LOGINShare
Chapter 5
Latest chapter
I Left Before He Could Put the Ring Back On Chapter 10
Before the exhibition tour ended, I agreed to meet Damian once.We met in the closed Italian restaurant where the story had begun.The two-person booth beside the fireplace remained. So did the extra chair in the aisle. Three place settings waited on the table, and at my old seat, the Moretti crest on the napkin still faced the wrong way.Damian stood as soon as he saw me.A year had thinned him. His once-perfect shirt was creased, and he still wore the old silver cuff links I had given him. One was scratched nearly dull."Sit here." He pulled out the seat beside the fireplace.Serena's old seat.I stayed standing. "I received the compass. Thank you.""I wasn't the one who repaired it," he said quietly. "The artisan searched for the part for a year. All I did was return what belonged to you."At his signal, the manager served osso buco, truffle risotto, and a single hazelnut panna cotta.Damian poured the first glass of Barolo and offered it to me.For the first time in four years, at
I Left Before He Could Put the Ring Back On Chapter 9
One year later, I returned to New York with The One Who Left the Table for an international exhibition tour.Serena was waiting outside the arrivals hall at Kennedy Airport.She had lost weight and cut off the long hair she once treasured. A pale scar marked her right arm, and no Moretti guards stood beside her."Evelyn, give me five minutes."She held out the silver decanter. The engraved words had been scraped away, leaving a rough, ugly patch."Damian never saw me again. He changed every access code at the townhouse. He bought that restaurant and kept it closed for a year."I left the decanter in her hands. "None of that has anything to do with me.""I know." Tears slipped down her face. "I convinced myself you had taken the place that should've been mine. Later, I realized that if Damian had ever loved me that way, sometime in fifteen years he would've chosen me without needing you to lose."She looked down at the damaged silver. "He protected me out of duty and habit. He also beli
I Left Before He Could Put the Ring Back On Chapter 8
Damian didn't leave Milan immediately. He stayed near Saint Clair's headquarters for a month.Every morning, reception received a warm oat-milk spiced tea with no honey and two strips of orange peel.The first day, I returned it. The second, I gave it to the cleaning staff. After that, the cups arrived without a name, and I never touched one.Before winter design week, Saint Clair gave me a solo exhibition.I rebuilt Cathedral from the wreckage.I left the cracks visible and fixed my father's repaired compass at the center.I titled the work The One Who Left the Table.At the opening, a critic asked why I hadn't made the repairs prettier."Restoration can make a structure carry weight again," I said. "It can't prove the damage never happened.""I don't need it to look untouched. I only need it to belong to me."The installation won the Milan Design Week Jury Prize and was accepted into the permanent collection of the European Museum of Contemporary Design.Damian sat in the last row du
I Left Before He Could Put the Ring Back On Chapter 7
Damian waited outside Saint Clair's headquarters for two days.On the third afternoon, I left the restoration lab and saw him standing at the bottom of the steps.A fine rain fell over Milan. He had no guards and no umbrella. His black coat was soaked through, but he kept both arms wrapped around a dark wooden case.It contained the original drawings left in my father's New York studio."Evelyn." He came toward me, his voice rough.I stopped beneath the building's awning. "How did you find me?"I sounded as if I were speaking to an unexpected client. Pain flickered across his face."I brought your father's archives. The compass is already with the restorer. I gave the police the footage of Serena smashing it and chasing your convoy. Moretti Racing cut her, and the family withdrew its protection."I accepted the case. "Thank you."Only two words.My politeness seemed to cut him more deeply than anger."Come home with me.""I work here now.""Then I'll stay in Milan." He took a hurried s
I Left Before He Could Put the Ring Back On Chapter 6
The color slowly left Serena's face. "Did Evelyn leave some note blaming me? She always does this. If you don't give her what she wants, she threatens to leave until you crawl after her. Go to Milan and she'll think she won."Damian ignored her and ordered security to pull every internal recording from the townhouse.The camera outside my studio showed everything.At 1:07 a.m., Serena left the primary suite without a blanket. She stood in the hallway for almost a minute, making sure the staff and guards were gone, then entered my studio using an emergency code.Seven minutes later, she carried my father's compass to the crystal display.It didn't slip.She stared at it, then smashed it against the stone floor.The ivory handle cracked on the first strike.She hit it again.The platinum leg snapped.Only after hearing my door open did she step backward onto the broken crystal.No one in the security room spoke.Damian replayed the footage.Then he watched it a third time.His face held
I Left Before He Could Put the Ring Back On Chapter 5
Damian waited until the last guest left the estate.I never came.By dawn, our old group chat held more than a dozen messages from him.[Come back.][We need to talk.][Name your terms.][Evelyn, don't make me come drag you home myself.]The last message had been sent at four in the morning. None showed a read receipt.Serena found him at the townhouse the next morning. "She's trying to scare you. Evelyn loves you too much to throw away four years. She just wants you desperate enough to chase her."That kind of assurance used to please him.This time, he didn't even look at her.After the ruined ceremony, he went to my studio. The locks had been changed, the glass offices were empty, and my core team had resigned. Vale Studio's central files were already overseas.Then he returned to the Upper East Side townhouse.No light waited in the entryway.No matter how late Damian came home, I had always left one brass wall lamp glowing. Even when I was asleep, there would be ginger-and-pear wa
You may also like
Dumping Mr. Heartless, Finding Mr. Right
Elora Faye9.5K viewsErasing Mrs. Moretti
Echo112.0K viewsTwins Get Divorces Together
Celebrant25.6K viewsA Breath Away from Death
Watermelon25.3K viewsNo Sloppy Seconds
Soda5.0K viewsStolen by My Holy Mother
Soda356 viewsI Was Never Just Dead Weight
Cocojam637 viewsThey Gave My Wedding Away Before I Died
Katerina780 views
