Scars of his father
Selma Elias was only eleven the first time he watched his father cry not from pain, not from hunger but from humiliation. Everyday Selma watched his mother tear Rafael Elias apart with cruel words, betrayal, and endless disrespect. Their home became a battlefield where silence hurt more than screams. While Rafael worked himself to exhaustion trying to provide for his family, Matilde Elias brought other men into their house even into their matrimonial bed while her son watched helplessly from the shadows.
Then one night, that the worst happened. Rafael returned home unannounced and discovered another man inside his house. The heartbreak in his eyes that night destroyed something inside him forever. Depression swallowed him whole. Alcohol became his escape. His laughter disappeared. His focus faded. Eventually, he lost his job, his peace, and finally his life.
Standing over his father’s grave, young Selma made a vow: He would never let a woman destroy him the way his mother destroyed his father. Years later, Selma Elias becomes powerful, wealthy, and emotionally untouchable. To the world, he is a successful businessman with absolute control. But beneath the expensive suits and cold silence lives a boy still haunted by memories he never escaped, he doesn’t trust women and also he doesn’t believe in love. And he refuses to let anyone get close enough to break him.
But when a persistent woman begins challenging the walls he spent years building, Selma is forced to confront the truth he buried deep inside himself: Maybe the greatest scar his father left behind was not death but fear. And healing may require him to face the one thing he has avoided his entire life his own heart.
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Chapter: Chapter 10 THE FUNERAL PROMISETears dropped from Selma's eyes when he saw the wooden coffin being lowered into the ground. It didn’t feel real, neither the soil nor the crowd, not even the white cloth draped over trembling shoulders around him.Only the sound was real, earth hitting wood each one heavier than the last. Selma stood at the edge of the grave with his shoes sinking slightly into damp soil. Rain had stopped, but the sky still hung low like it hadn’t decided whether to cry again.His hands were numb completely and behind him, people whispered voices he didn’t care about. “He was a good man.” “Such a tragedy.” “Alcohol took him.” Selma heard none of it properly, only fragments of broken pieces like a radio too far away.The priest’s voice rose and fell somewhere in front of him but Selma’s eyes stayed fixed on the coffin, the same coffin that held his father inside it.Rafael Elias. A man who used to fix engines with tired hands, a man who used to smile softly when Selma came home from school, a man who
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Chapter: Chapter 9 THE LAST DRIVESelma got emotional when he saw his father take the car keys off the kitchen table like they already belonged to someone else, the house was quiet in a wrong way.Rain still dripped from Selma’s hair as he stood near the doorway, watching Rafael move slowly across the room.Matilde sat on the couch scrolling through her phone like nothing had happened last night, like a man had not collapsed outside their gate.Like Selma had not dragged his father inside half-dead, Rafael didn’t look at her not even at once. He just turned the key in his palm again and again, and Selma stepped forward.“Dad?” Rafael stopped for a second and then continued walking. Selma followed him quickly “Where are you going” but he didn't answer.Matilde finally looked up from her phone, “Don’t start another drama this morning,” she muttered, Rafael stopped at the door and his hand rested on the handle.Selma felt something tighten in his chest. “Dad,” he said again, louder. “Talk to me.” Rafael didn’t turn but h
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Chapter: Chapter 8 THE NIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOORSelma jolted awake when his father first hit the gate again like a man knocking on a door that already belonged to someone else, he sat up instantly on his bed.The room was dark except for the faint glow of the streetlight slipping through the curtain, then he heard his voice again calling “Matilde”. Selma stood up slowly, barefoot against the floor, and moved toward the hallway.The house was too quiet, except for the knocking and he reached the front door but didn’t open it. Instead, he listened and a few minutes outside, rain had just started falling. It started soft at first then heavier, Rafael knocked again and this time weaker.“Open the door”Selma’s hand hovered near the lock but something stopped him, the sound of Matilde’s voice came from the bedroom.“Go back to where you are coming from!”Selma froze, his chest tightened instantly. Rafael went silent for a second and then a low laugh escaped him, just something broken slipping out.Selma pressed his forehead lightly agai
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Chapter: Chapter 7 THE JOB HE COULDN'T KEEPSelma stopped in his tracks when he saw his father sitting on the roadside outside the workshop, head buried in his palms. For a second, he thought he had taken the wrong path home.Because Rafael Elias did not look like a man with a job anymore. He looked like something abandoned. The afternoon sun pressed hard against the dusty road. Cars sped past, throwing up thin waves of sand that clung to Rafael’s worn shirt, His toolbox sat beside him unopened.Selma stepped closer slowly, “Dad?” Rafael didn’t move, Selma's chest tightened. He walked around slightly until he could see his father’s face, Rafael’s eyes were open but unfocused like he wasn’t really there.“Dad,” Selma called again, softer this time. Rafael blinked slowly then exhaled. “Ah” he murmured “You’re here.” Selma noticed immediately the smell of alcohol again.Selma’s jaw tightened. “What happened?” he asked quietly, Rafael stared at the road. “Nothing.” Selma looked toward the workshop entrance behind them.A few mechan
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Chapter: Chapter 6 THE WOMAN WHO NEVER STOPPEDSelma nodded his head at the sound of laughter coming from inside the house again but this time it wasn’t Matilde alone, it was deeper. Like someone who had been there before. His fingers tightened around the iron gate as he stood outside the compound, rainwater dripping from his soaked uniform onto the dusty ground.The front door wasn’t fully closed, It was slightly open just enough for voices to escape. Selma stepped closer slowly, The living room light spilled onto the porch inside, Matilde’s voice floated out, soft and playful.“You always exaggerate.” A man chuckled.Selma’s stomach tightened instantly, He recognized that tone not again he pushed the door open just slightly. The first thing he saw was Matilde sitting comfortably on the couch.Her legs crossed, A glass of wine in her hand and she looked relaxed across from her sat a man Selma did not know who’s well dressed and clean shoes, expensive wristwatch glinting under the light.His father’s place on the couch once sacred
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
Chapter: Chapter 5 PEACE WAS FOUND INSIDE A BOTTLESelma’s eyes opened weirdly when he saw his father asleep on the workshop floor beside an empty bottle. The garage smelled like burnt oil, sweat, and alcohol.Metal tools hung crookedly on the walls. Somewhere deeper inside the workshop, a radio played old music through static while mechanics laughed over a football match.But Rafael Elias wasn’t moving, He lay beside an unfinished car with one arm covering his face, grease staining his shirt and whiskey pooled near his fingertips. For one terrifying second, Selma thought he was dead.“Dad?” No response. Selma hurried across the garage floor, stepping around loose bolts and dark oil stains. His school uniform clung to his skin from the afternoon heat, but cold fear crawled through him anyway.“Dad.” This time he touched Rafael’s shoulder gently, Rafael jerked awake instantly. The bottle slipped from his hand and rolled beneath the car.His breathing came fast at first, Panicked, Wild eyes searching the room. Then they landed on Selma,
Last Updated: 2026-05-24
