“Stay away!” Elise muttered. “Don’t come any closer.”“Elise—”“Save it. I don’t want to hear it.”Elise's voice cut through the living room, sharp and trembling at the same time. Both her hands clenched at her sides, fingers white, her eyes fixed on Benjamin with a mixture of anger and hurt she no longer bothered to hide.The room was deathly quiet.Benjamin stood just inside the doorway, the broken handle still in his right hand. The door itself hung crooked on its hinges, the lock splintered as if it had been struck by a battering ram rather than pulled open by a human hand.Benjamin exhaled slowly and lowered his hand, placing the damaged handle carefully on a nearby cabinet as if doing so might somehow undo what had already happened. His expression was restrained, but there was a trace of helplessness in his eyes.“I didn’t deceive you,” he said quietly, looking at Elise. “I never did.”Elise shook her head.“There he goes again. Didn’t deceive me?” Elise repeated. Her voice rose

“You really have no idea how ridiculous you sound.” Mrs. Harrison shook her head.Benjamin exhaled slowly, forcing himself to calm down. “Listen, Terence is not a good person.”“And you are?” Mr. Harrison shot back.Benjamin met his gaze steadily. “I’m someone who actually cares whether Elise gets hurt.”Mrs. Harrison scoffed. “If you cared, you wouldn’t be standing here right now. Just leave. You are no saint.”The living room felt smaller than it had moments ago. The air was heavy, thick with judgment and disbelief, pressing down on Benjamin’s shoulders. Elise left with Terence Lin. That fact sat like a stone in Benjamin’s chest. He knew chasing after them would only make things worse, yet staying here felt no better. Mr. Harrison crossed his arms, his expression stern but not entirely without calculation. “Young man, do you know how absurd this looks from our perspective? You barge into our home, break our door, accuse someone as reputable as a Terence, and then act like some kin

Night had fully settled by the time Benjamin stepped out of the Harrisons’ apartment building.The hallway door closed softly behind him as he stepped out. For a moment, he simply stood there, his gaze unfocused as if he expected someone to call him back.No one did.Benjamin slowly exhaled and stepped forward.Outside, the city was quiet in the way only late nights could be. The streetlights glowed a dull amber, illuminating empty sidewalks and parked cars dusted with a thin layer of grime. Somewhere far off, a siren wailed briefly before fading into the background hum of the city.He stopped at the bottom of the steps.For all the years he had been in this city, a strange realization settled over him with unsettling clarity.He no longer belonged here.But he didn’t belong anywhere else either.This city had been everything. It held his university years, his adoptive family, his brief friendships, his quiet hopes of building a normal future. Now, each of those threads felt frayed or