Chapter 2: Unseen Boundaries
1023 Words
The house was silent, save for the quiet ticking of an old grandfather clock in the hallway. Ellie found herself wandering again, her footsteps light on the polished marble floor. Days had begun blending together since her hurried wedding, each one marked by Liam’s absence and the constant sense of waiting for something to happen. It had only been two weeks, but it felt much longer.
She turned a corner and found herself at the entrance of Liam’s study. The large wooden door stood ajar, and through the small gap, Ellie could see the soft glow of lamplight spilling out. Curiosity tugged at her, and without really thinking, she stepped closer.
Inside, Liam sat behind his desk, engrossed in papers scattered across the polished surface. His expression was as severe as ever, his focus sharp as he scribbled notes and scanned reports. For a moment, Ellie hesitated. She knew better than to disturb him, especially when he was in one of these moods. But there was a part of her that longed to understand the man she had married — the man who seemed so unreachable, so distant.
Liam glanced up suddenly, as if sensing her presence. His blue eyes locked onto hers, and Ellie froze in place, unsure of what to say.
"You need something?" His tone was clipped, formal, as always.
Ellie shook her head, feeling a rush of embarrassment. "No, I was just…" she trailed off, searching for the right words. "I didn’t mean to interrupt."
For a moment, Liam said nothing. His eyes lingered on her, cool and unreadable, before he returned his attention to the papers in front of him. "Don’t worry about it," he muttered, dismissing her.
Ellie hesitated, feeling a strange pull to stay. But the wall between them was still as solid as ever, and she knew that pushing would only lead to frustration. With a quiet sigh, she turned and left, her heart heavy with the same unanswered questions that had been plaguing her since the day they met.
The days continued in much the same fashion, Liam’s work keeping him distant and Ellie left to navigate the unfamiliar mansion alone. The staff was polite but kept their distance, as if they, too, were unsure how to interact with the woman who had suddenly appeared in their employer’s life.
But there were moments — fleeting and rare — when Ellie caught a glimpse of something else in Liam. A softness, or perhaps a vulnerability, hidden beneath the layers of indifference. One such moment came late one evening, long after the rest of the house had gone to sleep.
Ellie couldn’t sleep, her mind too full of restless thoughts. She found herself wandering once again, this time down the grand staircase that led to the lower levels of the house. As she reached the bottom step, she heard something faint — the sound of music, soft and mournful, drifting from one of the rooms nearby.
Curious, she followed the sound until she reached a doorway. The door was slightly open, and through the crack, Ellie saw Liam sitting at a piano, his fingers moving gracefully over the keys. The melody was haunting, filled with emotion she had never seen in him before. It was as if the music was speaking the words he could never say aloud.
Ellie watched in silence, captivated by this new side of him. She had never imagined Liam playing an instrument, let alone with such skill and passion. In that moment, he wasn’t the cold, distant man she had married — he was something else entirely. Vulnerable. Human.
But as quickly as the moment came, it was gone. Liam’s hands stilled on the keys, and he sat there for a long time, staring at the piano with a look of deep contemplation. Ellie’s breath caught in her throat as she took a step back, not wanting to intrude on something so private.
She turned to leave, but her movement must have caught Liam’s attention. His head snapped up, his eyes locking onto hers from across the room. Ellie froze, her heart pounding as she wondered if he would be angry at her for spying on him.
To her surprise, Liam didn’t react the way she expected. He didn’t shout or demand to know why she was there. Instead, he simply watched her for a long moment, his expression unreadable, before turning back to the piano.
"You should be asleep," he said quietly, his voice carrying across the room.
Ellie swallowed, unsure of how to respond. "I couldn’t sleep."
Liam’s fingers hovered over the keys for a moment before he let them fall into his lap. He didn’t look at her again, but there was something in his voice when he spoke that caught her off guard. "Neither could I."
The silence that followed was heavy, filled with unspoken words and the weight of everything they were both holding back. Ellie wanted to say something, anything, to bridge the gap between them, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she stood there, feeling the distance between them like a chasm that was too wide to cross.
Finally, Liam rose from the piano, his movements slow and deliberate. "Go back to bed, Ellie," he said softly, his voice gentler than she had ever heard it.
Ellie nodded, though her feet felt rooted to the spot. "Good night," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Liam didn’t respond. He simply turned and left the room, leaving Ellie standing alone in the quiet, the soft echo of the piano’s last notes lingering in the air like a ghost of something that could have been.
As Ellie made her way back upstairs, she couldn’t help but wonder about the man she had just seen — the man behind the mask of indifference. For the first time since their marriage, she felt as though she had caught a glimpse of who Liam truly was. And for the first time, she found herself wanting to know more.
But the walls around him were high, and Ellie wasn’t sure if she had the strength to break through them. Not yet.
- Writer
