[Volume 1] Chapter 16- Mother....

Kiera placed her bags on the bed, surveying the room with a mix of exhaustion and determination. With a swift motion, she gathered her hair and tied it up into a messy bun, strands of hair escaping to frame her face.

"Sigh, let's see," she muttered, turning to the bed and opening the zipper of her suitcase with a sense of urgency.

"Damn it," she cursed, slamming her hand onto the bed in frustration. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before her. The bag, which she had packed so meticulously, was now only filled with clothes.

"No, no, no," she whispered, her fingers trembling as she rummaged through the bag. Each piece of clothing tossed aside heightened her anxiety.

She could feel the weight of the mistake settling in her chest, a sinking feeling that made her heart race.

Her movements became frantic, hands shaking as she desperately searched for the missing items.

The realization that something crucial was missing struck her like a punch to the gut. She collapsed onto the bed, her head in her hands, trying to steady her breathing and calm the storm of emotions swirling inside her.

Kiera lay on the bed in her hostel room, the weight of her recent decisions pressing heavily upon her. Her mind raced, replaying the steps she had taken since waking up.

The decision to separate from Edward had been monumental, a threshold she once believed insurmountable in her previous life. Now, lying in this unfamiliar room, it seemed oddly simple—a barrier crossed with a resolute step forward.

Edward, the man she had loved so deeply that she would have once sacrificed everything for him, had tried to stop her.

His pleading words echoed in her mind, but this time, she had shaken him off with a strength she didn't know she possessed. The weight of her choice bore down on her as she stared at the ceiling, tears welling in her eyes.

"Haha, so it was that simple," Kiera murmured to herself, her voice trembling. She covered her eyes with shaking hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She couldn't believe that such a seemingly easy step, one she had hesitated to take in her previous life, had cost her everything.

Her body trembled with the weight of her decision, a mix of relief and sorrow flooding through her. Each breath felt like a battle, each heartbeat a reminder of the life she had left behind.

But deep down, amidst the turmoil, there was a glimmer of hope—a fragile sense of freedom she hadn't felt in years.

With a shaky breath, Kiera wiped away her tears, feeling the weight of uncertainty press heavily on her shoulders.

The future loomed ahead, daunting and unclear, yet she steeled herself against the fear. For the first time in a long while, she summoned the courage to sit up, her movements deliberate as she turned to face her bag.

The worn leather bag lay beside her, its contents a stark reminder of her altered circumstances. There were five sets of cropped tops and skirts, fashionable but not quite suitable for a girl of her age.

Kiera couldn't help but smirk self-loathingly at the irony; she had sacrificed her youth and innocence for a facade of maturity and elegance.

Rummaging deeper, her fingers found an old smartphone, a relic from her seventeenth birthday gift from her uncle.

She cradled it tenderly, a bittersweet reminder of happier times now tinged with melancholy. Next to it, a sparse collection of toiletries spoke of her pared-down existence.

Her hand closed around the last remnants of cash—two hundred bucks, now reduced to a mere one hundred and five after paying for a hostel and a meager meal. She stared at the money, her grip tightening involuntarily.

"No, it's not enough," Kiera whispered, her voice tinged with frustration and desperation. The reality of her situation sank in deeper with each passing second, a sinking feeling in her chest mirrored by the tightening of her grip on the dwindling bills.

Tring tring

As Kiera sat lost in her thoughts, the sudden ringing of her phone snapped her back to reality. With a swift motion, she turned to look at the screen, its gentle glow illuminating her face. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the caller ID—the name she had longed to see, yet never dared to hope for.

Her hand trembled slightly as she reached out, fingers brushing over the smooth surface before swiping to answer the call. Bringing the phone to her ear, her voice came out hoarse and uncertain.

"H-hello?" Kiera uttered, her tone hesitant yet filled with a mix of longing and apprehension, as if she couldn't quite believe this long-awaited moment was finally here.

As Kiera stared waited, her heart raced with conflicting emotions. It had been six long years since she last heard her mother's voice, but for her mother, it might have felt like just yesterday.

"Kiera?" Her mother's voice sounded warm and familiar, as though they had just spoken yesterday. "Is that you?"

Tears threatened to spill from Kiera's eyes as she struggled to compose herself. She gripped the phone tighter, feeling a mix of guilt for the time lost and overwhelming relief to hear her mother's voice again.

"Mom," Kiera managed, her voice catching with emotion. "Yes, it's me. It's really me."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, filled with concern. "What happened, my child? You don't sound well. Are you okay?"

Her mother's voice, resonating from the other end, carried a mix of worry and motherly warmth, each word laced with a gentle cadence that sought to soothe even as it revealed her underlying anxiety.

"Umm... I am okay," Kiera managed to say, her voice trembling slightly as she wiped away the tears that flowed unchecked.

"You... you are crying?" Her mother's voice came after a brief pause, filled with concern and surprise.

Kiera hesitated, hastily wiping her tears, trying to sound composed. "No, Mom, I'm fine," she replied, her voice strained but trying to hide the tremor within.

There was a skeptical silence on the other end, her mother sensing something amiss despite Kiera's attempt to deflect.

"Kiera, sweetheart, I know when something's wrong. Please tell me what's going on."

Kiera took a shaky breath, her facade crumbling under her mother's gentle persistence. She could feel the weight of her words, a mixture of guilt and longing, as she struggled to maintain her composure.

"It's... it's just that I suddenly missed you and uncle," she stammered, her voice wavering with unshed tears. Her gaze shifted uneasily, avoiding the truth lurking beneath her half-truth. "I want to come back for a while, Ma."

There was a pause on the other end, filled with concern and a hint of skepticism. Kiera imagined her mother furrowing her brows, sensing the evasion in her daughter's voice.

"Kiera, darling," her mother's voice was soft but probing, "I know there's more to this. You can tell me what's really going on."

Kiera swallowed hard, her throat tight with emotion. She wrestled with the urge to confess the turmoil in her relationship with Edward, yet the fear of disappointing her mother held her back. She closed her eyes briefly, gathering herself.