Depression

Silas gripped the leather steering wheel of his dark sedan. Rain lashed against the windshield in thick, unrelenting sheets. He cast a worried glance at the passenger seat. Kaelen stared out the window with vacant eyes. Her soaked dress clung to her freezing skin. She held a pair of heels in her lap. Her bare feet were pale and covered in road grit. Silas had spotted her wandering the desolate shoulder of the road moments ago. The storm raged outside, but a deeper tempest seemed to have swallowed her soul. Silas let out a heavy sigh. He knew asking her what happened would be useless. Kaelen always locked her pain away until it reached a breaking point.

Through the rearview mirror, Silas failed to notice a black Mustang trailing them.

Inside that Mustang, Voktor gripped his steering wheel until his knuckles turned bone-white. The powerful engine growled as he kept a careful distance. Jealousy burned in his chest like battery acid. He watched the sleek car pull into the cracked asphalt lot of a rundown motel. Voktor sneered, his jaw tight.

Voktor muttered under his breath, his dark eyes locked on the windshield. "Good job, Kaelen. You found another man just minutes after leaving my place. Do I even know you?"

He watched Silas step out of the car, open the passenger door, and gently guide Kaelen toward the motel office. Voktor slammed his hand against the dashboard. He threw the Mustang into reverse and sped away into the storm.

Inside the cheap motel room, Silas left Kaelen sitting on the edge of a faded mattress. He needed to find her dry clothes. He rushed to a nearby convenience store, grabbing sweatpants, a plain oversized t-shirt, and basic toiletries. When he returned, the door creaked open to reveal a haunting sight. Kaelen had not moved an inch. She sat in the exact same position, staring blankly at the peeling wallpaper.

Silas set the plastic bag on the dresser. He approached her slowly. "Kaelen, you need to change out of those wet clothes, and then we will get something to eat."

She slowly raised her head. Her expression remained hollow. Silas offered a gentle smile. He guided her to the small bathroom and shut the door behind her, giving her privacy.

Ten minutes later, they were back on the road. Silas took her to a quiet cafe, hoping food would bring her back to reality. She sat opposite him, untouched coffee growing cold in front of her. She didn't speak. She didn't blink. Silas pulled out his phone and dialed Tessa. He knew Kaelen needed a familiar, safe place to recover.

They arrived at Tessa's cozy apartment on the second floor. Tessa rushed to the door, ushering Kaelen inside. Kaelen bypassed the living room, walking straight into the guest bedroom like a ghost. She climbed under the thick covers and shut her eyes.

Tessa returned to the living room and handed Silas a steaming mug of chamomile tea. Silas sat on the fabric sofa, wrapping his hands around the warm ceramic.

Silas kept his voice low. "I found her walking on a deserted road in the rain. I have no idea how she got out there. She was wearing a dress I've never seen on her before."

Tessa scowled, pacing the wooden floorboards. "That bastard happened."

Silas frowned, leaning forward. "Voktor? He is back?"

Tessa stopped pacing and crossed her arms. "I took her out to the club last night. I wanted to help her forget her misery. She was actually smiling for once. Then we ran into that scoundrel. The next thing I knew, Kaelen was gone. The bartender told me Voktor barged into the ladies' room and dragged her out. He took her against her will. I had her purse and her phone with me. I stayed up the whole night sick with worry."

Silas set his mug on the glass coffee table. "But she was alone when I found her. Voktor was nowhere in sight."

Tessa let out a bitter scoff. "What else do you expect from a man who tricked his wife into an abortion and then dumped her?"

Silas rubbed the back of his neck. "What should we do now?"

Tessa glanced toward the closed bedroom door. "I already called her parents and told them she is staying with me. We need to let her rest. She will talk when she is ready. You know how she is. Nobody can force her to open up."

Silas stood up and adjusted his jacket. "I will see you both at the office tomorrow. Call me the second you need anything."

Silas headed for the front door. Tessa walked toward the guest bedroom to check on Kaelen one last time.

She turned the brass knob and pushed the door open.

A blood-curdling scream tore from Tessa's throat.

Silas spun around and sprinted into the bedroom. Kaelen lay motionless on the pale floor tiles near the en-suite bathroom. A thick pool of crimson blood spread across the grout. Her left wrist was slashed deep. The life was draining from her veins.

Panic erupted. Silas dropped to his knees. He grabbed a heavy towel from the rack and clamped it hard over Kaelen's bleeding wrist. Tessa sobbed, her hands shaking as she helped Silas lift Kaelen's fading body. They bypassed calling an ambulance, fearing police involvement and public scandal. Silas carried her down the stairs and loaded her into the backseat of his car. He drove recklessly through the city streets to a discreet private medical clinic run by an old college friend.

Hours passed in the sterile waiting room. The pungent smell of antiseptic burned Silas's nose. Finally, the doctor emerged, wiping his hands on a blue surgical towel.

The doctor shoved his hands into his pockets. "I stitched the wound. Since I owe you a favor, Silas, I am keeping the police out of this. You know the protocol. She lost a lot of blood, but she is out of the woods. You can go in."

Silas and Tessa pushed through the double doors into the private ward. The room was deathly quiet. Only the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor broke the silence. Kaelen lay on the narrow hospital bed. Her skin was as pale as the crisp white sheets. Her heavily bandaged wrist rested on her stomach. Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the thick white gauze.

Kaelen whispered into the sterile air. "Am I a bad person?"

Tessa sat on the edge of the mattress. Silas leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Neither of them spoke. They knew Kaelen needed to release the poison festering inside her.

Kaelen let out a broken, hollow laugh. "Why can I never get what I want? I finally tried to put an end to this relentless misery, and I can't even die right."

Tessa reached out, her fingers hovering over Kaelen's trembling shoulder.

Tears spilled over Kaelen's lower lashes, tracing wet lines down her pale cheeks. "Where did I go wrong? My studies, my marriage, the way I lived. I did everything by the book. I listened to my parents. I never rebelled. I never skipped a class or snuck out to party. I treated everyone with respect. I loved with everything I had. But the universe just keeps punishing me."

Kaelen choked on a harsh sob, clutching the bedsheets with her uninjured hand. "I thought I deserved a sliver of happiness. Just once. But I guess I really am rotten. I guess God is just making me pay."

Tessa leaned closer, brushing a stray lock of hair from Kaelen's sweaty forehead. "No, baby. You have the purest soul. You deserve the world."

Kaelen shook her head frantically. The heart monitor beeped faster. Her voice grew hysterical. "I am a bad woman. Do you know what they call a woman like me?"

Tessa froze, her eyes widening in dread.

Kaelen's chest heaved. "I slept with my soon-to-be ex-husband last night. That makes me a whore."

The ugly word hung in the quiet ward like a toxic cloud.

A sharp, echoing slap cracked through the room.

Tessa gasped, throwing her hands over her mouth.

Silas stood beside the bed, his hand still raised. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. He was always the calmest man in the room. He never raised his voice. He never lost his temper. But his dark eyes now burned with a fierce, unforgiving intensity. Kaelen whimpered, pressing her hand against her stinging cheek. She stared up at him in pure shock.

Silas glared down at her. "If you are done with your shit, then probably we can talk."

Kaelen sobbed, fresh tears pooling in her eyes. Silas did not soften his stance. He refused to coddle her self-destruction.

Silas pointed a stern finger at her. "Are you going to let one worthless lowlife dictate your value? Are you going to believe the trash spoken by a man who doesn't even know how to respect his own wife? Stop looking at yourself through his twisted eyes. He is nothing."

Silas stepped closer, leaning over the metal bed rail. His voice trembled with a heavy, hidden emotion. "God is not punishing you. He is giving you another chance. Most of us don't ever get a second chance at life. But you are lying in this bed, breathing. You got one. Did you even spare a single thought for your parents? What would happen to them if they found you dead on a bathroom floor?"

Kaelen closed her eyes tight. "I am tired. I am so tired of struggling for every breath."

Silas straightened his posture, his jaw set in stone. "Then for once, live for yourself. Stop living to please everyone else. Stop seeking validation from people who break you. If you don't respect your own life, no one else ever will."

A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the hospital room.

Silas stepped back toward the door. "I am going to bring the car around. If you are done feeling sorry for yourself, we are going home. If not, stay here and try another stunt."

He turned on his heel and walked out, the heavy door clicking shut behind him.

Kaelen sniffled, dropping her shaking hand from her red cheek. Tessa sighed, scooting closer on the mattress.

Tessa kept her voice soft. "You need to know something about Silas. He wasn't always just an analyst at our firm."

Kaelen looked at Tessa, confusion piercing through her lingering despair.

Tessa stared at the closed door. "Silas used to own a massive company. He was a CEO with a huge fortune. A few years ago, his younger sister was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Silas dropped everything. He sold his shares, liquidated his assets, and poured every single penny he had into trying to save her. He bought experimental treatments, hired the best doctors, and sacrificed his entire career to buy her a second chance at life."

Tessa paused, letting the words sink into the quiet room. "But the cancer won. He lost her. He gave up his empire for one more day with her, and he still ended up empty-handed. So when he walked into that bedroom today and saw you throwing away your perfectly healthy life, it triggered him. He watched you destroy the very thing he sacrificed everything for. Not everybody gets a second chance, Kaelen."

Kaelen felt a sharp ache in her chest that had nothing to do with Voktor. She looked toward the empty doorway. Silas had carried that profound grief in silence. He had masked his agony with a gentle smile every single day at the office. She realized the crushing weight of her survival. She had hurt a man who only tried to help her. A single, silent tear rolled down her pale cheek, soaking into the hospital pillow.

The next morning brought a harsh return to reality. Kaelen forced herself out of bed. She wrapped a wide leather cuff around her left wrist to hide the thick white bandages. She rode to the office with Tessa. The moment they stepped off the elevator, a wave of pure chaos hit them.

Employees sprinted across the main floor. Stacks of paper were being shoved into filing cabinets. Telephones rang off the hook. Silas stood near the water cooler, holding a clipboard. He waved them over.

Silas tapped his pen against the clipboard. "The critical client visit scheduled for next month has been bumped up. They are arriving today."

Tessa groaned, dropping her bag on her desk. "Today? Are you serious?"

Silas nodded grimly. "Dead serious. The new Assistant Vice President is coming with them. You two better clear your desks right now. The word on the corporate ladder is that he is demanding, strict, and a neat freak. He hates an untidy workspace."

Kaelen immediately began organizing her scattered files. She wiped down her monitor and threw away old sticky notes. The morning blurred into a frenzy of frantic preparation. Everyone scrubbed their designated zones until the floor smelled of lemon cleaner and stale coffee.

By lunchtime, a loud chime echoed through the overhead speakers. Arlo, the department manager, called everyone to the main conference room for an urgent welcome meeting.

Over a hundred employees filed into the massive, glass-walled room. Kaelen and Tessa found standing room near the back corner, leaning against the cool drywall. The crowd murmured in nervous anticipation.

Kaelen leaned close to Tessa's ear. "I think I want to get a new haircut this weekend. Maybe something shorter. I need a fresh start."

Tessa smiled, turning her head to reply. "We can go to that salon downtown after..."

Tessa froze mid-sentence. All the color drained from her face. Her jaw went slack. She stared straight toward the front of the room, her eyes wide with unadulterated horror.

Kaelen frowned, following her friend's fixed gaze through the sea of heads.

Arlo clapped his hands together, stepping up to the wooden podium. "Listen up, team! Let's give a warm welcome to our new boss."

The crowd parted slightly. A tall man stepped forward into the harsh fluorescent light. He wore a crisp white shirt, grey trousers, and a sharp blue tie. His broad shoulders and lean build commanded instant authority. The dark eyes that scanned the room were cold, calculating, and terrifyingly familiar.

The breath left Kaelen's lungs in a sudden rush. The room began to spin. The corporate nightmare materialized right before her eyes.

His name escaped her lips involuntarily, hanging in the stifling air as a stunned, breathless whisper.

"Voktor."