38
50%
38
Liam’s POV
Noah’s small body trembled, tears rolling down his cheeks one by one. Suddenly, I feltpletely hollow.
This pain… it wasn’t just about Sienna.
It was about Noah too.
About the wounds I had now passed down to our son… because of my own blindness.
My mother rushed to Noah, kneeling and pulling him into her arms, gently stroking his hair as his sobs broke
through the silence.
“Mommy’s just resting, sweetheart…” my mother whispered gently. “Maybe… she’lle hometer.”
Noah’s sobs began to fade in her arms, though his breathing remained shaky. His small body trembled, and I
could see—just by how tightly he clutched the red robot-that something was weighing on his mind.
Then… his fragile voice broke the silence. Thin, like a thread about to snap.
“Did Mommy leave because I got… mad?” he asked haltingly, eyes downcast.
I straightened, frozen as I stared at him.
“I told her her cooking was bad… I didn’t want to eat it… Is Mommy mad at me?”
The world stopped again. Every inch of my body turned to ice.
My mother, who had been trying to remain calm, only pulled Noah closer. There were no words left, because we
both knew-this wasn’t Noah’s fault.
He was far too young to bear guilt this heavy.
“Mommy wouldn’t get mad at that…” I tried to speak, but my voice was hoarse. In truth, I wasn’t even sure l
believed my own words.
Noah looked up at me with wide, ssy eyes-afraid, yet hopeful. As if silently pleading for reassurance I couldn’t fully give. “But… I said that, and then Mommy left,” he whispered. His words felt like nails slowly
driven into my heart.
11:13 AM Tue 2 Sep
38
50%
I shook my head slowly, fighting the storm inside me. “It’s not your fault, Noah. Mommy didn’t leave because of you. Mommy loves you… so much. You have to know that.”
He nodded, but I could tell he didn’t truly understand. How could a child his age grasp theplexity of adult emotions? But right now, he didn’t need exnations-he needed certainty. And I was the only one who could
give him that, even if I was falling apart myself.
My mother gently stroked Noah’s hair. “You’re a good boy, Noah. Mommy loves you no matter what.”
The three of us sat in silence. It was a heavy silence, like thick fog pressing down on us. I don’t know how long
we stayed there, apanied only by the slow ticking of the wall clock. But something inside me shifted that
night.
I looked up at my mother. “Mom… if she’s really gone… I don’t know what to do.”
For the first time, I saw her eyes falter. “You’re alive, Liam. And as long as you’re still breathing, you can make
things right. Don’t wait until it’s toote.”
I nodded-not because I was sure, but because I knew there was no other choice. I didn’t yet know where Sienna
had gone, or if I’d ever find her again. But I knew one thing-I couldn’t sit here and let guilt rot my life like a
disease.
Noah leaned his head on my shoulder. “I miss Mommy…”
I closed my eyes. “Me too, kiddo. Me too.”
And then…
The front door opened.
Emily walked in with a small bag over her shoulder, her sunsses pushed up on her head. She stopped cold when she saw us in the living room.
“What’s going on?” she asked, lowering her sunsses. Her eyes went straight to Noah-to the object in his
arms.
The robot. Bright red. Emily squinted. “Huh? Since when is the robot red? I bought the blue one.”
I froze.
And just like a lightning strike, realization shed through me.
11:13 AM
38
Tue 2 sep
50%
“Didn’t… Aunt Emily buy it?” Noah asked innocently, looking at the robot.
Emily shrugged. “Pretty sure it was blue. We picked it out together yesterday, remember? Why is it red?”
I didn’t answer.
Because now, I knew.
Sienna had bought that robot. Not Emily.
That red robot-gifted by someone who was always quietly present, never counted, but always giving. Someone invisible, yet the center of everything.
And suddenly, Noah began crying again.
“It’s from Mommy, isn’t it?” he said, voice breaking and shaking the room. “It has to be from Mommy, right?” he cried out, clutching the robot tighter as if afraid it, too, might vanish.
I couldn’t bear to look at him. Something inside me shattered. Regret. Shame. Despair.
I had lost her.
And only now did I realize… who truly mattered in this house.
Emily nced at my wrinkled shirt. Her brow furrowed slightly before she asked, “You’re not going to the
office today, Liam?”
I didn’t answer right away. My eyes remained on Noah, still curled up in Mom’sp, his sobs soft but piercing.
Emily let out a faint huff, then looked me up and down. “Your shirt’s… seriously wrinkled.”
Her gaze shifted to my mother. “Morning, Mrs. Wilson,” she said politely, with a thin smile that felt more like formality than genuine warmth,
Mom turned briefly and gave her a small nod without a word. Her attention was still on Noah.
Emily walked past us without a second nce, as if nothing had happened. As if Noah’s tears didn’t matter. As if everything in this room was just dust she could walk through without care.
She disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
I stood there, unmoving, listening to the quiet sobs of my son. And as Emily’s door clicked shut, the house felt
even more hollow.
11:13 AM Tue 2 Sep
38
Not because there was no sound, but because there was no heart.
50
+15 B
1
GET IT N…
11:13 AM
Tue 2 Sep
30
6 50%