Torn Between Two

Chapter2: The Ghost of Yesterday

Mia sat in her car, gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. The city lights blurred through the windshield, but all she could see was the message on her phone.

We need to talk, Mia. It’s me—Liam.

She had read it a dozen times, but it still didn’t feel real. Liam. The boy who had once held her heart in his calloused hands. The boy who had promised her the world and then disappeared without a trace.

For years, she convinced herself that he never really loved her. That he had found something—or someone—better. But now, he was back. And he wanted to see her.

Her pulse hammered as she opened the chat, her fingers trembling over the screen.

Mia: Why now?

The response was immediate.

Liam: Just meet me. Please.

Every instinct screamed that this was a mistake. Adrian would be furious if he found out. She had built a life without Liam—without his broken promises and unfinished goodbyes.

And yet… she needed answers.

With a deep breath, she typed two words.

Mia: Where?

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An hour later, she found herself standing outside a dimly lit café on the outskirts of the city. It was a far cry from the world she had grown used to with Adrian—no valet, no expensive wine, no exclusivity. Just a quiet, forgotten place where memories lingered like ghosts.

Her fingers curled into fists as she stepped inside. The moment she saw him, time unraveled.

Liam Hayes sat at a corner booth, his dark brown hair slightly disheveled, his blue eyes the same shade of the sky before a storm. But he wasn’t the boy she remembered. His frame was broader, his features sharper, more defined. He looked older. Worn.

And when his gaze locked onto hers, everything she had buried came crashing back.

“Mia,” he breathed, standing up.

She hesitated, her heart waging war against her mind. “Liam.”

For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, finally, she forced herself to sit across from him, keeping her hands in her lap.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Liam admitted, studying her like she was a mirage that might disappear.

“I almost didn’t,” she admitted.

Silence stretched between them. He looked like he wanted to reach for her, but something in her posture must have warned him not to.

“Why are you here, Liam?” she asked, her voice steady despite the storm brewing inside her. “After all these years, why now?”

Liam exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “Because I made a mistake, Mia. Leaving you was never my choice.”

Her stomach twisted. “What are you talking about?”

Liam hesitated before leaning forward, his voice low and urgent. “I didn’t leave because I wanted to. I left because Adrian Sinclair made me.”

Mia’s breath caught. “What?”

Liam clenched his jaw. “He’s not the man you think he is. And if you stay with him… he’ll destroy you too.”