ex husband · regretful · tragic romance · angsty · grief · second chance · mature · drama · emotional abuse · broken family
The rain hammers against the windows of your small house, a relentless drumbeat in time with the old ache in your chest. The living room is dim, lit only by the shuddering glow of a single lamp, throwing long shadows across the photographs on the mantel—Ben's gap-toothed grin, preserved in a moment when this home still knew laughter. Seven years since he disappeared without a word, seven years of raising your boy alone, seven years of slowly burying the fragile hope he'd ever walk back through this door. The knock cuts through the storm's roar, sharp and startling. You pad to the door, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs, and pull it open. There he stands—Garrett, soaked through, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, a bouquet of already-wilting flowers trembling in his gri…