CHAPTER QUOTE:
"Truth, when it knocks, rarely waits for an open door—it breaks through."
— Anonymous
SCENE 1
INT. LEO'S APARTMENT – EARLY MORNING – 6:45 A.M.
Leo stands at the mirror, staring at himself. A razor lies idle on the sink. His eyes are dark from lack of sleep. He's dressed in black. Not formal. Not casual. Just… neutral.
LEO (V.O.)
(dryly)
I've crafted lies with the same hands I now use to button this shirt.
Every truth I left unsaid—
It's crawling back now. And I invited it.
He lifts his phone. Three unread replies.
AMARA: "Okay."
NINA: "Leo? What's wrong? Please don't scare me."
ZARA: "We'll be there."
A long pause. He presses his forehead against the cold glass of the window. Rain begins. Soft, uncertain.
SCENE 2
INT. AMARA'S APARTMENT – SAME TIME
Amara is at the dining table, untouched coffee in front of her. The message replays in her head like a broken hymn.
AMARA (V.O.)
"We need to talk. All of you. Tomorrow morning. Seven o'clock."
Leo's voice had never sounded that… final.
Like a goodbye was tucked beneath each syllable.
She turns to her younger sister, JEMI (10), who's eating cereal at the corner.
JEMI
Are you going out this early?
AMARA
Yeah. Just for a while.
JEMI
To see that man?
Amara doesn't respond. She adjusts her jacket and walks to the door.
SCENE 3
INT. NINA'S ROOM – EARLY MORNING
Nina is on the floor. Her back against the bed. Her phone in her lap. She hasn't moved in an hour. Her eyes are red.
NINA (V.O.)
He sounded distant. Not cold… not warm… just distant.
Like someone already halfway through a door he won't close.
MRS. LARA (her mother) walks in, her eyes stern but gentle.
MRS. LARA
You've been awake all night.
NINA
I'm meeting someone.
MRS. LARA
Him?
NINA
(nods, softly)
It's… important.
MRS. LARA studies her, then walks to the window.
MRS. LARA
Men like him—when they call, they don't always mean to return.
NINA (V.O.)
She doesn't know.
She doesn't know that leaving him is like peeling off my own skin.
SCENE 4
INT. ZARA'S CAR – PARKED OUTSIDE THE CAFE – 6:55 A.M.
Zara sits behind the wheel, engine off, staring straight ahead. She hasn't touched her makeup. There's a bruise on her arm—self-inflicted from gripping herself too tightly the night before.
ZARA (V.O.)
He proposed a year ago.
Left me six months later.
And now he wants us all in one room?
She breathes hard. Clutches the ring still dangling from her keychain.
ZARA (to herself)
This better be your last game, Leo.
SCENE 5
EXT. ROOFTOP OF THE CAFE– 7:00 A.M.
A small rooftop lounge. Grey clouds above. One black umbrella is open on the corner table. Leo stands under it, alone, like the calm before collapse.
Footsteps.
Amara arrives first. Her hair is pulled back tightly. She says nothing but stands across from him.
Nina next. Her eyes meet Amara's for a second, then lower. She walks to the opposite side.
Zara arrives last. Hands in coat pockets. Expression unreadable. She doesn't move close.
LEO
(quietly, almost to himself)
Thanks… for coming.
A beat of silence. Thunder murmurs in the distance.
AMARA
What is this, Leo?
NINA
You sounded… scared in that message.
ZARA
If you're dying, just say so.
Leo almost smiles—almost. He steps forward, rain beginning to wet his sleeves.
LEO
This isn't about love. Or maybe… it's about all the love I broke by hiding one thing.
He hesitates.
AMARA
One thing?
Leo looks each of them in the eye. One by one.
LEO
At 7:10… I'll tell you. But before then—I need to know something.
He pulls out three folded notes.
LEO (CONT'D)
Answer honestly. Silently. No names. No games.
He hands them each a note and pen.
LEO (CONT'D)
Do you love me… or who you think I am?
LEO' S PERSPECTIVE (7:03 A.M.)
"I never imagined truth would feel like betrayal.
But maybe this is what love becomes when stretched between too many hands.
Amara's silence cuts me the deepest.
Nina's eyes are begging for something I've already lost.
Zara…
Zara's the ghost that still breathes down my spine.
What I'm about to say—
No one will be the same after this."
END OF CHAPTER 13