29


    Sienna’s POV


    The door creaked softly as I opened it. Noah’s room was just as always: his toy shelf a little messy, his dinosaur nket half- hanging off the bed, and his crescent–shaped night light casting a dim, sleepy glow. But what caught my attention first was a shiny object on the small table by his bed.


    Transformer X–10.


    Gleaming. Brand new. Its bright blue eyes glowed, its metallic body sleek and solid. I stared at it in silence. This <b>was </b>the robot Noah had been dreaming of -and Emily was <b>the </b>one who gave it to him<b>. </b>


    I pulled another box from a shopping bag. My own Transformer X–10. Identical model. The only difference was the color- Emily’s was metallic blue, mine was a warm <b>maroon</b>. I chose that color because Noah once said red looked like fire<b>, </b>“like a brave hero<b>.</b>”


    I examined both robots, now standing side by side. They looked like brothers. Only… one already had a ce in his heart, and the other might never be touched.


    I took a deep breath and gently ced my gift next to Emily’s. Then I sat on the edge of Noah’s bed. My eyes wandered around the room that used to echo withughter and tiny screams. The ce where I used to read bedtime stories. The ce where I often fell asleep waiting for Noah to drift off first.


    Now, everything felt unfamiliar. Too quiet for a child’s room.


    I stared at the two robots for a long time. In my mind, I saw Noah ying, jumping, cheering, dancing. As if he were still here.


    Slowly, I leaned in and whispered softly, though I was the only one who could hear it.


    “Hi, sweetheart…”


    My throat tightened, but I forced <b>a </b>small smile.


    “Mommy just wanted to say… goodbye.”


    I gently caressed the little pillow with an astronaut print. My fingers clutched its edge tightly.


    “Mommy knows you’re happy <b>now</b>. Mommy knows you feel safer with them… and I won’t take that away from you. I just… I just hope you stay happy. That’s all.”


    Tears welled in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall.


    “If one day you see two identical robots and wonder why there are two… just remember, Mommy wanted to make you happy too. Even if I was toote.”


    I stood slowly. Gave the room onest look.


    “Goodbye, Noah… Mommy will always be here, even if you nevere looking.


    I touched the heads of both robots, as if I were gently patting Noah’s–though he wasn’t there.


    Then I stepped out. Closed the door slowly behind me<b>, </b>leaving a part of my heart in that room…..with a <b>red </b>robot that might never be yed with.


    I returned to my room with slow, deliberate <b>steps</b>, letting the silence of the <b>night </b>be my onlypanion. My suitcase was nearly full, just onest item left–myptop, which I hadn’t packed since yesterday. I touched it briefly, then closed it and ced it carefully among my clothes and notebooks.


    I had thought I’d leave in the morning. Wait for sunrise. Let the daylight clear my thoughts and give me one more reason to hold


    on a little longer. But why? Leaving tomorrow or leaving now… It wouldn’t change anything. No one woulde looking. No one <b>would </b>ask where I’d gone.


    <b>I </b>stood in the middle of the room that had long borne witness to my silence. A room always quiet, even when I cried alone in the corner of the bed. A room Liam never entered. He would stop at the doorway–<b>and </b><b>only </b>if he needed something or wanted to ask about Noah. Never more than that.


    I looked around the room one <bst </b>time. There was nothing <b>special </b>about it. And yet, it was so hard to leave. Maybe because this was the ce where I held on too long. Where I waited, night after night, hoping the door would open, <b>and </b>he’d <b>walk </b>in just to say, “I want to try loving you again.”


    But the door remained still. <b>Just </b>like his heart.


    Quietly, I stepped out, pulling my suitcase behind me with barely a sound. The hallway was dim, the lights already turned low. I paused in front of Liam’s door. Closed. Always closed. I had never known what was behind it.


    I never went in. I never even dared to touch the doorknob. That room was never mine. It belonged to Emily. The ce where she <b>now </b><b>slept </bfortably beside the man I once called my husband. A ce warm withughter <b>and </b>touch–all the things I never had during years of marriage<b>. </b>


    I winced–not out of anger, but because I finally realized how foolish I had been to hold on for so long. Holding on to the hope that love would eventually <b>grow</b>, that one day <b>Liam </b>would open his eyes and see me as someone worthy of being loved. But what I saw was the opposite. <b>Ever </b>since Emily came back, I saw something in Liam that I had never seen before–life. His eyes sparkled, hisughter came easier, his whole being felt more alive.


    I couldn’t me him. Maybe Emily really was his true love. Maybe I had always been just a substitute, someone to fill the empty space that never truly opened itself to me.


    I continued walking down the stairs. The house was silent, with only the ticking of the wall clock and the <b>sound </b>of my heartbeat echoing in the stillness. I slowly opened the front door. The night air greeted me with a chill <b>that</b>, strangely, felt strengthening


    A taxi waited at the gate. The driver got out and helped me load the suitcase into the trunk. I stood still for a moment in front of the house, looking at it onest time.


    The house I once believed was my home. The house I cleaned every day, the house where I raised Noah, the house I decorated and cared for as if I would live there forever. But in the end, this house was never mine. And I was never truly part of anything inside it.


    Goodbye, I whispered in my heart. But no tears came–not tonight.