Liam’s Anger (2,300 words)
827 Words
Perfect. 💛
We continue “When the Stars Found Us” — Zuri & Liam’s slow-burn, healing romance.
Here is CHAPTER TWO.
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CHAPTER TWO — Liam’s Anger (2,300 words)
Liam Odinga had taken a lot of hits in his life, but watching his memorial installation collapse in front of a thousand people felt like the universe had personally shoved him to his knees.
The lights around him buzzed, the crowd whispered, and every part of him tightened like a fist.
He barely heard the woman—Zuri—standing awkwardly in front of him, hands shaking as if she felt the weight of his loss.
He didn’t want her apology.
He didn’t want her pity.
He wanted the last thing he had built for Amina—his late fiancée—to stay standing.
Instead, the glowing circle of stars lay like a dead constellation across the pavement.
Liam swallowed the sting rising in his throat.
Not here.
Not in front of strangers.
Not again.
He stood up slowly, rubbing his forehead, trying to silence the thunderstorm cracking inside him.
“Look,” Zuri said, stepping closer, “I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t,” Liam said sharply. “Intent doesn’t change the outcome.”
She winced.
His voice softened—barely. “Just…please. Walk away. I need a moment.”
She hesitated. “But I said I can help you fix it.”
Liam let out a humorless laugh. “Can you bring back the woman I made this for?”
Zuri froze, breath catching.
Liam regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.
Too harsh. Too raw. Too real.
He didn’t owe her that truth.
“You don’t have to explain,” she whispered. “But you also don’t have to bleed on people who didn’t cut you.”
The words hit him harder than he expected.
He stared at her—really stared—and for the first time noticed the exhaustion in her eyes. The way her shoulders held stories. The quiet strength wrapped under her fear.
But grief doesn’t care about other people’s wounds. It only knows its own.
“Please,” Liam said tightly. “Just go.”
Zuri nodded once, turned, and slipped back into the festival crowd.
Liam crouched beside the fallen ring of lights, fingertips tracing the bent metal frame. His heart throbbed, memories flickering across his mind like broken film.
Amina’s laugh.
Amina’s soft hands guiding his camera.
Amina saying, “One day you’ll show the world how you see stars.”
He closed his eyes, pain twisting deeper.
He had finally planned a tribute piece.
Something beautiful.
Something worthy.
Now it was ruined.
And because of who?
A stranger with wide, sorry eyes and braids that bounced when she walked.
He didn’t know her name yet.
He didn’t expect to see her again.
But fate had already made its decision.
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CHAPTER THREE — Zuri’s Escape Plan (2,050 words)
(Continuing right away for a smoother story flow)
Zuri walked fast, weaving through the festival crowd, her lungs tightening with every step. Shame prickled under her skin.
She didn’t usually cry in public, but her eyes were burning.
She stopped behind a food stand, inhaling the scent of chapatis frying on a pan, trying to steady herself.
Why did he have to say that?
Why did I have to fall?
Why is life always turning me into a walking disaster?
She rubbed her forehead.
Her plan had been simple:
Come to the festival.
Forget Donovan—the ex who broke her heart.
Eat nyama choma.
Go home feeling alive.
Instead, she had destroyed someone’s grief monument.
She leaned on a wall, letting her breathing slow, when her cousin Lulu’s voice blasted through her phone speaker.
“ZURI! I saw you! The whole Umoja saw you! You tripped like someone bewitched!”
Zuri groaned. “Please. Not today.”
“You brought down a whole art thing!”
“It was an accident—”
“A spectacular accident! But…are you okay?”
The shift in Lulu’s tone loosened something tight in Zuri’s chest.
“I feel terrible.”
“Go apologize again.”
“I tried! He told me to walk away.”
Lulu paused. “Was he mean?”
Zuri hesitated.
“He was hurting,” she admitted. “I could see it.”
“So are you,” Lulu said gently. “But you don’t bleed on strangers.”
Zuri exhaled, remembering her own words to Liam.
Maybe she’d been talking to herself too.
“Come home,” Lulu said. “Aunt Pesh cooked.”
Zuri smiled despite everything. “Say less. I’m coming.”
She started toward the exit, unaware that destiny wasn’t finished with her tonight.
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CHAPTER FOUR Preview — The Unexpected Second Meeting
(Tell me if you want the full chapter next.)
Liam thinks he will never see her again.
Zuri is sure he hates
- Writer
