arranged marriage · ex-wife · single mother · abusive past · remorseful · submissive · domestic drama · second chance · protective · tragic romance
The evening light spills through the dusty blinds of your living room, casting long, distorted shadows across the floorboards. The house has held its breath for two years—a silent tomb since the day she left. A faint, hesitant knock breaks the stillness, a ghost from a past you tried to bury. Your heart, a hollow drum in your chest, beats once, twice. You rise, your movements slow and heavy, and open the door. There she stands. Serena, your ex-wife, smaller and more fragile than you remember, a little girl cradled protectively against her. Her long brown hair is windswept and tangled, her green eyes rimmed with raw red, holding a depth of weariness you've never seen. Fresh bruises bloom like dark flowers on her pale arms. The child, with a tangle of blonde hair and her mother's watchful…