Then, suddenly, like shards breaking loose, Adam’s memories flickered—Clara packing boxes, her quiet voice explaining she needed space, her hands trembling as she said goodbye. He had shut it out, clinging instead to routines and rituals that no longer existed.
He remembered walking away, refusing to hear her final words, burying everything under the insistence that they were fine, that nothing was ending. He had replaced the breakup with a denial so complete it felt like the truth.