I didn’t hear from Seth again. Not directly, anyway.But silence can scream.

The kind of silence that coils around your ribs and makes it hard to breathe. The kind that walks into the room before you do, leaving shadows where light used to live.

I told myself I was being paranoid. That after what happened before after what Seth did there was no way he’d be foolish enough to try again. But the unease in my chest wasn’t imagination. It was a memory. And memory knows how to bleed.

Liam tried not to hover, but I could feel his eyes on me when I wasn’t looking. He was careful with his words now. Softer. Like he was afraid one wrong step would send me retreating again.And maybe he wasn’t wrong. I didn’t know how to be close to someone and still feel safe. Not after what Seth took from me. Not after the way he twisted my trust into a weapon and left me questioning every instinct I had.But Liam… he wasn’t Seth. And I was tired of confusing love with danger.

We were in his apartment that night, curled into the couch with takeout containers half-full between us. I hadn’t said much since I got there. I didn’t know how. My thoughts felt like broken glass, scattered and sharp. He leaned in, brushing a piece of hair from my face. Eva, talk to me.

I looked at him and really looked at him and something in my chest cracked. Not loudly. Not enough to break. But enough to feel the shift. What if this thing with us… what if it’s just a moment? What if it can’t survive what’s still chasing me?

His jaw clenched. But not with anger. With the kind of restraint that says, I’d fight for you even if you pushed me away.

Then we fight for the moment, he said. Even if it’s all we get. I didn’t deserve someone like Liam. But there he was, sitting beside me like I was worth saving. Like the mess inside me wasn’t too much to hold.I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe I could outrun my past. But the next morning, reality slipped through the cracks.A letter.Folded cleanly. No return address. Just my name. I opened it in the stairwell of my building, my hands already trembling before I saw the first line.

Still pretending you’re safe? Cute. You always were good at lying to yourself.

I didn’t finish it. I couldn’t. I tore the paper in half, then again, then again until it was a confetti of threat at my feet.My breath was jagged.And my name didn’t feel like mine anymore.

I called Liam. I couldn’t form the words at first, just silence on the line until I forced outHe’s back.

The next hour was a blur. Liam showed up so fast, I don’t think he let the engine cool. His arms around me were the only thing keeping me from unraveling completely.

I wanted to tell him everything. All of it. What Seth had done. What he’d taken. Why do I still wake up some nights unable to breathe? But some parts of me had been silent for so long, I didn’t know how to give them voice anymore. Liam didn’t press.Instead, he said the one thing no one ever had before.

You don’t have to give me every part of the story for me to stand beside you. Just give me enough to keep you from facing this alone.The dam didn’t break that night. But it cracked. Just enough to let a little light in.And while Seth remained a shadow outside the frame, Liam held space for me inside it.But I knew better than to think the letters would stop.Seth never played fair.

He waited. And when he struck again… it wouldn’t be a letter.