Later That Night…
James sat at the edge of the hospital bench, the dim corridor lights casting shadows on his hollow face. He stared blankly ahead, his mother's words haunting his thoughts like whispers in the wind.
"One day, your lies will catch up to you, James..."
They had. And with fury.
His mother was now in the ICU, barely hanging on to life.
The baby—Rita's baby—was never his. But he had clung to that lie with desperate hands, hoping to use it as a lifeline, a chain to keep her bound to him. He thought if he could tie her down, maybe he wouldn't lose everything. But now, standing in the wreckage of his own deceit, he realized he'd lost it all anyway.
When he stepped out of the hospital, the night air hit him like a wave of ice. The city bustled on, uncaring and i
