57


    Sienna’s POV


    I shook my head slowly. “I loved you, Liam. I did. But I’m just too tired now. My love for you has long burned out. I can’t go back to a ce that broke me-slowly, every single day. I have to choose to love myself this


    time.”


    He looked at me like he wanted to beg. But no words came out.


    “Don’t ask me toe back just because you feel empty. I know what it’s like to live with someone who doesn’t love me the way I loved them. I don’t want Noah to see that and think that’s what love looks like.”


    I picked up my small bag and stood. “Thank you for being honest, Liam. But this… it’s toote.”


    Before I turned away, I caught a glimpse of the broken expression on his face. But I knew-if I stayed there any longer, I would fall into the same wound again.


    I wouldn’t let that happen again.


    I walked out of the café with quick steps, as if the ss walls would copse behind me if I dyed even for a second. The soft sound of the door closing behind me felt like a sign that the conversation was truly over. That I had closed a door I’d spent far too long hoping would open for me.


    The morning wind was still blowing gently, but I didn’t feel the coolness. Instead, my chest felt full. Tight. As if I were carrying a backpack filled with all the memories and wounds I never had the chance to unpack. I didn’t cry. Not yet. But the feeling was there, building like waves held back by crumbling rocks.


    My steps stopped at the edge of the sidewalk. I looked toward Liliana’s apartment-the ce I now considered safe, or at least safer than the house I once shared with Liam. That house was never truly mine. I was only borrowing space in the emptiness.


    My phone vibrated. One message came through. From Liam.


    [I’m sorry.]


    Two words. Simple. But not enough to heal a wound that deep.


    I exhaled slowly, holding back the tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. Why only now? Why did it take me leaving for him to realize something was missing? Why does it always take losing someone to see who’s really been there all along?


    11:18 AM Tue 2 Sep


    50%


    57


    I continued walking. Slowly. My head down, and every step felt heavy. I couldn’t imagine walking back into Liliana’s apartment with my mind this nk. But I also knew-I couldn’t go back to the past just because someone now feels suffocated without me.


    In my heart, I knew I’d made the right choice. But knowing and living with it are two different things. The pain still lingers, even when you know it’s for the best. That’s love, isn’t it? It’s not always logical. It stays even


    when it should’ve died. Ites uninvited. And when it leaves, it leaves a void that no one else can fill.


    I reached the apartment building, pressed the elevator button without really thinking. Inside the elevator, I caught my reflection in the metallic walls. Puffy eyes. A tired face. A chest rising and falling with breaths that


    still hadn’t steadied.


    The elevator chimed softly when it reached Liliana’s floor. I stepped out and opened the door gently. The apartment was quiet, warm, andfortable. So different from the big house I once called home-a house that


    felt more like a lifeless museum.


    I hung my jacket by the door, took off my shoes without a sound. My steps felt light yet hollow, like my body


    moved faster than the thoughts I had left behind in that café. A faint scent of tea lingered from the kitchen,


    maybe from when Liliana had made a cup earlier, or maybe she was still in her room. But I didn’t call out to her.


    I just needed silence. Stillness, to hold myself together.


    into


    I walked to the sofa and sat down slowly, staring nkly at the ceiling. My body felt too tired to cry, too drained to think through something that was supposedly over. But was it really over? Or had I just tucked it away the deepest drawer of my heart so it wouldn’t interfere with my day?


    I hugged the pillow beside me, pulling my knees to my chest like a child seeking safety. Then I just sat there, letting time pass, letting the grief creep in-this time without resistance. Because resisting only prolongs the


    pain. Today, I chose to acknowledge it.


    My phone vibrated quietly in my bag. I nced at the screen. Just a message from the work group, discussing next week’s presentation. The world keeps moving, just as it always does. It doesn’t stop for heartbreak. For loss. For those still learning to breathe in the ruins of their own lives. And maybe that’s what makes it all so heavy-because there’s never time to truly pause.


    I stood up, walked to the kitchen, poured myself a ss of water, and drank it slowly. Just in water, but at a time like this, it felt like a remedy. For a moment, I leaned against the counter, closed my eyes, letting the quiet wrap around everything. No voices. Just the ticking of the clock and the steady beat of my heart finally starting


    to calm.


    11:18 AM Tue 2 Sep


    50%


    I thought of Noah. His face, hisughter, the way he hugged me without conditions. He was the only reason I kept going. The only reason I had the courage to leave a rtionship that had long stopped being healthy, even if I still carried love in it. Because true love should never make you feel alone.


    I know there’s still a lot I have to think about, still so much to fight for. I know there will be long, lonely nights. Mornings greeted by tears. Days when I’ll have to pretend I’m okay for the world. But that’s okay. Because today, for the first time, I chose myself.


    11:18 AM Tue 2 Sep