Forgotten Wife: My Ex-Husband Regrets It After I Left novel Chapter 131

131

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Sienna’s POV

I walked slowly down the corridor of the house, now so silent. Each step felt heavy, as if I were leaving something unresolved back in the living room. Liam’s goodnight still echoed in my ears, simple, yet layered with emotions I couldn’t fully decipher.

I opened the bedroom door quietly. Sitting at the edge of the bed, I stared at the empty wall and let out a long sigh. My body was tired, yet my mind only grew louder.

The coffee I’d had earlier did nothing to calm me. On the contrary, every second I spent in this house made me more aware that I was standing at a great crossroads.

I closed my eyes, trying to picture Noah’s face. His sleep was always peaceful, as if the world had no sharp teeth to wound him. Noah was the reason I kept standing, the reason I hadn’t given up. I had promised him earlier that I wouldn’t leave again. That promise was heavy, but sincere. Yet what good is a promise if my own heart was still haunted by doubt?

I leaned back against the cold headboard. My left hand rested over my stomach while my right hand fidgeted with the folds of the sheet, as though searching for something solid to hold onto amidst the chaos in my chest. The ticking of the clock was painfully clear, each second reminding me that time was moving on, that I couldn’t keep hiding in this uncertainty.

Shadows of the past came and went. Arguments, cold stares, long silences that used to stretch between Liam and me. Those wounds hadn’t fully healed, even if tonight he promised to change. A promise both sweet and dangerous. Hadn’t I heard the same before?

I drew in a deep breath, trying to push the thought away. But the more I resisted, the stronger it gripped me. I didn’t want to live bound by the past anymore, yet I couldn’t deny that it was real, that it had once hurt me deeply.

My eyes shifted to the small suitcase in the corner of the room. I had packed it half–full, just in case I needed to leave on short notice. Merely looking at it was enough to tighten my chest. That suitcase felt like the symbol of the uncertainty I still carried: one step could mean staying, another step could mean leaving again.

I shut my eyes tighter, and Noah’s face appeared. His innocent smile, his little laugh when he showed off his new bag, or the way his eyes lit up when he said he couldn’t wait to start at his new school. All of it anchored me, keeping my feet from slipping too far.

“For Noah.” I whispered to myself. The words were soft, but they gave me a little strength. I knew that whatever I chose, Noah had to remain at the center. I couldn’t let my emotions toward Liam cloud my duty as a mother.

I rolled onto my side and pulled the blanket up to my chin. Yet even wrapped in warmth, my heart stayed cold. I pictured Liam in another room, maybe sitting alone with an empty cup of coffee. Maybe he couldn’t sleep either, maybe he was thinking of ways to make me trust again.

That question returned, do I still love him? I bit my lip, holding back the sting of tears. The answer wasn’t as simple as “yes” or “no.” The love was still there, I felt it every time I saw how he treated Noah, or the way his eyes kept seeking mine even in small moments. But that love was cloaked in fear now, fear it might all be an illusion, fear that the old wounds would split open again, deeper, more painful.

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131

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I rubbed my face with both hands and finally let the tears fall. Not many, just enough to remind me how tired I was of holding everything in. I wanted to believe, to give Liam a chance, but I also wanted to protect myself.

Slowly, drowsiness crept in. My mind was still noisy, but my body surrendered. Half–asleep, I whispered a short prayer: “God, give me strength. Don’t let me take the wrong step again.”

Liam.

Just his name was enough to make my chest tremble. I knew he was sincere. The way he looked at me, the way he held my hand earlier, none of it was just empty words. But old wounds never truly vanish. They were still there, and I was terrified that if I took the wrong step, they would reopen, deeper and more unbearable than before.

I lay down, eyes fixed on the ceiling. My hand grazed the cool sheet. Longing pulled at me, to share this bed with him again, to feel warmth instead of simply sitting together in the living room. Yet fear shadowed me too, what would happen if I surrendered too quickly to these feelings?

I wanted to believe that Liam had truly changed, that he genuinely wanted to fix things. But my mind kept circling back to Emily, to a past that couldn’t simply be erased.

Am I strong enough to face it all? Can I endure without losing myself again?

My eyes burned, and finally the tears came. Just one or two, but enough to squeeze my chest tight. I wiped them away quickly, as though hiding them, though no one was here, only me and the silence of the night.

I turned toward the window. The curtain hung half–open, letting in the dim glow of the streetlight outside. The world beyond moved on as usual, while inside here, I was trapped in a storm no one else could see.

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