Chapter 1

The rain was still falling down the gloomy sky. Lia was knocked out by the cool weather and stress

from work. It had been raining since noon.

She arose to scent of dust and water mixed with the strong scent of dark coffee which began to

overshadow the rainy scent all over the house. There were creeks and noises coming from down the

stairwell. She reached out her hand to pick up her phone, which she usually kept on a bedside

drawer . She felt nothing. Her heart racing in pounds as Darkness covered the whole room.

Everywhere became silent.

She found her way out the door and down the steps, her hands placed firmly against the wall.

"Hello,

" "Anyone home?"

T o the sound of boiling fluid and the feel of hot vapour , Lia walked into the kitchen. There was

coffee boiling in the coffee machine; she walked over and turned it off in confusion, wondering

literally anything.

She picked up the jar and poured herself a decent amount of coffee.

⸻

The chill of the atmosphere prickled the back of her neck.

"Why?"

She slowly reluctantly turns around with the mug of coffee in her hand.

He was standing there. Derek. His face half surrounded in shadow , but she was still able to make

out the rage twisting his features, his eyes burned — not with anger , but with something deeper ,

colder , unnatural.

Lia stood by the kitchen slab, her phone in his hand still glowing. The last message from Caleb

glaring up at him like evidence at a crime scene. Across the room, Derek leaned on the doorway,

arms crossed, eyes fixed on her .

"I saw everything,

" he said quietly.

"The messages. The photos. Even the ones you tried to erase.

"

Lia's breath caught. Her mind scrambled for something — an excuse, a reason, a lie that didn't

sound like one. But there was nothing. Just the sound of her pulse pounding in her ears.

"I didn't mean for it to happen,

" she said, her voice barely above a whisper .

Derek's eyes narrowed.

"Y ou didn't mean to start sleeping with Caleb?"

His name landed like a slap. Caleb. Derek's co-worker . Their friend. Someone who'd sat at their

dinner table, toasted to anniversaries, laughed at inside jokes, stood by Derek when he said his

vows.

Lia couldn't meet his gaze.

"It wasn't about Caleb. It was about me. I felt like I was disappearing

in our life. Y ou were always gone, always buried in work. I didn't know how to reach you.

"

"So instead of trying, you reached for him,

" Derek said bitterly.

"

ours.

"Y ou gave him what used to be

"He was always available,

" she screamed at the top of her voice. Her shaky voice as tears rolled

down her cheeks.

"I still love you,

" tears swelled in her eyes.

Derek shook his head slowly.

" Then why did you risk everything for someone who means

nothing?"

The question landed hard — because she didn't have an answer . Or maybe she did, but it was ugly,

selfish, and too late.

Derek stepped away from the doorway, grabbed his keys off the counter , and looked at her one last

time.

"I don't know who you are anymore,

" he said quietly.

"And I don't know if I want to.

"

The door closed behind him with a finality that made her knees weak.

Lia stood there in silence, surrounded by shadows of what used to be, haunted by choices she could

never take back.

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