Chapter 39
A House Full of Silence
(Jay's POV)
Boxes lined the hallway.
Suitcases stacked in the corner.
Serina was busy arranging things.
Everything felt too perfect.
Too controlled.
I followed behind her.
Trying to smile.
Trying to act normal.
"Jay, this room will be yours," she said gently.
I nodded.
"Yes, aunty."
But my chest felt heavy.
Like I was carrying bricks.
The thought of him…
Upstairs…
In his own house…
While everyone celebrated my engagement…
It felt like knives in my heart.
I arranged my things.
Folded my clothes.
Placed a few books on the shelf.
Pretending I was just moving in.
Pretending nothing else mattered.
"Jay, dinner will be ready soon," Serina said, smiling.
I nodded.
"Yes, aunty."
I tried to eat.
But my appetite was gone.
My mind kept drifting…
To him.
Keifer.
He had announced he would leave abroad.
After the marriage.
I couldn't stop shaking.
I walked to the window.
Looked down at the garden.
Hoping to see him.
Hoping… somehow… he would appear.
But nothing.
I clenched my fists.
My nails dug into my palms.
"Jay?"
Serina's voice.
I turned.
"Yes?"
She smiled knowingly.
"He's upstairs. He'll eat in his room."
I froze.
My heart dropped.
"I… I should check on him," I whispered.
"No," she said softly.
"Let him be for now. He needs space."
I wanted to argue.
I wanted to storm upstairs.
I wanted to shake him.
To ask him…
To beg him…
To not leave me.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
Dinner started.
Voices filled the room.
Kasper talked about the wedding.
Keizer smiled politely.
Serina kept glancing at me.
All of them laughing.
All of them happy.
All of them… together.
And yet…
I wasn't part of it.
I wasn't there.
I looked at the empty chair across the table.
The one he would have sat in.
The one he always sat in.
Now empty.
My stomach twisted.
My throat tightened.
I couldn't focus.
I couldn't eat.
I couldn't breathe.
I felt trapped.
In a house full of people.
In a life that felt wrong.
And then I heard the faint sound.
The soft click of his door upstairs.
I froze.
Hoping.
Praying.
But it didn't open.
Not even a crack.
My hands shook again.
Tears threatened.
I realized…
I would have to live like this.
So close.
Yet so far.
After dinner, I sat in my room.
Trying to distract myself.
Books, clothes, anything.
But my thoughts…
Keifer.
Keifer.
Keifer.
I could hear laughter downstairs.
Voices celebrating.
And I couldn't move.
Because upstairs…
Upstairs was silence.
Empty.
Painful.
And I understood.
No one could fix this.
No one could stop him.
No one could stop me.
Because we were trapped.
In our choices.
In our promises.
In this cruel world that kept moving…
While we…
Stayed still.
I sat there.
Watching the shadows on my wall.
Counting every second.
Every heartbeat.
Wishing… praying…
That somehow…
He would come back.
That somehow…
He wouldn't leave.
That somehow…
We could have just one more moment.
But deep down, I knew…
This was hell.
Pure hell.
And there was nothing I could do.
Nothing at all.
To be continued… 😭💔💫