His Secret Shame

war zone, filled with heavy silences and the low hum of resentment. He sl

s together, not as a foundat

a decade. And you throw it all

best friend. We were havin

PR executive, married to a tech millionaire. She knew manipulation when she saw it. "Rememb

te to escape his working-class roots. I remembered falling for his am

ered, the words tasting like a

t bad," she said, squeezing my hand. "Cut you

of my old life, the life before the accident. He was there in the hospital after. He he

passes to the Austin City Limits festival months ago. They were supposed to be his

on a dress he liked, cooked

g at the table. He just dropped his

. "Liam, can w

cold, indifferent ma

rsary," I said,

r the stunt you pulled with Chl

Everything was my fault.

a desperate, final p

flicker of the boy I once knew. A hint of guilt in

He offered a transactional solution. "Look, I'll pay

stunned. "You think

ted to create distance, to make it formal and final. "Ava Mari

shouted, the words I'd held back for so long finally erupting. "Bec

wer. He just

oing?" I asked,

right now." He walked past me

u know, you're so selfish. You always make

licked shut, leavin

at my phone, hoping he'd c

17 AM. It was a long, sel

for the kind of commitment you want. It's not you, it's me. I'm broken. You d

ngers trembling. After ten ye

ack a sin

ka