handed over my travel pass, I spotted Dad smiling and waving me over. I got into his car, noticing a big bag on the seat, stuffed with all my favorite candies and pastries. Mom was sitting beside me, unwrapping a piece of candy before popping it into my mouth with a happy smile. When I noticed the faint lines at the corners of Mom's eyes, everything I'd been holding back just came pouring out. "I never want to leave again. I just want to stay with you and Dad forever."

"I did." We sat like that for a long while, her hand over mine, the sitcom laugh track still murmuring faintly through the wall, neither of us in any hurry to be anywhere else. It wasn't a kiss. It wasn't a declaration. It was just two people who'd hurt each other more than once, sitting quietly in the same room, choosing to stay in it anyway. When I finally stood to leave, she walked me to the door. "Same time tomorrow?" I asked. "Meaning work. The normal way. Not "

"That’s all we ever needed to be." We continued walking, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand that the tide would soon wash away. It was a beautiful, fleeting image—a reminder that our history didn't need to be permanent to be meaningful. We didn't need to leave a mark on the world to prove we existed. Our existence was its own proof.

Amy “Are you guys sure you're not forgetting something? Everyone should look around” Jade said to us, we have finished packing our things and it was time for us to leave I stood by the side admiring the whole place, it felt like yesterday when we just got here and now we are already leaving, I looked around for Esther and saw her sitting by the corner, I slowly tiptoe to her back only to see her looking at the Polaroid photos of all of us together, I know I'm not the only one that do not want to leave,

The gifts may have turned to ashes, but the complexities of our relationship remained, smoldering beneath the surface, impossible to forget or fully extinguish. The crackling flames consumed the offerings, casting a warm glow against the backdrop of the backyard. As the last remnants of the gifts turned to ash, a mix of emotions surged within me—relief, catharsis, and a lingering sadness for what was lost. The gifts may have turned to ashes, but the complexities of our relationship remained, smoldering beneath the surface, impossible to forget or fully extinguish.

Juliet Somehow, I was back at the cafe, facing Grace's piercing gaze. After I struggled to hold back from crying, which I had been doing a lot these days, Grace managed to convince me to go back to the cafe with her. “So… how about Naomi and Leah?” I asked, not just because I was trying to shift the conversation from me, but because I was curious about the women I used to call my friends. “Leah left the country to manage her mother's farm a year after graduation”, Grace answered.

I left the signed divorce papers on the coffee table. On top, I placed the old bracelet she'd given me when we were seven. The clasp had rusted years ago. Beside it, I left a note. [It's too heavy to wear now.] I set my apartment key on the entryway table. Before I closed the door, I looked back one last time. The couch we picked out together. The curtains I sewed myself. The flowers I arranged yesterday, still sitting on the dining table. I left it all behind.

Angelica's POV Massimo's words finally broke my heart. I put away the pregnancy test report and turned to take out the divorce agreement that I'd kept around for a year. I had already prepared this divorce agreement when Massimo told me I could leave or stay as I pleased last year. It wasn't because I didn't love him but rather because I loved him too much. I knew how much losing an heir would affect him, so I was already prepared to leave at any time to make space for a new Donna who could bear him an heir.

“Your wife doesn’t want me here.” I covered the marks left on my hands. “I didn’t say that. I’m glad you’re back,” I replied calmly. Pete blocked my way. “Are you going to throw everything away?” he asked. “All of these?” He pointed to the things the servants had taken away, the wedding jewelry, the gifts he gave me every year. These were things I had once treasured. But to be honest, since I came back, I found them utterly unsightly. I had thought about throwing them away. Then I thought it wasn’t worth it. Let them gather dust.

and then I felt it. “It’s not consequence,” I said. “not balance. “not even the system.” The silence held because now that left only one thing. the thing we never accounted for. “It’s what we left behind,” I said. The words soft because now this was truth. the one we didn’t see. “When we chose the world over each other… “we didn’t erase that choice. “we preserved it.” The space cracked because now that meant this wasn’t loss. this was something that remained.