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CHAPTER TEN: A Step Forward

Author: BestOfHisLove
last update Last Updated: 2025-08-11 05:32:48

CHARLOTTE'S POV

I was still replaying the conversation in the garden when I heard footsteps in the hallway. It was heavy, deliberate… not the hurried tap of Elsie or the softer shuffle of Petra.

“Aiden, you don’t have to…”

“I want to,” he cut in, his voice steadier than I had heard in weeks. He leaned on the doorway like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed in, his hands buried in his pockets. “I’m done letting things fall apart. I’m not losing you, Charlotte.”

The words hit me like a stone dropped into still water. Ripples, slow and dangerous.

“You haven't said things like this before,” I told him.

“I know, and I mean it.”

“That’s what scares me,” I replied with my face down.

He stepped inside, frowning. “Why?”

I shrugged, though my chest tightened. “Because it’s always easier to say you’ll change than to actually do it.”

“Then let me prove it.”

“How?”

“Dinner,” he said almost instantly, like he’d already decided. “Tomorrow night. Just the two of us. No interruptions, no phones. I’ll tak
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