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Chapter 3

My heart stopped. That name ,his name completely threw me off balance. I hadn’t heard it in years, and suddenly, everything around me felt distant, as if time itself had frozen. My mind raced, trying to process what I had just heard.

"Excuse me, is this some kind of joke?" I asked, my voice shaky, forcing out a nervous laugh. I could feel a mix of disbelief and panic rising inside me. The memories I had worked so hard to bury suddenly flooded back, and I didn’t know whether to hang up or scream for answers.

There was a long pause, and in that silence, I realized that my world had just shifted.

The silence on the other end stretched on, heavy and suffocating. My mind raced, still caught between disbelief and the overwhelming rush of old memories.

I hadn’t heard from Orion in what 10 years. He had vanished from my life without a trace, leaving only confusion and questions in his wake.

"Estella, I know this is... sudden," he finally spoke, his voice softer now, as if he understood the weight of the moment. "But I had to reach out. We all want to meet up and talk with you"

I swallowed hard, gripping the phone tighter. "Meet up and talk" I repeated, anger and hurt bubbling up in my chest. "Where have you been, Orion? You disappeared. I ..." My voice cracked, emotions overwhelming me.

"I know," he said quietly, almost as if he could read my thoughts. "And I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t have a choice."

A choice? His words felt like a knife, stirring old wounds I had spent years trying to heal. "You didn’t have a choice?" I repeated, disbelief dripping from my voice. "You could’ve called, sent a letter anything. But you left me alone. You all did."

There was a pause on his end, a deep breath. "I’m calling now, Estella. Please give me , us another chance."

"No" was all I said befor hanging up the phone.

I stood there for a moment, the dial tone buzzing in my ear, as if grounding me in reality. My hands trembled, still clutching the phone tightly, and for a second, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. The room felt smaller, the air heavy, pressing down on me.

I had spent years convincing myself that I didn’t need them. That I had moved on. But hearing Orion’s voice again, after so long, had stirred something in me something I wasn’t ready to face. Memories I had buried deep came rushing to the surface, memories of a time when family meant something, before they all vanished.

But they had left me. Abandoned me. I wasn’t going to let them walk back into my life as if nothing had happened. I had built a life without them. I had Eden now, a life that was mine, and I wasn’t going to let them ruin that.

The sound of Eden stirring from her nap pulled me out of my thoughts. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus on the present. She was all that mattered now.

I walked quietly to her room, leaning over her crib to see her tiny, peaceful face. Her soft breathing brought me a sense of calm I desperately needed. I reached down and gently brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. She was my world now my family. I didn’t need anything else.

I straightened up, running my hand through my hair, trying to clear my mind. I had made my decision. I wasn’t going to let them back in. I couldn’t. But as I stood there in the quiet of Eden’s room, a small part of me wondered if I’d really be able to shut that door forever.

I told myself I could. I told myself it didn’t matter. But deep down, I wasn’t sure if that was true.