IS SHE REALLY DESPERATE FOR THAT?.

Ann closed the door softly behind her, the familiar scent of her old room filling the air, but it didn't feel like home anymore.

She dropped her bag by the door and sat on the edge of her bed, her mind racing with everything that had just happened.

Each relationship felt like an unhealed wound, the weight of them pressing on her chest as though she couldn't breathe.

She stared at the familiar walls of her room, the photographs of her childhood, the old journal tucked beneath her bed, and the space that had once been her sanctuary now felt distant, as though it belonged to someone else.

Tobias. The thought of him hurt. Their parting had been necessary, she knew that. But now, in the silence of her room, she felt the absence of him like a shadow that wouldn't leave.

She longed to hear his voice, to touch the familiar warmth of his hand, but she also knew that reconnecting with him might undo everything she had worked for , everything she was still trying to understand about herself.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, but she ignored it. Maybe it was him. Maybe it wasn't.

Either way, she wasn't ready for that conversation. Not yet.

Instead, she reached for the journal beneath her bed, flipping through pages she hadn't touched in months. The words on the paper were raw, unfiltered, a reflection of the pain she'd endured and the small victories she'd found in moments of solitude. There was one entry that caught her eye, dated shortly after she had left Tobias for the first time.

*"I'm learning to let go of what I thought I needed, to be okay with who I am when I'm not defined by anyone else."*

Ann paused, reading the words again. She had written that when things were simpler, when the path forward seemed clearer.

She had thought she was okay. But now, sitting in this room, the lines blurred between what was best for her and what she thought she was supposed to want.

The buzzing of her phone interrupted her thoughts, and this time, she picked it up. The screen flashed with Tobias's name.

Her fingers hovered over the screen, but she didn't answer. Not yet. She needed to be sure of her own voice before she could speak to him again.

She sighed and put the phone down, her eyes landing on the photo of her father and Victoria on the shelf across from her bed.

The image of them, smiling and carefree, made her chest tighten with the familiar sting of jealousy and sadness. She had always felt like an outsider in her own paternal family, and now, more than ever, that feeling had grown stronger and unbearable.

Ann stood up abruptly and walked to the window, looking out at the quiet street below.

The sky was casted with the last moment of sunset, the fading light mirroring the shift in her heart.

She had to face the truth, even if it hurt. She wasn't just losing Tobias; she was losing herself in the process. And she had no idea how to find her way back.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Ann turned to see her father standing in the doorway, his expression soft yet unsure.

"Ann," he said, his voice tentative. "Can we talk?"

She nodded slowly, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked toward him. "About what?"

John stepped into the room, his gaze briefly flickering to the journal in her hands. "I know things have been tense lately, and I... I want to fix that. I've been thinking a lot about how I've been, especially with you and Victoria."

Ann's heart pounded in her chest. She didn't want to have this conversation. Not right now. But it was clear that it was inevitable. Her father was always the type to avoid difficult conversations, to sweep things under the rug until they couldn't be ignored anymore.

"I'm tired of being your second choice, Dad,"she blurted out, the words escaping before she could stop them. "It's always been Victoria, and it's like I don't even exist unless I'm being compared to her. I need you to see me, not just her."

John's face tightened, but he didn't look angry. He looked... guilty. He ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I didn't realize you felt that way. I never meant for you to feel less than her."

Ann shook her head, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "But you do. Every time you praise her for doing something, every time you put her on a pedestal and ignore me, it reminds me that I'm not enough."

Her father opened his mouth, but no words came out. For a long moment, they stood in silence, the weight of the conversation settling between them.

Finally, Ann spoke again, quieter this time. "I don't want to feel invisible anymore. I need to figure out who I am, not who you want me to be. I need space. I need time to be myself."

John looked at her with a mixture of sorrow and understanding, though his eyes were still tinged with regret. "I understand, Ann. I really do. Take all the time you need."

For a moment, the tension between them eased, and Ann felt something shift inside her maybe not resolution, but the beginning of it. She wasn't sure where she'd go from here, but for the first time in a long while, she felt like she was starting to stand up for herself.

As her father left the room, Ann turned back to the window, her reflection staring back at her, slightly not that older , a little wiser, but still searching.

She wasn't sure what the future held, but she knew one thing for sure: she was no longer willing to be defined by anyone else's expectations.

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