Chapter Quote:
"The truth has a heartbeat. You can lie all you want, but it waits. Patient. Silent. And then, it explodes."
— Anonymous
SCENE: ROOFTOP CAFÉ – EARLY MORNING – 7:09 A.M.
(The soft humming of the city begins to stir below. The skyline is painted with faded orange and cloud-smeared blue. The table is silent. Leo stands by the glass railing, his back turned. Three women sit — Nina, Amara, Zara — each holding a folded note, the same question written: "Do you love me… or who you think I am?")
NINA (staring at the question, her voice nearly inaudible)
What kind of question is this?
AMARA (voice sharp, defensive)
A manipulative one. One that dodges the real conversation.
ZARA (folding and unfolding the paper)
Or maybe he's finally going to stop lying.
(Leo turns slowly, eyes darker than usual. The wind tousles his shirt collar. The clock on his watch hits 7:10 A.M. He clears his throat, but doesn't speak immediately. Tension folds into every breath.)
LEO
You each deserve an explanation. And maybe… a little justice too.
NINA (whispers)
Are you dying?
LEO (softly)
No. Worse. I'm about to resurrect a version of me I buried a long time ago.
(Silence. He pulls out a smaller envelope and places it at the center of the table. No one reaches for it yet.)
LEO (CONT'D)
That envelope contains pieces of who I was… who I've been hiding. But I won't make you read it — not yet. I owe you this in person.
AMARA (staring at him, cold)
Then talk.
(Leo nods, steadying himself against the railing.)
LEO (deep breath)
One year ago, I proposed to Zara. Six months later, I met Nina. Amara. Both of you changed the way I thought I could feel again. But the thing is… all three of you were drawn to a version of me that never existed in full. Just fragments. Just… a man surviving on borrowed truth.
(He pauses. Each girl processes differently. Nina blinks furiously. Amara leans back, suspicious. Zara closes her eyes.)
ZARA (calm, sharp)
Then who the hell are you?
LEO (his voice falters)
I used to think I was the man who could fix things. But I'm not. I'm the man who ran from everything, from responsibility… from blood.
(A beat. He glances at Nina — almost guilty. Almost terrified. Then Amara — still the one who knows how he bleeds. Then Zara — the one he hurt first.)
LEO (CONT'D)
My mother died when I was twelve. My father remarried quickly. I… I never knew much about the woman he married. They separated. He never told me why. But… last month, I received a letter.
(He pulls out the crumpled paper — not the one on the table — this one's personal. Torn edges. Handwritten. Old.)
LEO (CONT'D) (reads)
"You don't know me, but I once loved your father. I left because I feared what the truth would do to you both. There's a girl you know. And when you find her… you'll know why I stayed away."
(The girls are still. A chill creeps into the rooftop.)
NINA (softly)
Wait… what do you mean? A girl?
LEO (barely above a whisper)
I don't know what that means yet. I swear. But it felt like the past was calling in a voice that sounded like one of yours.
(A heavy pause.)
AMARA (leans forward, biting her bottom lip)
So what now? Are you here to confess or confuse?
LEO (exhausted)
I'm here to tell you this — I loved each of you differently. But I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm asking for the truth… from you too.
(He gestures to the question: "Do you love me… or who you think I am?")
ZARA (laughs bitterly)
You want honesty now?
NINA (tears in her voice)
What if… what if the truth burns everything?
LEO
Then let it. Because only ashes can spark something real.
(Blackout sound. No one moves. The camera — if there were one — would linger on each of their faces: haunted. Wounded. Unspoken things clawing behind their eyes.)
— AMARA (Later that evening, writing in her journal)
"He looked like a man unraveling. Not from guilt — from memory. And I hated that I still wanted to wrap my arms around the ruins of him. But something inside me whispered: this isn't the secret. Not yet. Whatever he's hiding… it's still breathing. Beneath skin. Beneath time. Beneath love."
FADES OUT