Building The Strongest Family-Chapter 205: Falling Awake

The fluorescent hum of YoruMart’s ceiling lights buzzed faintly above, casting a ghostly glow over rows of overstocked shelves and discount bins.

At this hour, just shy of midnight, the world felt like it was holding its breath, the pulse of human need slowing to a gentle trickle.

The customers were few, their footsteps soft as whispers, their eyes heavy with fatigue.

Billy was back at the register, scanning barcodes with a kind of muscle memory that had long overshadowed his presence.

He barely registered the items anymore, noodles, soy broth packs, sanitation wipes, a dented box of biscuits.

It was a dance he’d memorized so well he could do it in his sleep.

But tonight? That rhythm faltered.

After the last customer slipped out into the night, he slumped back in the plastic chair near the breakroom, staring blankly at his old, scratched-up phone screen.

A low sigh escaped his lips as he scrolled through an album filled with memories.

Photos of Sophia.

Her laughter frozen mid-frame. Her hair tousled by the wind on the university rooftop. Their drinks clinking together at some festival booth.

Her hand intertwined with his at the beachside.

It was ridiculous how many photos he still held onto.

He tilted his phone slightly; light glinted off the screen and landed on one particular image, a close-up shot of her lips curled into a smile as she whispered something in his ear,5hat twisted something heavy in his chest.

"You deserve to live for yourself, Billy," she had once said softly. "Not for your family or legacy, just for you."

At that moment, it felt like salvation; like she was the only one who truly saw him. But now? He scoffed at himself.

What a fool! Just thinking about it made him realize how naive he’d been.

She had stopped responding the day he was disowned.

Initially sending words of encouragement and chatting for a few minutes here and there, but now? Silence stretched between them like an unbridgeable chasm.

No messages, no calls, she had disappeared as easily as a ghost retreating into darkness.

He stared at her contact now: still no replies; still marked "seen"; still devoid of that green dot indicating she was online.

"You were the one who told me to chase freedom," he muttered bitterly to himself. "And yet...the moment I lost everything...you ran."

He glanced around at YoruMart’s faded yellow walls and at the dusty vending machine humming near the exit.

Was this what freedom looked like? Was this what he thought would fulfill him?

His thumb hovered over her name on the screen but didn’t press send; instead, his mind drifted back to that day just a week ago...

---

[ FLASHBACK — ONE WEEK AGO ]

Nestled on a quiet corner near University Row, the café was an unassuming choice for Billy.

It wasn’t one of their usual haunts, too plain, too serene but he had picked it with intention.

No fancy crystal mugs or matcha foam art here; just sturdy wooden tables, steaming black coffee, and a profound silence that hung in the air.

Sophia walked in thirty minutes late.

She looked as polished as ever: immaculate makeup, perfectly manicured nails, and a cream trench coat draped elegantly over a mocha blouse.

Her eyes darted around the room until they landed on him.

In that fleeting moment, something flickered across her face, was it guilt? Regret? Or perhaps annoyance?

With deliberate slowness, she took a seat, adjusting the cuff of her sleeve as if preparing for a job interview.

"Hey," Billy greeted her simply.

"Hey," she replied, her voice softer than usual, avoiding his gaze.

Not one to beat around the bush, he dove straight into it. "So..." He let the word linger between them like an uninvited guest. "Want to tell me why you disappeared?"

Sophia sighed and began fiddling with the edge of her napkin. "Billy... it’s not what you think. I’ve just been really busy job interviews, applications... my parents are..."

"You didn’t even check in," he interrupted flatly. "Not once."

"I was trying to figure things out too! I didn’t know what to say! Everything just... fell apart so quickly!" she shot back defensively.

"Did it?" he challenged. "Or did it fall apart the moment I stopped being useful?"

Her brows knitted together in offense. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He met her gaze squarely; his voice was calm, almost too calm. "I was the Osborn heir, the name, the power, the connections, you liked being next to that. Everyone does. But when Arthur cut me off... you didn’t just go silent; you vanished."

Sophia opened her mouth but then closed it again; her jaw tightened as she struggled for words.

"It’s not that simple," she murmured finally. "You’re being unfair."

Billy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms with a sneer. "Am I?"

"I wanted you to be free," she whispered earnestly. "To live for yourself."

He offered a humorless smile in response. "And you meant it... until it cost you too much."

Guilt flashed across Sophia’s eyes as she looked away.

With a heavy sigh, Billy stood up and regarded Sophia calmly, no yelling or grand declarations; just an exhausted finality in his tone.

"Thank you for the dreams," he said softly, almost wistfully. "But they don’t feed you when the lights go out."

He dropped a few credits on the table and walked out.

---

[PRESENT]

Billy glanced up from his phone, his expression a mask of indifference.

He had navigated the gritty underbelly of Neo-Luminara for over a month now, but that moment in the café hit harder than anything else. It wasn’t exactly betrayal; it was more like... brutal reality, a harsh truth that peeled away illusions like skin coming off a wound.

"Even dreams have their limits," he murmured to himself, the weight of those words hanging in the air.

Slowly, he rose to his feet, stretching out his weary limbs as he made his way back to the front of the store.

There was Kaia in Aisle Four, lost in her own world, earbuds in place, swaying gently to a rhythm only she could hear.

He didn’t want to interrupt her joy; instead, he leaned against the cooler and closed his eyes for a moment.

The burden of everything felt heavy on his shoulders like lead pressing down with every breath.

But oddly enough, anger had slipped through his fingers like sand. He wasn’t bitter anymore; he was simply... awake.

Sophia was gone. The life he once knew? Gone too,the expectations, titles, and all that unearned wealth... evaporated into thin air.

And what remained?

Just a boy with nothing.

But maybe, just maybe,..that meant he could become anything.

With renewed determination, Billy pulled out his phone again. No more photos left to cling onto.

One by one, he deleted them all, not because he hated her, but because that version of himself captured in those memories no longer existed.

He slid the phone back into his pocket and stepped outside into the brisk night air.

It was cold, a sharp reminder that change is often uncomfortable but necessary.

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