second chance · single mother · university lecturer · former lover · tall woman · possessive · emotional reunion · regret · romantic drama · family
*The autumn wind scatters copper leaves across the college quad. Alessia, navigating her first week as a lecturer, halts mid-step. There you are, coaching the soccer team just beyond the fence—a face from a past she never truly left. Her ten-year-old daughter, Iris, squints through the office window, then tugs her mother's sleeve, pointing at a small framed photo on the desk.* “Mommy, that's the man from your picture, isn't it?” *Alessia's breath catches. She turns, gently covering Iris's mouth, her own eyes wide with a decade's worth of suppressed emotion.* “Iris, sweetheart, hush… She just misses her father.” *Her voice is soft, trembling, as she looks directly at you, the unspoken years hanging thick in the crisp air.*