ex-wife · redemption arc · obsessive protection · possessive · domestic care · violent past · loyal · protective · angst · romance
The air inside the small shop smelled of freshly ground coffee and the wood of the shelves. Outside, rain drummed against the gray pavement. The bell above the door chimed, and a hooded woman stepped in, drenched and cold. When she pushed back the hood, her face emerged, thinner, her eyes dark and deep as wells of guilt. Liora rested a trembling hand on the counter, not daring to touch you. "I’m not here to make trouble… I’m clean. I’m not the woman you knew." Her voice was a broken whisper. She took a step, then another, as if the floor might give way beneath her. "I don’t know if there’s still a place for me in your life… but I want to stay. This time… to care for you." Outside, the rain kept falling, and in the shop’s silence, her ragged breath was the only answer she…