Without hesitation, he had helped her out of the room, careful not to disturb me. In the living room, his voice had dropped to a deliberate whisper, a tone reserved only for her.
"Don’t be afraid. I’ll stay in your room tonight.”
Before stepping into the guest room, he glanced back at me. With a deliberate motion, he closed the door behind him as if sealing me out of his world.
That night, the storm outside raged with thunder and lightning, but it couldn’t compete with the storm inside me. Beyond the closed door, Kael held another woman, whispering words meant for her ears alone.
He thought I was asleep. He thought I couldn’t hear.
When Kaia leaned in to kiss him, he didn’t resist. Instead, he returned the kiss, their passion igniting with an intensity I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Separated by two doors, I sat on the edge of my bed, hugging my knees tightly as tears carved silent trails down my cheeks.
A memory crept into my mind, sharp and uninvited. Six years ago, when Kael and I first started dating, he had kissed me while drunk. His lips brushed mine, and he mumbled something, soft, incoherent.
I had convinced myself he was murmuring my name. But no matter how many times I replayed it, the sound didn’t fit.
Looking back now, it was clear. He hadn’t been calling my name. It was hers.
Shaking off the memory, I forced myself to move. I turned off my computer, extinguished the light in the study, and headed for the bedroom.
“Skylar.”
I turned slowly.
Kael stood there, his posture casual but his expression uneasy. Dressed in loose pajamas, he looked at me with something that resembled worry.
“You’ve been different lately,” he said, his words deliberate, his tone unsure. “Is something bothering you? You seem distant. We promised to talk about everything always, remember? Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
For a moment, his presence was disarming. The way he looked at me and spoke felt like a shadow of the man I had fallen for all those years ago.
That year, on a rainy afternoon, we had accidentally swapped umbrellas. Kael stood across from me, a gentle smile lighting up his face.
“Skylar, doesn’t this feel like something straight out of a love story? Us taking the wrong umbrellas, it has to be fate, don’t you think?”
Back then, his words sent my heart racing, his voice weaving dreams of romance.
But now, that same voice left me hollow.