Hayley
My back thumps against the wall as my legs give out beneath me, and I slide down until I’m sitting on the carpet.

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I can see Kaden’s lips moving, so I know he’s talking to me, but there’s a buzzing in my ears and his words come through like static. I just stare at him, knowing I should say something, but the words won’t come. They sit heavy in my chest, stuck somewhere between my heart and my throat.

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Eventually, he stops. The sound of his voice disappears, and what’s left behind is a silence that feels louder than the shouting we started with.

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It wraps around us, thick and tense, and I can feel it closing in. My thoughts are a mess. I try to find something to say, anything that might make this better, but every thought feels like it crashes into a wall. Nothing makes sense. Nothing feels right.

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He’s still staring at me. Waiting. Hoping. I can feel the weight of his gaze pressing against my skin, and it’s too much. I close my eyes because I can’t handle the way he’s looking at me. Not like that.

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Behind my eyelids, memories flash by in a blur.

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Nine years.

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Laughter. Late-night talks. The feeling of his arms around me. The sound of our son’s giggles. The way we used to dream about the future like it was already ours.

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We made promises back then. Quiet ones. Honest ones. They felt unbreakable at the time.

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But now they feel distant. Like they belong to someone else. A different version of us. A different life.

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A tear slips from the corner of my eye, sliding down my cheek.

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And all I can think is… how did it all go so wrong?