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Chapter 122 – pretense

last update Last Updated: 2025-09-07 16:28:26

Luca’s POV

The city outside my window was loud, alive, and completely unfamiliar. I thought maybe the noise would drown out the silence in my chest, but it didn’t. Even in the chaos, I carried a hollow space where Elliott’s voice used to be. Every morning I woke up hoping the weight would lessen, and every night I realized it hadn’t.

The gallery I worked in had become my second home. Paints, brushes, and blank canvases filled the empty hours, and I lost myself in the colors. It was easier than confronting the thoughts that crept in when the world grew quiet. I pretended I was fine. Pretended that the past was behind me. Pretending that the letter I sent didn’t matter anymore.

But it did. Every day. I wondered if he read it. I wondered if he burned it. I wondered if he folded it into his pocket and carried it around like a secret no one could see. And then, whenever I remembered his divorce, the questions twisted sharper. Did it mean something? Or was I still just a shadow in his life
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