Silent Vows

Part 39

A thick silence settled over the room, the kind that pressed on the chest and lingered like smoke.

Sophia stood still, rigid, her eyes fixed on the ground; anything but Yn. Her hands were clenched tightly at her sides.

“I knew your mother,” she said at last, her voice low and reluctant, almost as if the words tasted bitter.

“So what? What difference does it make now?”

Yn didn’t react right away. She stayed composed, her gaze locked on Sophia’s trembling form.

“It matters,” she said quietly. “And you know it does. So tell me. What else do you know?”

Sophia’s steps were slow and restless as she paced the room, like her own thoughts were too loud to silence.

“Nothing,” she snapped. “What more should I know?”

Yn’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smile.
“You know more than you’re admitting. We both know that.

We made a deal, remember? You tell me the truth, and I’ll give you what you want. So hold up your end.”

Sophia scoffed, stopping near the wall and leaning her back against it, her jaw set tight.

“Funny, how memories rot in silence. But they never die, do they?” Yn frowned slightly but then nodded slightly.

“And those who carry them spend their lives chasing broken pieces of a puzzle, pieces scattered, hidden far away…

Sometimes by the ones who can’t even face the truth themselves.” She spoke calmly

Sophia let out a quiet laugh, the edge of her mouth lifting in a grim smile.

“Not everything is meant to be shown to everyone. People are allowed to have secrets,” Sophia said calmly.

Yn let out a soft, bitter scoff. “Secrets? Or should I say, failed attempts at hiding your sins?”

Sophia’s expression faltered, just for a heartbeat. Her eyes flicked away from her.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, quieter now.

Yn inhaled slowly, steadying her voice before she spoke again. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Silence.

“Years…. Years of unanswered questions, of pain I didn’t even understand. The confusion, the hatred, for what? For nothing? That doesn’t just happen.”

Sophia stood frozen. Her breath shallow.

Yn’s voice grew colder, more distant now, like she was finally seeing the picture clearly.

“You think I’ve been stupid all this time? That I never noticed? You knew my parents. You were there, somewhere, in the shadows all along… weren’t you?”

“Stop,” Sophia whispered, but it was barely audible.

Yn breathed out softly, her tone slicing through the silence.

“Those days... when my mum and dad suddenly started fighting, when their voices rose for the first time in years, when everything shifted out of nowhere—” She paused, gaze burning.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You lit the fire. The hidden hand behind it all. A shadow in our home, tearing it apart.”

Sophia cut in, her voice strained.
“Stop… I said stop—”

But Yn didn’t.

“They loved each other,” she continued, unfazed. “Always. Sometimes I used to wonder if they were under a spell or something.