LOGINThe success of Liam’s exhibition had left a golden haze over the studio, but a subtle tension lingered. I tried to hide it, but I knew he noticed the way my smile would sometimes falter when my phone lit up with a work notification, or how my gaze would grow distant, lost in thoughts he could easily guess.
One evening, as we were cleaning up the last of the celebration glasses, I stared out the window at the neon-lit city skyline, my expression unreadable even to myself. I was thinking about him. About the life I’d left behind. Our sanctuary was starting to feel like a cage with invisible bars.
He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.
"It's not enough, is it?" he said softly, his voice a gentle rumble near my ear.
I leaned back into him with a sigh, my hands coverin
Six months later…The room was decorated in a theme of pristine white. The scent of fresh flowers filled the air, dominated by the deep, romantic fragrance of roses—my favorite—their crimson hue a stark, beautiful contrast against the white walls and flowing curtains. I stood before a huge, floor-to-ceiling mirror, my breath catching in my throat.The mirror reflected a figure I barely recognized. The white wedding dress was perfection itself, hugging my curves in all the right places before flowing out into a graceful train. It was elegant, timeless, and utterly breathtaking. I looked… outstanding. A bride in every sense of the word.
The Thorne family residence was not a home; it was a museum of cold, impeccable taste. Every piece of furniture was placed with geometric precision, every surface gleamed under the soft, recessed lighting, and the silence was so profound it felt like a physical presence. I stood in the vast, minimalist dining room, feeling like a misplaced, breathing exhibit.Chairman Thorne sat at the head of a long, obsidian table that could easily seat twenty. He did not rise when I was shown in. He merely gestured with a slow, deliberate hand to the single place setting directly to his right. The distance between us felt both intimate and infinite.“Ms. Sharpe,” he said by way of greeting.
The weight of the day felt like a physical burden on my shoulders. The whispers, the pitying glances after my message in the Elysium Foundation chat, the oppressive silence from Julian’s office—it had all built into a dense, suffocating pressure in my chest. Every time my phone had buzzed with another cheerful, oblivious message from the Elysium Foundation group, a fresh wave of nausea had washed over me. Their normal world was a planet I had been thrown from, and I was still tumbling through the empty, silent space between my old life and my new one.I was packing my bag, my movements slow and weary, each item placed inside feeling
I did not walk away. His question hung in the air, a plea from the abyss, and I found I had one last thing to say. The coldness in my heart had crystallized into something sharp and clear."Forgiveness isn't the point, Julian," I said, my voice unnervingly calm. "And I was not the main person you needed to ask it from."He looked up, confusion breaking through his despair."What—""In your cold, calculated game," I continued, cutting him off, "maybe I could be regarded as collateral damage. A casualty you caused in your bigger war."He flinched as if I'd struck him. His mouth opened, a
The well-meaning congratulations from my colleagues became a constant, grating chorus in my personal hell. Every cheerful “We’re so happy for you!” and curious “When’s the big day?” felt like a small, sharp pinprick against my composure, steadily weakening the resolve I had worked so hard to build. I felt like a complete fraud, an impostor smiling tightly from my own desk, silently screaming behind a mask of normalcy.The most unnerving part was the silence. The immense, heavy silence from the man who had created this entire false reality. Julian Thorne became a ghost in his own building, a presence I sensed more than actually saw. I’d catch a fleeting glimpse of his back turning a distant corner, hear the low rumble of his voice through a closed conference room door, or notice the faint, expensive trace of his cologne in an elevator he had just left. He was everywhere and nowhere all
The rest of our holiday passed in a blissful, sun-drenched haze. We let the saltwater wash away the lingering tension, and the sea breeze carried away the last whispers of the city’s dramas. For a few precious days, we existed only for each other.We talked about everything and nothing, our conversations flowing as easily as the tide. We shared stories from our decade apart, not with sadness, but with a sense of finally piecing together the complete picture of each other.Liam, emboldened by his success and the freedom of the island, was more open than I had ever seen him. He spoke of his fears for the future, not as an artist, but as a man who finally had something—someone—precious to lose. I, in turn, shared my own anxieties about returning to the city, to the life I had walked away from. The conversation on the porch had shifted something between us. The g







