"Let's meet soon… I can't endure this pretense any longer. Hold me, embrace me with warmth. My longing has been eating me alive, tearing at me every night and day…"
"Liam… what exactly is your relationship with that girl?" Clara's voice rang out, cold and cutting, her words sharpened by jealousy but trembling with desperate curiosity.
Liam didn't look up. He was crouched over the wooden table, his hands busy clearing away the leftover stems of freshly cut flowers. His movements were precise, deliberate, as though focusing on them could shield him from her presence. "That's none of your business, Clara. Leave. I'm closing the shop."
Clara stepped closer, her shoes making soft taps against the tiled floor. She stared at his back, the way his shoulders tensed yet refused to turn toward her. "No, Liam. The way you looked at her… it was the same way you once looked at me." Her voice cracked, the fragile mask of composure breaking. "Tell me the truth, are you seeing her?"
The scissors in Liam's hand froze midair. A heavy silence stretched between them before he set them down carefully on the table. He straightened, then turned, his gaze meeting hers at last. His eyes were like winter cold, unyielding, yet carrying the heavy shadow of pain.
"Whether I'm dating her or not," he said, his tone low but unwavering, "is not something you have the right to ask."
Clara's breath hitched. Her fingers intertwined tightly, knuckles white. "Of course it's my right!" she burst out suddenly, her voice trembling yet loud, her emotions spilling uncontrollably. "Because I… I still love you, Liam!"
The confession landed heavily in the room, but instead of joy, it pressed down on Liam's chest like a crushing weight. He stared at her, silence wrapping around them until finally his words broke free, ragged with fury and grief.
"If you truly loved me, Clara… you would never have abandoned me when I was fighting tooth and nail for us!"
Clara flinched, her pale face paling even more. "I—"
"Do you remember, Clara?" Liam's voice rose, each word dripping with anguish. He stepped forward, closing the space between them, his presence looming with intensity. "I worked day and night, barely sleeping. I took extra jobs, sacrificed every ounce of strength I had. I thought I was building a life for us—working so you'd never have to feel the sting of poverty again. But what did I get in return?"
His hands trembled at his sides, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. "While I believed I was fighting for both of us, you had already sought comfort in someone else's arms. And not just anyone's arms—but my closest friend's."
Clara's eyes brimmed with tears. She bowed her head, voice barely audible. "Liam… I was afraid. I was tired of living with so little. He promised me stability, comfort… things you couldn't give me at the time."
"So that was it?" Liam laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and sharp, echoing like broken glass. "Because I was poor? Because I couldn't buy you the trinkets and luxuries you craved? Every coin I saved, Clara, every late night I endured, every hunger I ignored—I carried your face in my heart. I thought of you with every sacrifice. And all along, to you, happiness was nothing more than money."
Clara shook her head violently, tears spilling freely down her cheeks. "No, Liam, that's not it! I made a mistake, I was weak, I—"
"You weren't weak," Liam cut in, his tone like steel. "You made a choice. A deliberate, conscious choice. You chose to walk away. You chose to stand beside him, while I collapsed under the weight of everything I carried alone. Don't call it weakness. Don't call it a mistake. It was betrayal. And do you realize what that means, Clara? It wasn't just anyone—it was the two people I trusted most. The two people I loved most. Both of you betrayed me."
The words tore through the air like thunder. The little flower shop fell into a suffocating silence. Only the soft hiccups of Clara's sobs and the relentless ticking of the wall clock dared to intrude.
At last, Liam drew a long, shaky breath. His chest rose and fell heavily as he turned away, reaching for the light switches. One by one, the lamps above dimmed, casting the shop into gathering shadows. "Clara, don't come here anymore. Stop haunting me with your presence. The love you so carelessly threw away back then is not something you can simply ask to reclaim now. You chose your path, Clara. You walked it. And you cannot drag me back into the ruins you left behind."
Clara reached out desperately, trying to close the distance, her trembling fingers stretching toward him. But Liam stepped back swiftly, creating an invisible wall.
"Go," he whispered, his voice soft but colder than ice, every syllable laced with exhaustion and pain. "I've already lost too much—my time, my energy, my heart. I will not lose anything more to you."
Her body shook, her tears falling endlessly, but her legs refused to move. She stood frozen, watching as Liam walked past her. The jingle of the shop door echoed, followed by the sharp click of the lock turning behind her. And then, silence. Clara was left alone on the quiet street, the dusk sky pressing down like a cold shroud, the air heavier than ever before.
Inside, Liam's heart raced. He pressed his hand against the counter, steadying himself, but he knew he couldn't linger. As soon as the shop was shut, he rushed outside, his feet carrying him quickly toward the direction where Sera had walked earlier. His mind burned with one desperate thought: I have to find her. I have to explain. Even if she rejects me, at least she'll know the truth. At least I'll have tried.
But when Liam reached the street, his chest heaving, the world around him was still. The road was empty, the soft glow of evening lamps falling on nothing but silence. Sera was gone, vanished into the distance. Swallowed by the night.
And with her absence, Liam felt another piece of himself slip away.