Shattered Silence
For a moment…
Ella couldn't move.
Her world had stopped the second she saw him.
Her mind turned blank—like a fog had swallowed every thought, every word, every breath.
Ethan.
After ten years…
Standing right in front of her.
---
Her fingers loosened around the file in her hand.
It slipped slightly… but she didn't notice.
Because all she could see… was him.
And all she could feel… was the past crashing into her present.
---
A sudden sting burned behind her eyes.
Before she could stop it—
A tear fell.
Then another.
Silently tracing down her cheeks.
---
Across the table…
Liana saw everything.
And smiled.
---
Slowly… deliberately… she stood up.
Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked toward Ella.
Each step calculated.
Each second… cruel.
---
She leaned slightly closer.
Close enough for her voice to be heard only by Ella.
---
"Still weak…" Liana whispered, her lips curving.
"Even after all these years."
---
Ella didn't respond.
She couldn't.
---
Then Liana leaned in further… her voice dropping into something sharper.
---
"You should know something," she said softly.
"He's not yours anymore."
A pause.
A smirk.
---
"He's mine now."
---
Ella's breath hitched.
Her heart… stopped.
---
Liana's next words cut deeper than anything before.
---
"Every night… he comes back to me."
---
Something inside Ella shattered.
Completely.
---
Her feet suddenly felt… numb.
Like the ground beneath her had disappeared.
Like she was falling—
but still standing.
---
Her gaze flickered… just once… toward Ethan.
But his expression didn't change.
Not a single reaction.
Not a single denial.
---
That silence…
hurt more than anything.
---
Ella swallowed hard.
Her throat burned.
But she didn't say a word.
---
Because what was there left to say?
---
Without looking back…
Without defending herself…
Without breaking further in front of them—
---
She turned.
And walked out of Sterling Corporation.
---
Outside
The sky had changed.
Dark clouds had gathered… as if the world itself understood.
---
And then—
Rain.
---
Heavy.
Relentless.
Unforgiving.
---
Within seconds, Ella was drenched.
Her hair clung to her face.
Her clothes soaked through.
But she didn't stop.
---
She kept walking.
Step after step.
No destination.
No direction.
---
Just away.
Away from him.
Away from the pain.
Away from everything she thought she had buried.
---
Her tears mixed with the rain.
Invisible.
Endless.
---
"Why now…?" she whispered, her voice breaking.
"Why again…"
---
Her chest tightened.
Her breathing uneven.
Her heart refusing to calm down.
---
And then—
Her phone rang.
---
The sound felt distant at first.
Like it belonged to another world.
---
But it kept ringing.
Again.
And again.
---
With trembling fingers…
Ella pulled it out.
Her vision blurred.
Not from the rain.
From the tears she couldn't stop.
---
She looked at the screen.
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"Mom"
---
Her breath caught.
---
For a second…
She couldn't move.
---
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Shaking.
Hesitating.
---
Because she knew…
The moment she answered—
She would have to pretend.
Pretend she was okay.
Pretend nothing had broken.
Pretend she wasn't standing in the rain…
falling apart.
---
Her lips trembled.
---
"I can't…" she whispered.
"But I have to…"
---
Slowly…
With a hand that refused to steady—
---
She tapped accept.
---
"Hello… mom…"
---
And her voice—
Finally broke.