Chapter 5
1465 Words
`“I’m here to see Atlas.” Avery said to the man standing at the door.
He peered at her with deep scrutiny.
“Who are you?” He growled, narrowing his eyes.
Avery’s frown deepened.
“Just tell him Avery is here to see him.”
“He’s not expecting anyone called Avery. I don’t think he knows you.” The bearded man replied flatly. “No. You need to leave now.”
“No. Atlas! Atlas!”
“Miss. If you keep yelling, I will call security.” The man threatened, pushing Avery away.
“Atlas!” Avery screamed again.
“What’s going on here?” Atlas asked, eyebrows furrowed as he stepped forward.
“Hey, he won’t let me see you.” Avery shot, shooting a glare at the man trying to obstruct her.
“Who are you? Have we met?” Atlas asked.
Avery’s lip parted in shock. She looked around to confirm if she was in the wrong place. But that's him! Atlas.
“W-what do you mean?” Avery stuttered. “It's me, Avery.”
“I don’t know you,” he said flatly. “I’ve never seen you before.”
“Atlas, what is wrong with you? We were together a few hours ago, and now you don’t know me?”Avery yelled her heart beating fast. “If this is a joke, Atlas, you’ve made your point,” Avery said, voice cracking. “I’m not laughing.”
Atlas bit his lip, turned around, and slammed the door behind him.
The bearded man gave her a final look.
“Leave,” he ordered, and followed Atlas inside.
Avery stood frozen.
“What is wrong with him?” Avery muttered to herself, unable to move a limb. “I guess the Amnesia wasn’t fully cured.”
Her phone rang just as she turned to leave.
Avery glanced at the screen.
She answered.
“Mum?”
A long pause. Then, her mother’s voice—low, broken.
“Avery... your father is dead.”
The words hit like a punch.
Avery’s lips parted in silent shock.
The phone slipped from her hand and hit the ground.
***
Avery booked the next available flight to L.A.
Carter’s games, Atlas’s amnesia—none of it mattered now.
Her world had just cracked. One of the people who’d built her… was gone.
By the time the taxi stopped, her feet were ice.
She stepped out and stared at the house.
This was it.
Where everything began—her childhood, her scars, her story.
The flowers.
The streetlights.
The quiet neighborhood.
Even that old, crumbling building across the street.
It all felt sacred now.
Like a shrine to the life she could never go back to.
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag as she approached the door.
She knocked—soft, hesitant.
The door flew open.
“Avery!” Amber gasped.
She threw her arms around her like she never wanted to let go. The hug almost crushed Avery’s collarbones, and somehow, that pressure held her together.
“I’m so sorry,” Amber whispered, sobbing into Avery’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry too,” Avery whispered back, voice cracking. She kissed her sister’s neck. “I’m so sorry.”
Amber pulled back, her face streaked with tears.
“He wanted to talk to you,” she said gently.
“I know… I was just—”
“Shhh,” Amber interrupted, cupping Avery’s face. “You’re here. That’s what matters now.”
Avery nodded, swiping her face with the back of her hand.
“Come on. Mum’s inside,” Amber said, taking her bag.
Avery’s heart stuttered at the word ‘Mum’
She hadn’t seen her in weeks.
And she had no idea what kind of welcome was waiting.
She hadn’t been home in weeks.
And she had no idea what kind of reception waited for her.
A handful of people sat in the living room—grievers, family, strangers.
Their cold stares sliced right through her.
Avery’s eyes landed on her mother.
Swollen eyes. Pale cheeks. That thousand-yard stare of a woman who'd lost more than a husband—she’d lost her anchor.
“Mum,” Avery whimpered, stepping forward.
Mrs. Hart didn’t say a word.
Avery leaned in, arms open.
But her mother pushed her away. Hard.
Avery stepped back, blinking rapidly.
“I’ll drop this upstairs,” Amber said, awkwardly, lifting the bag and retreating.
“Mum, I’m sorry,” Avery began. Her voice trembled. “I didn’t mean to leave like that—”
“But you did,” Mrs. Hart snapped. “You left. You made fools of us. We were the town’s shame. The laughingstock.”
Avery’s brows knit, guilt knotting in her chest.
“Carter made life unbearable,” she whispered. “I was breaking, Mum. I couldn’t take it anymore—”
“What do you know about unbearable?”
Mrs. Hart's voice thundered across the room.
Her nostrils flared. Her eyes wild.
“Unbearable,” she spat, “is working three jobs to raise ungrateful daughters.
Unbearable is enduring humiliation, shame, and sacrifice—so you could have a life.
Unbearable is knowing the moment you walked away from that marriage… everything collapsed.”
Avery’s nails dug into her palms. Her voice sharpened.
“And it’s always about everything else, right? The company. The family name. The money. But never about me. Never about how I felt.”
Mrs. Hart’s jaw clenched.
“You knew what that marriage meant to this family,” she hissed. “Carter bailed us out. And you destroyed it all. You left—and everything he gave us was taken back. We had to start from scratch.”
“Because I couldn’t live with him anymore!” Avery cried. “Three years of pain. Of silence. Of pretending. That’s enough, Mum. That’s more than enough.”
Mrs. Hart’s voice softened—but only just.
“He died, Avery. Your father died of a heart attack. His anxiety ate him alive. And all of this… started with you.”
Avery froze. “Mum…”
“You killed him.”
The words stabbed.
“If you hadn’t run away, he’d still be here. I wouldn’t be a widow.”
Silence. Heavy. Suffocating.
Then… a sad, bitter smile broke on Avery’s lips.
“You know what? I did you a favor.”
Mrs. Hart blinked. “What do you mean?”
“For years, I watched you suffer in that marriage. The yelling. The bruises. The cheating. And you stayed. You forgave. You smiled. Like it was your job to swallow pain.”
“Don’t speak to me like that,” her mother snapped.
“Oh, it hurts now?” Avery scoffed. “Because that marriage you pushed me into? It was a mirror of yours. And I refuse to live in that kind of dungeon. I wanted love. Not survival. I wanted peace. Not—”
Smack.
The slap cracked through the room like lightning.
“How dare you,” Mrs. Hart whispered, voice shaking with rage and grief. Tears spilled freely now, blurring her mascara, streaking down her hollow face.
She glared at Avery with bloodshot eyes—then turned and stormed off.
***
“Hey!”
The voice stopped Avery mid-step as she crossed the parking lot, her heels crunching against gravel.
Her father had just been buried. Her heart was in pieces. Her face streaked with tears. All she wanted now was to pack her bags and disappear into Boston.
“Avery, wait!”
She turned, slow and unsure.
Familiar. That voice. That presence.
“Atlas?”
She blinked at him, stunned.
Through the blur of her grief, his face came into focus.
Avery let out a shaky scoff, her lips trembling. “What are you doing here? Do you even know—” Her voice cracked.
“I’m sorry, Avery,” Atlas said gently.
“What are you sorry for?” she snapped. “Did you finally get your memory back or—”
“And what is going on here?” another voice cut in.
Carter.
He stepped out of the shadows like a storm.
His gaze swept over the scene, landing on Atlas like a threat.
“I see you’ve already replaced me,” he sneered. “Cute.”
“Carter, stop,” Avery warned, voice low.
“You must think this is some Hollywood drama,” Carter growled. “But this is real life. Stay away from her.”
“Or what?” Atlas asked, stepping forward. No hesitation.
Carter’s smile curled like a blade.
“Or I’ll make sure you forget everything for real this time, you disgusting amnesiac—”
Crack.
Atlas’s fist collided with Carter’s face before the sentence ended.
- Writer
