Chapter Thirty-Three - Distance

One month had passed since Eliana came into the world.

And somehow, Tiara had already discovered that motherhood did not come with a pause button.

There were mornings when she woke up before the sun because a tiny cry had travelled across the room and found her.

There were nights when she had barely closed her eyes before Eliana began fussing again.

Sometimes the baby cried because she was hungry.

Sometimes because she was uncomfortable.

Sometimes because Tiara had absolutely no idea what was wrong.

And those were the moments that tested every ounce of patience she had.

She would walk around the room with Eliana against her chest, whispering every comforting thing she could think of.

“Princess, please.”

The baby would cry harder.

Tiara would stop walking.

“Seriously?”

Another cry.

She would stare at the ceiling.

“God, what did I do to deserve this?”

Eliana, naturally, had no answer.

She would simply continue crying.

And somehow, after all the pacing, rocking, feeding, changing and pleading, the same baby who had nearly reduced her mother to tears would eventually fall asleep as though nothing had happened.

Then Tiara would sit there, staring at her.

Exhausted.

Hair untidy.

Eyes heavy.

Back aching.

And still completely in love with the little human who had turned her entire life upside down.

Motherhood was beautiful.

It was also exhausting in ways nobody had properly explained to her.

There were days she ate late because Eliana needed her first.

Days she started washing clothes and forgot halfway through because the baby cried.

Days she planned to rest and ended up cleaning the house instead.

And there were nights when the entire apartment seemed to belong to Eliana.

One cry.

Then another.

Then another.

Sometimes at midnight.

Sometimes at two.

Sometimes at four in the morning.

And occasionally, just when Tiara thought she had finally won the battle against sleep, Eliana would wake again.

“Ah-ah, Eliana.”

Tiara would stare at her daughter from the edge of the bed.

“You too?”

The baby would blink at her innocently.

Tiara would sigh.

“Fine.”

She would pick her up again.

That had become her life.

But beneath the exhaustion was something else.

Something that had begun taking shape quietly.

A plan.

A real one.

Tiara sat at the small table in the corner of her bedroom one afternoon, her diary open in front of her.

The apartment was unusually quiet.

Eliana was asleep.

Tiara had learned that newborn silence was precious. She didn't trust it enough to move too quickly.

So she sat very still.

A pen rested between her fingers.

At the top of the page, she had written:

Things I want to do.

She looked at the words for a moment.

Then she began writing.

Open my own shop.

She paused.

A small smile appeared.

“Not just online.”

She spoke softly, as though explaining the plan to someone sitting across from her.

“I want an actual shop.”

She wrote underneath it.

Clothes. Bags. Shoes. Accessories.

She tapped the pen against the page.

“Maybe ready-to-wear clothes.”

Her eyes brightened.

“Pretty ones.”

She continued writing.

“I'll have bags too. Shoes. Jewelry. Maybe perfumes later.”

She stopped and looked at the list.

It wasn't just an idea anymore.

It looked like something she could actually build.

Something with her name on it.

Something that belonged to her.

Tiara leaned back slightly.

“I can do this.”

She said it quietly.

Then again, more firmly.

“I can actually do this.”

Her eyes drifted toward the crib.

Eliana was sleeping peacefully, one tiny hand curled beside her cheek.

Tiara's expression softened.

“This is for us, princess.”

She lowered her voice.

“You're not going to struggle the way I did.”

The words sat heavily in the quiet room.

Tiara looked back at the diary.

She began calculating.

Rent.

Shelves.

Clothes.

Bags.

Shoes.

Packaging.

Signboard.

Transport.

Stock.

Her pen moved across the page, stopping every now and then when another expense came to mind.

She frowned.

“Ah.”

She rubbed her forehead.

“This thing is expensive.”

She looked at the amount she had written.

Then at Eliana.

Then back at the page.

“We'll manage.”

She closed the diary.

For the first time in a long while, she wasn't merely thinking about surviving the next day.

She was thinking ahead.

She wanted a shop.

She wanted independence.

She wanted something Eliana could grow up seeing her mother build with her own hands.

And she wanted to prove to herself that everything she had gone through did not have to be the final chapter of her story.

But there was one part of her life she could no longer understand.

Daniel.

At first, the change had been so subtle that Tiara tried to ignore it.

A missed call.

A shorter conversation.

A day without hearing from him.

Then another.

Before long, his calls had reduced to perhaps twice a week.

Sometimes three.

Sometimes only once.

And whenever Tiara asked about it, something strange happened.

Daniel became defensive.

Not cruel.

Not openly hostile.

Just... different.

The first time she asked, he had been quiet for a few seconds.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“You've been busy.”

“I've been working, Tiara.”

She had frowned.

“I know. I'm just asking.”

“And I'm answering.”

His tone had been sharper than usual.

She had gone silent.

There had been a pause.

Then he continued talking as though nothing had happened.

Tiara had let it go.

The second time, she asked again.

This time, his patience disappeared faster.

“Why are you making it sound like I'm doing something wrong?”

“I didn't say you're doing something wrong.”

“Then what's the problem?”

“Daniel, I'm only asking why you barely call anymore.”

“I have work.”

“I know.”

“Then what's the issue?”

She had opened her mouth.

Closed it.

What was she supposed to say?

That she missed talking to him?

That his sudden distance made her uncomfortable?

That she had become accustomed to his presence?

That the silence between them felt strange?

Instead, she had swallowed everything.

“Oh.”

Her voice had become small.

“Don't worry about it.”

And Daniel had simply continued the conversation.

As if nothing had happened.

That was what confused her most.

Nothing was technically wrong.

He still answered when she called.

He still asked about Eliana.

He still made sure she was okay.

He still helped when something important came up.

So why did everything feel different?

Why did speaking to him suddenly feel like walking around something fragile?

Tiara sat on the edge of her bed one evening, Eliana sleeping beside her.

She stared at her phone.

Daniel's name wasn't on the screen.

She locked it.

Unlocked it again.

Nothing.

She sighed.

“Forget it.”

She placed the phone beside her.

“You know what?”

She looked down at her daughter.

“It's fine.”

Eliana slept on.

Tiara pulled the blanket a little higher around her.

“I have you.”

Her voice softened.

“And I have myself.”

She looked around the apartment.

There was still plenty to do.

The shop she wanted to open wasn't going to build itself.

Her business needed attention.

Her baby needed her.

Her own life needed rebuilding.

Perhaps that was where she needed to put her energy.

Not into trying to understand a man who suddenly seemed determined not to be understood.

“I'm just going to focus on us.”

She whispered.

“No more overthinking.”

She nodded to herself.

“Me and you.”

A tiny sound came from the crib.

Tiara immediately turned.

Eliana's eyes were still closed.

She let out a tired breath.

“You scared me.”

She reached over and gently adjusted the baby's blanket.

Then she sat back.

For the first time, Tiara allowed herself to admit something she had been avoiding.

She didn't understand Daniel anymore.

And perhaps she didn't need to.

If he wanted distance, she would give him distance.

If he wanted silence, she would stop trying to fill it.

She had spent too much of her life chasing explanations from people who refused to give them.

She wasn't going to do that again.

Her life had finally begun to move forward.

She would move with it.

---

Across the city, Daniel sat behind his desk.

The office was quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioner and the occasional sound of traffic filtering through the windows.

Documents were spread across his desk.

His laptop was open.

A file sat in front of him.

He had been working for nearly an hour without looking away from the numbers for more than a few seconds.

His phone vibrated.

Daniel glanced at it.

The name on the screen made him pause.

The same name.

The same woman whose voice had appeared at the end of that mysterious phone call weeks earlier.

He picked up.

For a moment, his expression was unreadable.

Then he answered.

“Hello.”

He listened.

Something shifted in his face.

The sternness around his eyes disappeared.

A small smile appeared.

Not the teasing smile Tiara knew.

Something softer.

Something familiar.

Daniel leaned back in his chair.

“Hey, darling.”

And somewhere in the silence between one heartbeat and the next, a secret stepped closer to the surface.