The Teachers Inmate

The muted chatter of a news report about a recent prison release drifted from the living room, but Belle barely heard it. Her gaze was fixed on the tiny bassinet, where Seth and Olivia Belle, Maggie’s children, slept peacefully. Her best friend, Maggie, sat beside her on the couch, sipping tea.

“She’s so beautiful, Maggie,” Belle murmured, her voice soft.

“Thank you.” Maggie smiled, a picture of contented motherhood. “Seth is pretty cute too.”

Belle agreed, a faint smile touching her lips. The calm domestic scene was a stark contrast to the storm brewing within her.

“So, you and Landon thinking about kids?” Maggie asked, shifting the conversation.

Belle hesitated, the question feeling hollow. “Uh… no… not for a while at least.”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed, sensing her friend’s unease. The comfortable silence between them stretched, thick with unspoken thoughts. Finally, Maggie set her tea aside, her expression serious.

“Okay, what’s up?”

Belle swallowed hard, the words catching in her throat. “Alex is getting out in two days.”

The name hung in the air, a ghost from a past she had desperately tried to bury. Belle felt her heart seize, the familiar phantom pain of memory twisting in her gut. Alex. Her first love. The man who murdered her father and, in doing so, saved her life.

Maggie’s hand found Belle’s knee, a comforting, familiar pressure. “I just thought you would want to know.”

Tears welled in Belle’s eyes, hot and sudden. Ten years. Ten years of silence, of trying to forget. And now, he was coming back.