Chapter Four: A New Beginning

The train station buzzed with quiet chaos — hurried footsteps, muffled announcements, the faint sound of a baby crying somewhere in the distance. Mia stood in the middle of it all, a small suitcase by her side and her hand resting protectively over her still-flat stomach.

She felt… numb.

Her decision to leave hadn't been impulsive. It had been simmering beneath the surface since the night she caught Ryan and Samantha together — a gnawing need to escape the suffocating memories that clung to her like a second skin.

But now, standing there, reality hit her harder than she expected.

She was really doing this.

The ticket in her hand was for Everdale — a small, quiet town far enough from the city, a place where no one would know her name or her story. It wasn't glamorous, but that was the point. She didn't want glamour — she wanted anonymity.

A fresh start.

Her phone buzzed for the third time that morning, and she didn't have to check the screen to know it was Lily.

Mia sighed, finally answering.

"Please tell me you're at the café down the street," Lily said in a rush, her voice filled with hope. "Because I'm ready to barge in and drag you back home."

Mia swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm not at the café."

A beat of silence.

"Where are you?" Lily's voice was quieter now, more cautious.

Mia closed her eyes, steadying herself. "I'm at the train station."

"Mia."

Her sister's disappointment was a sharp sting.

"I told you I needed this," Mia said, her voice breaking just a little. "I can't stay there, Lily. Every street, every corner… it reminds me of what I lost."

"What you lost or what you're running from?" Lily shot back. "Because those are two different things."

Mia's grip on her suitcase tightened. "I'm not running."

Lily didn't respond right away, but Mia could hear the soft exhale through the line — the sound of someone biting back words.

Finally, her sister spoke. "What about the baby? Doesn't… doesn't he deserve to know?"

There it was again — the same question from the night before, now laced with even more weight.

The baby. The stranger. The man who had unknowingly left a permanent mark on her life.

Mia's stomach twisted. "I told you… he was just a one-night stand."

Lily's voice softened. "But he's still the father."

Mia felt the ache creep back into her chest. "And I'm the mother," she whispered. "That's all that matters right now."

Silence stretched between them again — a fragile, painful silence.

Lily was the first to break it. "So what now? You run off to some town, and what… build a new life like none of this ever happened?"

Mia bit her lip, staring down at her train ticket. "Yes."

The admission hung between them, heavier than the suitcase at her feet.

Lily's voice cracked. "And what happens when the baby asks about his father one day?"

Mia's heart splintered. She hadn't let herself think that far ahead.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away, her resolve hardening. "I don't know, Lily," she admitted. "But I'll figure it out. I have to."

Her sister's quiet sigh echoed through the phone. "I'm scared for you."

Mia's voice trembled. "Me too."

The final boarding call rang through the station. Mia clutched her phone, torn between the familiar voice on the other end and the unknown future waiting for her on the train.

"I love you, Lil," she said softly. "But I can't stay."

Lily's voice cracked. "I love you too."

And then, Mia hung up.

With a deep breath, she boarded the train, choosing the unknown over the pain of the past.

As the train pulled away, Mia pressed her forehead against the cool window, watching the city she once called home slowly disappear into the distance.

She was alone now — just her and the tiny life growing inside her.

And for the first time in weeks, despite the fear gnawing at her heart, a flicker of hope sparked in her chest.

Because Everdale wasn't just a place to hide — it was a place to start again.

A place where Mia Carter would no longer be the girl betrayed by her best friend and boyfriend.

She would be someone new.

And maybe — just maybe — she could build a life worth fighting for.