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    Sienna’s POV


    I cried for myself. For all those years I waited for someone who never even realized I was bleeding. For years I tried to be enough for someone who never truly wanted to see me.


    And now… now that he finally turned to look at me, I am already too tired.


    My phone buzzed again. But this time, I didn’t want to look at it. Didn’t want to know. I needed time for myself. To reweave the shattered pieces of my heart. To rebuild the self-worth that once crumbled, piece by piece.


    Iy down on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. The world felt quiet, but for the first time, the silence didn’t scare me.


    Because now I know… I still have myself.


    I let my body sink deeper into the sofa. Thete afternoon air slipped in through the slightly opened window, carrying the scent of freshly fallen rain. Outside, the sky was still gray, as if it too felt the weight on my chest. But I wasn’t crying anymore. That earlier cry had been myst one today-or at least I hoped so. This time, it wasn’t about losing someone, but about finally finding myself.


    All this time, I had lived in his shadow. Everything I did, every small decision to every major sacrifice, revolved around him. I shaped myself based on what he needed, not what I wanted. I was so busy adapting that I forgot how to stand tall as my own person. And now, with everything broken and nothing left to prove to him, all that’s left is me… and the emptiness that slowly


    feels less frightening.


    I rose slowly and walked to the kitchen. I filled a ss with water and took small sips. Every simple movement felt like a new beginning. cing the ss in the sink, opening the window wider, brushing away crumbs from the table. Simple routines, but today they held a different meaning. No longer just automatic motions to wee someone who was never truly present. But for <ol><li> Just for me. </li></ol>


    My phone still lit up on the table, vibrating asionally. The name on the screen remained the same, repeating like the ticking of the wall clock-relentless, but no longer moving me. I used to reply instantly. No matter how many times he ignored me before, I was always the first to forgive, the one who ran back to his arms even though they were lined with thorns. But not today.


    I chose to sit by the window, hugging my knees, letting the breeze touch my tear-stained face. There were birds chirping in the distance, from who knows where. The silence I once feared had now turned into peace. Maybe being alone wasn’t always a bad thing. Maybe this was the universe’s way of asking me toe home-not to a ce or a person, but to myself.


    I closed my eyes. Remembering who I was before all of this began. Sienna whoughed at simple things. Who stayed upte reading because she loved stories. Who danced alone in her room without caring who saw. That girl… she’s still here. Buried, but not gone. And starting tonight, I’ll slowly bring her back, gently, like weing an old friend.


    Because if the world refuses to choose me, at the very least, I will choose myself.


    An hourter, I got up and went to the kitchen. I reheated the porridge Liliana had made that morning. Steam rose slowly from the


    11:19 AM


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    Tue 2 Sep


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    bowl, oddly calming me. Something so simple… yet so full of care. Something that had long been missing.


    I ate slowly, savoring each spoonful. Not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to learn how to give myself the appreciation I


    never received from others.


    After eating, I cleaned the table and washed my hands. Then I walked to the guest room I had been staying in. Inside, there was a soft bed, warm pillows, and a space that never demanded me to be the “perfect wife.”


    I sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath.


    I know this is just the beginning. The wound hasn’t healed. But at least today, I stood on my own. Today, I was able to say no to


    going back to someone who onlyes when he feels he’s lost something. Today, I chose myself.


    This is the first step toward freedom.


    Tonight, maybe I’ll cry again. But that’s okay. Because I know, tomorrow always brings a new chance.


    One day, someday, I know love wille again. Not out of guilt… but because he truly sees me. Loves me. Just as I am.


    I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, simply staring at my empty hands folded in myp. The clock ticked on, a sound that


    usually went unnoticed, now sounded like a slow, painful reminder of time passing. I didn’t know how long I had been in this


    room, apanied only by the silence and my own thoughts. But for the first time, I let it be. I weed the silence instead of


    resisting it.


    Usually, during moments like this, I would look for distractions-pick up my phone, call someone, bury myself in work. But not


    this time. This time, I chose to sit still with the wounds I had been hiding.


    Liam wants me toe back. That sentence kept echoing in my head. Creeping in like a whisper, tempting me to feel regret. But I didn’t regret it. What I regretted was staying too long in a ce that never gave me meaning.


    Do I love Liam?


    Once, I loved him with every breath in me. I loved him in a way that made me forget how to love myself. I let myself be hurt, belittled, even forgotten, simply because I was afraid of losing him. But what I never realized was-I had already lost, long before I truly walked away.


    I lost myself. Love had once made me feel warm. But when Liam turned into a stranger before my eyes, that love slowly turned into pain. One wound at a time.


    I heard the phone vibrate on the small table next to the bed. I turned, nced at the screen as it lit up briefly, then went dark again.


    Liam.


    Again.


    I’d lost count of how many messages he’d sent today. I didn’t even care what he wanted to say anymore. I didn’t want to read it— not now. Not when I was trying to hold the line, to stop myself from being tempted again by something I once called home.


    11:19 AM Tue 2 Sep