Home is Not a Place

Prologue: Fractured Lines

The office was eerily quiet as junior staff writer Nina Santos typed furiously on her keyboard, her eyes glued to the bright monitor. The only sound was the faint hum of the air conditioning and the occasional click of keys from somewhere behind her-probably one of the other few souls still working this late at EcoSphere Media. Outside, the central business district known as Bonifacio Global City was awash in the warm glow of streetlights and headlights from the traffic still bustling below, despite the late hour.

Nina glanced at the clock on her screen: 8:47 PM. She was supposed to have gone home hours ago, but with the upcoming deadline, there was no time to spare. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease the tension that had settled there.

A sudden buzz broke the silence. Her phone, placed face down beside her keyboard, vibrated softly with an incoming call. The name flashing on the screen made her heart flutter with a mix of excitement and confusion; Ethan, who usually wasn't a morning person, rarely called her this early.

With a smile, she picked up the phone and swiped to answer. "Hey, you," she greeted softly, her voice brightening. "What are you doing up this early? Isn't it barely 9 AM over there?"

There was a slight pause on the other end, a hesitation that made Nina's smile falter.

"Yeah... I actually couldn't... didn't sleep last night," Ethan replied, his voice distant, as if he were talking from somewhere far away. Which, in a sense, he was-half a world away in the US. But something about his tone felt even more detached than usual.

Nina frowned, leaning back in her chair. "Is everything okay?"

Another pause, longer this time. Then, Ethan sighed. "Nina... we need to talk."

Her heart skipped a beat. The words were simple, but the weight behind them made her stomach churn. "Talk?" she echoed. "About what?"

The silence that followed felt heavy, almost suffocating. Nina straightened in her seat, her grip on the phone tightening. "Ethan?" she pressed, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. "What's going on?"

He drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as if he were steeling himself for what he was about to say next. "I'm calling off the engagement, Nina. We're not getting married."

The words hit her like a punch to the gut, leaving her breathless. "What?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "What are you saying, Ethan? Is this a joke? Because it's not funny."

"It's not," he said quietly. "I'm serious, Nina."

The reality of his words crashed over her, and panic surged through her chest. "Look, if this is about my thesis, I'll see what I can do. I'll talk to my professor, I'm sure he'll agree to schedule my defense earlier. I'll book my flight a month early, okay? Just... please, Ethan, let me fix this."

"Don't come here, Nina."

The words were spoken so softly that, for a moment, she thought she had misheard him. "What?"

"I said, don't come here," he repeated, his voice growing firmer. "I don't... I can't be with you."

She felt like the ground beneath her feet had crumbled away, leaving her teetering on the edge of a precipice. "Ethan... don't do this," she pleaded, her voice breaking. "Please."

"I'm sorry, Nina," he whispered, and she could hear the pain in his voice. "It's over between us."

"No, Ethan. Wait-"

Before she could finish, the call ended, the dial tone echoing in her ear like a cruel reminder of the finality of his words. Stunned, Nina stared at the screen, her mind struggling to process what had just happened. It felt like she was caught in a nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

Her hands trembled as she fumbled with the phone, desperately pressing the redial button. The ringing on the other end felt like a ticking clock, stretching out her panic with each unanswered call. Finally, there was a click.

"Ethan?" she breathed, her voice tight with fear. "Ethan, please..." But her words hung in the silence, only to be met by his familiar voicemail greeting.

With a shaky breath, Nina ended the call, her thumb immediately hovering over the redial button. She hit it again. And again. She didn't know how many times she'd called, each attempt more frantic than the last, until finally, the ringing stopped, replaced by a cold, mechanical voice:

"The subscriber cannot be reached, please try again later."

That was when the dam broke. The phone slipped from her hand as sobs wracked her body, uncontrollable and raw. She covered her mouth with her hands, struggling to stifle the sounds of her anguish. Tears streamed down her cheeks, hot and unrelenting, blurring her vision until all she could see was a distorted mess of light and shadow.

In her grief, she didn't notice the sound of footsteps approaching until a soft voice broke through her haze of pain.

"Nina?"

She looked up, blinking through her tears to see Liam Cruz, the Editorial Assistant, standing a few feet away, concern etched across his face. Nina tried to wipe at her cheeks, but the tears kept coming, and the more she tried to compose herself, the more everything seemed to unravel.

"Nina, what happened?" Liam asked gently, stepping closer. "Are you okay?"

Nina shook her head, a sob escaping her lips despite her best efforts to keep it contained. "I... he... Ethan..." Her voice faltered, breaking on his name. "He called off our engagement."

Liam's eyes widened in shock. "What?" he breathed. "He... did he really-?"

"Yeah." Nina's voice was a broken whisper, her fingers twisting together in her lap as if she were trying to hold herself together. "It's over. Just like that. After everything... it's just... over."

Liam moved forward, hesitating only a moment before wrapping his arms around Nina's shoulders. Nina stiffened at the contact, but then, as if a dam had burst, she collapsed against her friend, her sobs growing louder, more desperate.

"I don't understand," she cried, clutching at Liam's shirt. "Why? Why would he do this? Everything was fine. We were supposed to get married. I don't understand..."

Liam held her tighter, murmuring soft, soothing words that Nina barely registered. All she could think about was Ethan's voice, how final he had sounded, and the gaping void that had opened up inside her.

Nina tried to make sense of what had just happened. Their fiancée visa had been approved a month ago, and they had agreed to wait until she finished her final semester in college before booking her flight. Everything had been set. They were even planning a small, intimate wedding in the U.S. Nina racked her brain, trying to recall if they had any arguments or disagreements that might have triggered Ethan's decision, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find a single reason.

She had been prepared for long nights and stressful planning. She had been prepared to juggle the challenges of a long-distance relationship and her final semester in college. But nothing-nothing-had prepared her for this. For losing Ethan like this, without warning, without reason.

"It's going to be okay, Nina," Liam whispered, even though she knew that right now, those words were meaningless. "You're going to be okay."

But as Nina's sobs echoed through the empty office, it felt like she was shattering, breaking apart into pieces that would never quite fit back together again.

Because the truth was, she wasn't sure she would be okay. Not after this. Not without him.

Not when everything she had been dreaming of-everything she had been working towards-had just crumbled to dust in her hands.