CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 32: THE QUIET BEFORE THE SHATTER

POV: James

4:30 PM — The Whiskey Bottle Is Still Half Full

People think heartbreak explodes.

It doesn’t.

It seeps. Slow. Quiet. Like whiskey through the cracks in your soul.

I haven’t finished the bottle I opened the night Elena left.

Not because I’m saving it.

But because I’m afraid of what I’ll say if I finish it.

4:42 PM — My Wife Slept with My Son

There. I said it.

Out loud. Alone.

It sounds worse when you say it that way, doesn’t it?

Like a tabloid headline. Like a bad punchline.

Like something that happens to other men.

Not to me.

But it did.

And now, the woman I married is gone.

The boy I raised is missing.

And the one person still talking to me is Milo — the one I ignored the longest.

5:15 PM — The Box in the Closet

I opened the box I swore I’d never look at again.

It held wedding photos, cards, old plane tickets from a trip Elena and I took to Arizona when the boys were younger.

In the back corner: a note from her. One of those early, casual ones.

You make me feel like I’m safe even when I’m falling apart. I don’t think anyone’s ever done that before.

I crushed it in my hand and threw it across the room.

5:45 PM — Milo’s Voice

"I let her in," Milo said, standing in the hallway, arms crossed.

"Her?"

"Elena."

My jaw tightened.

"I told her she should go," Milo added. "But I didn’t make her."

"Did she say why she came?"

He shrugged. "Groceries. Probably guilt. Maybe she thought we were starving without her."

I laughed bitterly. "Maybe we are."

6:05 PM — I Found Her in the Kitchen

She was putting away a box of cereal. Like nothing had happened.

Like this was just a Monday.

"Elena."

She turned around, slowly.

"I shouldn’t be here," she said immediately. "I know that. I didn’t plan to come. I just... I didn’t know where else to go."

I said nothing.

She took a step forward.

"I never wanted to hurt you."

"You didn’t want to," I said. "But you did."

Her lip quivered. "I know."

"Do you love him?"

She blinked. "Aaron?"

"Yes."

She didn’t answer.

And that was enough.

6:17 PM — The Slam That Didn’t Come

I wanted to yell. I wanted to throw something. Slam a door. Break a plate.

But I didn’t.

I stood there, looking at the woman I once believed would grow old beside me.

And I realized — I didn’t want revenge.

I just wanted this grief to make sense.

6:45 PM — The Truth I Never Told Her

"I failed you too," I said quietly.

She looked up.

"I stopped looking at you like a person," I admitted. "You became part of the routine. And I didn’t ask how you were doing. I just assumed you were fine."

"I wasn’t," she whispered.

"I know that now. Too late."

Silence stretched between us like the Grand Canyon.

"I didn’t mean to fall in love with your son," she said.

"No," I replied. "But you let yourself."

That was the last thing I said before walking away.

7:00 PM — Milo’s Question

We sat on the couch. TV on, volume low.

Milo finally asked, "Do you still love her?"

"I don’t know."

"That’s not a no."

I stared at the screen. "No. It’s not."

📘 End of Chapter 32

💬 YOUR TURN!

James finally speaks.

Elena returns — but not for forgiveness.

And Milo is still the glue barely holding things together.

👇 Drop a comment: Do you think James still loves her deep down?

❤️ Like this Chapter if that confrontation in the kitchen hit you hard.

🔔 Follow now — because Chapter 33 is Aaron’s return to the house, and it won’t be quiet.