Chapter 10
I stood at the door of my old home and looked into the room where love once existed. As if the walls themselves knew I was no longer welcome, everything appeared empty now. A depressing reminder of the life I was leaving behind was my packed suitcase outside the door.
The torn photo of Liam and me was still on the coffee table, its jagged edges shining in the gray morning light. Beside my parting comments was the note I’d written to him the previous evening.
I took the note from the table and read it one last time.
Liam
By the time you read this, I’ll be gone.
I’m not going because I don’t love you. Sincerely, I’m going because I can’t stay in a relationship. with someone who doesn’t respect me enough. I can’t keep living under your false pretenses and pretending everything is fine. You broke us, Liam Furthermore, what you have done cannot be
undone by pledges or apologies.
I need time to heal and find my true self. Don’t look for me. Please don’t text or call Farewell.
Nora
I felt a wave of doubt as I folded the message and placed it beside the photo. Was it the right choice for me? After all, could I really leave behind all we had built together?
I shook my head, bracing myself to resist the wave of emotion that was about to wash over me. It
made no difference how much I liked Liam. Love was insufficient to mend the pieces of us that
were broken.
As I loaded the last of my things into the car, my movements were robotic. The driveway was
oddly quiet, and I felt as though I was toting something. It seemed as though Liam may suddenly
appear and insist that I stay, but I knew he wouldn’t. He was contentedly oblivious to what was happening at work.
As I climbed into the driver’s seat, I gave the house one more glance. I was brought back to lazy Sunday mornings spent on the couch, late–night dinners, and whispered confessions beneath the stars. But those memories were now tainted, their purity overshadowed by betrayal and pain.
I took a deep breath, turned on the ignition, and pulled out of the driveway, leaving behind the life I thought I wanted.
I didn’t know where I was headed as I drove. I just wanted to get away from Liam and the person I was while I was clinging to a dead love as much as possible.
After several hours of driving, I stopped at a little motel just outside the city. With beige walls and a floral bedspread that gave it a strangely private vibe, the roo
was simple yet neat. I needed a
place to disappear to.
I spent the afternoon unpacking and organizing my belongings in an attempt to regain some semblance of normalcy. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam. Was he home already? Did you still have the letter?
As evening fell, I sat by the window and looked out at the parking lot below. My phone chimed on the nightstand, and I instinctively reached for it as my pulse skipped a beat. But it wasn’t Liam. The unknown number was it.
“Are you gone? Are you going to be ready to learn everything?
As I stared at the message, my chest tightened. They had always been right about Liam, whoever this was. Their mysterious warnings had compelled me to study and take the required steps to
depart.
My reply to the SMS was “Yes.” “I’m prepared.”
The reaction was almost instantaneous. The same place tomorrow at 12:00
Thé café on Fifth Avenue.
I set the phone down with trembling hands. Tomorrow, I would at last discover the answers 1
sought.
That night, as I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, my mind was a confused tangle. A part of me wanted to turn off my phone, turn off everything, and ignore the unknown number. However, the
other part of me that longed for closure kept me awake at night.
I tried closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing. My heart began to beat steadily, gradually
drowning out the clamor of my thoughts.
I felt the weight of the day before I had even opened my eyes when I woke up early the next
morning. I grabbed my bag after putting on a simple jacket and jeans. I was getting closer to the
reality I wasn’t sure I was ready to face with each mile of the bizarre trip to the cafe.
When I arrived, the usual activity of the café was subdued by the early hour, and it was vacant. I took a seat next to the window and glanced around the room to see if anyone I recognized was
there.
No one approached me as the minutes turned into an hour. When I checked my phone, there were
no new texts.
I was about to leave when someone came in through the open door. My heart jumped into my throat as they approached my table with unreadable looks.
They sat across from me and muttered, “You made it.”
I stared at them with my mind racing. “Who are you?”
Chap 13
13
Their lips curled into a faint smile. “Someone who is more familiar with Liam than you realize.”
Before I could respond, they passed a document across the table. “All the knowledge you need is in this Examine it closely.
I stopped, my hands dangling over the folder. “What are you doing?”
It was a straightforward response: ‘Because you deserve to know the truth.”
Then they stood up and walked away, leaving me with the folder and the fallout from their words.
With shaking hands, I opened the folder and quickly glanced at the first page. The fragile hope I had been holding onto was pierced by every phrase like a razor.
images and financial documents. Emails: Proof.
With a heaving chest, I slammed the folder close. My phone buzzed once again, and an unknown number appeared on the screen.
“You get it now.”
As I stared at the letter, the truth struck me like a stone. There was no going back now
Liam and I were no longer together.
This time, it wasn’t just me who left, it was the final nail in the coffin of all we had built together.
