THE ONE I TRUSTED

Chapter 1 - The Healing

The rain had not stopped since the funeral.

It tapped softly against the windows like quiet fingers begging to be let inside, filling the house with a cold emptiness Sophia could no longer escape. The sky outside was gray, matching the heavy feeling sitting inside her chest.

Three weeks.

Three weeks since her mother died.

Yet every morning Sophia still woke up expecting to hear Alice humming in the kitchen downstairs.

Every morning she forgot.

And every morning reality broke her all over again.

Sophia sat curled near the living room window, her knees pulled tightly against her chest as she stared outside without really seeing anything. Her oversized hoodie swallowed her small frame, making her look even more fragile than she already felt.

The house was too quiet now.

Too still.

Even the clock hanging above the fireplace sounded louder these days.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Like time was mocking her grief.

A framed family photo rested on the table beside her. Alice stood in the middle smiling brightly, her arms wrapped around Sophia and James. Sophia quickly looked away from it before the tears in her eyes could fall again.

She was tired of crying.

Tired of people saying they were sorry.

Tired of hearing, "She's in a better place now."

What better place existed without her mother?

"Sophia?"

James' voice came gently from the kitchen doorway.

Sophia didn't answer.

James stood there quietly for a moment, holding two mugs of hot chocolate. He looked exhausted. The dark circles under his eyes had grown deeper over the past weeks, and his usually neat appearance had become careless.

Grief had changed him too.

But Sophia barely noticed.

He walked over slowly and placed one mug on the table beside her.

"You haven't eaten today," he said softly.

"I'm not hungry."

"You said that yesterday too."

She shrugged.

James sat down across from her carefully, like he was afraid any wrong movement would shatter her completely.

"I know things are hard right now—"

"You don't know anything," Sophia snapped suddenly.

The room fell silent.

James blinked in surprise but stayed calm.

Sophia immediately regretted it, but the anger inside her had nowhere else to go.

"She was my mother," she whispered shakily, staring down at her trembling hands. "You can't tell me how I should feel."

James swallowed hard.

"I'm not trying to."

"Then stop acting like everything is okay."

"I know it's not okay."