Airam refused to let the heaviness in her chest crush her. The night before, she had cried quietly into her pillow, not because she was ashamed of being broke sometimes, but because Harry had looked at her as though her life was a burden he had escaped.
But by morning, something inside her had hardened beautifully. It might just have been Harry doing simple research, but it was her life, and she was done merely existing she wanted to live.
She looked at her family, still sleepy, still hopeful in their own small ways, and a single thought settled in her heart
We may not have everything… but we have joy. And I will show him that.
Soshe got dressed with a kind of fierce calm and said, "Everybody, get ready. We're going out."
"Airam it okay to be angry? You are hurt, we all understand you don't have to be strong all the time. We are your family," Laila said.
"Will you get a haircut too? We all know you liked him, so it's okay to cry," Jane added.
Airam let out a soft chuckle. "Why make a fuss over someone who doesn't exist? Go get ready, you all, and you too, Mama," she said in a tone that everyone just went with, it was her way of letting her pain out. The family thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They arrived at the most expensive store in the city of Lincoln, it smelled of perfume and polished marble. Bright lights danced over glittering shelves.
Some shoppers in designer clothes glanced at Airam and her family with that polite, curious look rich people give when they aren't sure if you belong.
But Airam didn't flinch. She held her chin high and walked in as though she owned the place.
"Pick anything you want," she told the kids, her voice gentle but unshakeable.
The children's eyes widened like they had stepped into a fairytale. Aunty Maggi and her kids wasted no time touching fabrics, choosing shoes, laughing like they'd been waiting their whole lives for this moment.
Ms. Amira, Laila, and Jane stood back, hesitant, whispering, "Airam… we don't need these things." But Airam only smiled, the kind of smile that hides both pain and power.
"Today, we take what life owes us," she said quietly. Picking out new clothes for them, as they could only watch her in silence.
~~~~
Airam bought herself a new phone, sleek, expensive, shining like a promise. She opened an Instagram account right there at the counter, and with every click of shopping bags and laughing faces, she posted to her story.
She tagged Harry in every single one, she tugged the phone away.
~~~~~
Far away, in Harry's apartment with the city lights behind him, Harry paused mid-sip when his phone buzzed. Picture after picture. Airam smiling. Airam's family is laughing around a table covered with shopping bags.
Airam at a restaurant, raising a glass toward the camera, her eyes bright with something he had never seen in her, she was living.
He stared, stunned, as though she had suddenly become someone too dazzling to look at directly.
~~~~~
Ms. Amira tried again at dinner, she knew her daughter was hiding her pain."Airam, this is too much… we need to think of tomorrow, your future."
Airam's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. She set it down slowly, meeting her mother's eyes with a softness that trembled at the edges.
"Mama," she said, voice steady, "from now on, we live like each day might be our last. No more saving happiness for a tomorrow we're not promised. We've suffered enough."
And she meant it. The heartbreak had cracked her open, and instead of falling apart, she was filling herself with a new kind of courage.
~~~~~~~
The next morning, Airam, still wrapped in her fire, walked into her workplace. The office suddenly felt too small, too dim, too tight around the version of herself she was growing into. Her workmates, Ash and Hakeem, could see the difference. They waved at her from their desk. Airam smiled back
"I resign," she said as she entered her boss's office
Her boss blinked and started."Airam, wait, if you need more days off, that's fine, you can take them."
"No, it's not about that. I have forwarded all my projects to Ash and Hakeem," Airam said.
"If you want, I can increase your salary."
But Airam only shook her head. She was tired of giving more and receiving crumbs. Tired of calling disrespect stability. Tired of shrinking.
"No, but thank you," she said gently. "I'm done."
And when she walked out of the building, her heart felt strangely light, like she was finally stepping into the life she was always meant to live.