Michael's POV
"Mom, please don't leave... come back..."
My voice broke in the darkness as I reached out desperately, but the door slammed shut before I could take a single step.
I jerked awake, heart hammering against my ribs, sweat coating my skin.
The alarm screamed beside me like it was trying to drag me from more than just sleep.
4:30 AM.
I slapped it silent and sat there gasping, trying to piece together why that nightmare had returned after all these years.
I hadn't thought about her in forever. I'd buried that chapter of my life so deep I almost convinced myself it never existed.
But her face remained vivid as daylight.
That morning when she packed her suitcases, screamed that she was finished with us, and walked out to start fresh with another man. She never looked back once. Just told me that my father would get the divorce papers from her attorney, then slammed the door like we meant nothing.
