Regret's Embrace

“For seven years, I lived a quiet life as a musician, believing my wife, Sophia, kept her distance to protect my "fragile artistic temperament." It was a story I told myself, a reason for the cold silence of our marriage. But that carefully constructed world shattered when I overheard her whispering another man' s name in the moonlight-her half-brother, Liam. The whispers festered, revealing a truth more agonizing than I could have imagined: her passion, her longing, was all reserved for him. My heart was ripped to shreds, but the true horror began when Liam, fueled by jealousy and encouraged by Sophia, viciously attacked me. Not only did she abandon me, she even robbed me of my painkillers from the hospital, claiming Liam needed them more for a measly foot injury. I didn't understand. How could the woman I loved disregard my broken ribs so easily, while doting on a spoiled, entitled man-child? Why did my pain mean nothing to her, while his minor discomfort became her world? My life, my very art, had been built on a foundation of lies. Then came the twisted game, a cruel choice forced upon Sophia: save me or Liam. With a gun to my head, and my final words telling her I hoped to never meet her again, she chose him, declaring her unwavering devotion to her brother. I didn't die that day, but the man I was did. Now, free from her toxic embrace, and with hands that may never play guitar again but a spirit finally unbound, I am ready to forge a new path. Sophie, however, is left to face the empty silence of a life without the man who once gave her everything.”