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    Sienna’s POV


    My steps felt heavy as I finally reached Liliana’s apartment door. My hand trembled, struggling to press the passcode. I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from being too exhausted trying to keep everything looking


    like it was okay.


    The moment the door opened, warmth from inside greeted me. But it wasn’t a healing kind of warmth. It felt


    more like a p-reminding me how far I had drifted from the life that used to feel so orderly.


    I stepped inside slowly. The usual scent of cinnamon and vani that used to calm me now felt foreign. Everything looked neat, warm,fortingpletely the opposite of the chaos swirling inside me. I took off my jacket and dropped it carelessly on the couch, something I normally would never do. But tonight, I didn’t


    have the energy to be the best version of myself.


    My steps stopped at therge window facing the street. Headlights from passing cars danced across the wall in shifting shadows. I stood there for a long moment, staring out at a world that kept moving forward, indifferent to who was breaking, who was leaving, and who was barely holding on with what strength they had left.


    I took a deep breath, but it only made the tightness in my chest worse. I slowly sank onto the couch, and just like that, every wall I had built came crashing down. My shoulders shook-not from the cold, but from a grief I


    could no longer hide.


    I thought I was strong enough. I thought that if I walked far enough from the past, I could heal. But the truth was, the wounds Liam left behind couldn’t be measured by time or distance. Every word he said earlier-his apologies, his toote promises-cut me again. Not because I still hoped, but because I once built my hopes entirely on him. And now, only the ruins remained.


    I thought of Noah. Of his little face that always gave me the will to keep going, even when the world seemed intent on tearing me down. I thought of how one day I would have to exin everything to him. That love isn’t always enough to make two people stay. That some things matter more than just going back. Like dignity. Like


    peace.


    My phone buzzed. A message from Liliana asking if I’d arrived. I typed a short reply, then leaned my head against the back of the couch. For now, I just wanted silence. To merge with the quiet night, which felt far more


    honest than all the words Liam had ever said to me.


    The tears still fell-slow and silent-but I let them. Because maybe for the first time, I didn’t want to appear


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    strong. Maybe tonight, I just wanted to be an ordinary woman with a broken heart-no pressure to get up, no need to exin why I had to leave.


    I tried to move quietly, not wanting to wake anyone, but a small voice came from behind the couch. “Sienna?”


    It was hoarse and sleepy. Liliana.


    She sat up, rubbed her eyes, then stood and walked toward me. “You’re back?” she asked gently, but I didn’t get


    the chance to answer.


    I was standing just inside the entrance, my body trembling, and before I could respond… I broke.


    The sob tore from my throat, loud and uncontroble. I copsed to my knees, covering my face with both hands, my body shaking with sobs I hadn’t let out until now. My crying echoed through the small room. It hurt. It hurt so much. I couldn’t hold anything back anymore.


    “Oh my God… Sienna!”


    Liliana immediately knelt down and wrapped her arms around me without saying a word. She didn’t ask


    questions. She didn’t offer advice. She just held me, letting me drown in the tears that had been waiting so long


    to escape. My tears soaked her shoulder, my sobs mixed with breathless gasps. But she didn’t mind. She just


    kept stroking my back gently, patiently, like she wasbing through all the rot I had left to fester inside for


    too long.


    Amid the subsiding sobs, I heard the steady rhythm of her breath. The sound of her heartbeat was clear in my


    ear, grounding me with the reminder that I wasn’t alone-at least not tonight. That there was still someone


    willing to be a safe ce when the rest of the world only demanded strength from me without pause.


    “I hate all of this,” I whispered, barely audible, more to myself than to her. “I hate my own feelings. I hate that


    I’m still hoping, even though I know I should walk away.


    Liliana simply nodded, as if to say: It’s okay. Hate is okay. You’re human.


    I wiped my face with both hands. My breathing was still shaky, my chest aching like I’d just run too far without knowing where I was going. But the pain eased just a little. Not gone, but enough to let me breathe.


    “I thought I could get through all of this alone,” I muttered, my eyes still puffy. “But I can’t, Liliana. I’m too tired.”


    This time, she responded, her voice almost a hug:


    “You don’t have to do it alone, Sienna. It’s okay to be tired. It’s okay to be angry. It’s okay to fall apart. And you


    11:18 AM Tue 2 Sep