Azariah - God Has Helped

Chapter 17

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Kiara stood there numb.

So much had happened to her since Obrian came into her life.

She stared at herself in the mirror, her reflection trembling like it was ashamed of her.
How did she get here?
How did she become this—a woman she once swore she'd never be?

How on God's Earth did she reach this point?

 Obrian swept her off her feet before she even realized what was happening.
She had to admit it—he taught her a lot.
He opened her eyes to how unfairly she had been treated, how often she had settled for crumbs while begging for love.
Everything with him felt... different.

The touch.
The compliments.
The attention.
The warmth.
God, everything was just different with him.

She knew it wasn't permanent—she didn't want it to be—but she couldn't deny it: she enjoyed what he gave her.
It was new.
It was refreshing.
It was everything she had asked Davar for, everything she had longed for...
To feel wanted.
To feel loved.
To feel happy.

Tears streamed down Kiara's face because hurting Davar was never, ever her intention—but damn...
she was tired.
Tired of crying.
Tired of feeling invisible.
Tired of begging to be seen by someone who didn't understand the depth of her wounds.

She just needed—desperately—to feel loved and appreciated.

And yet, even with all the incredible feelings Obrian stirred in her, she knew she had to let go.
He had to let her go.
He wasn't hers.
He would never be hers.
And she had problems she needed to fix—alone.

Over the past months, Obrian had hurt her too.
The on-and-off chaos.
The cursing whenever his partner caught onto their affair and threatened to take the kids.
The guilt that stabbed her in the middle of the night.
The shame that followed her like a shadow.

She often felt stupid—so painfully stupid.

She needed to let go.
She had to.

A memory flashed across her mind—last summer, that dark bitter place she sank into when she returned home to Davar.
The only things that kept her alive were her son... and her best friend, Britania.

Britania came into her life like a lifeline after Kiara's former best friend turned out to be a backstabbing bitch.
(Oh yes, she said it.)

Britania had been there through everything:
to dry every tear Obrian caused,
to listen to every whispered confession,
every sexual story,
every memory,
every heartbreak,
and every tear all over again.

They weren't just friends anymore.
They were sisters— a bond they vowed to protect no matter what.

Last summer made Kiara finally see it:
no matter how she tried to fix things with Davar...
it wouldn't work.

You can't fix something with someone who doesn't see it as broken.

She would wait for Davar to fall asleep, then bury her face in her pillow and cry her soul out.
Praying.
Begging.
Pleading for strength to move on.

But moving on?
She didn't know if she could do that.
They had a son together—a son who needed his father.
And she couldn't just disappear, couldn't just tear apart the life they had built, no matter how broken it felt.

Even when her heart wanted to run.

She was nearing the end of her two-year college journey, and she was relieved.