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Chapter 6
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Last Birthday Wish Chapter 9
I stepped between Nico and Ethan. "Don't use the Moretti family against him."Nico flinched. "You think I'd hurt him?""Two years ago, you would have done whatever it took to make me fall back in line, as long as you could tell yourself it wasn't crossing a line."The security men watched Nico, waiting.He closed the ring box. "Go back to the car."They left without an argument. Nico waited until they were across the street before looking at Ethan. "I need five minutes with her.""That's up to Ivy."Nico's attention returned to me. For the first time, there was no order in his voice. "Please."Ethan loosened his hand. "I'll be by the rink. You don't owe him five minutes, but the choice is yours."That was why I agreed.Nico led me to the covered walkway beside the warehouse. Snow slipped through the iron railing and melted into dark spots on his coat. He kept enough distance between us that I didn't have to step back."Celeste told me the truth after you left," he said. "About the orch
Last Birthday Wish Chapter 8
Nico stood a few feet away in a black cashmere coat. Two years had sharpened his face and broadened his shoulders. He looked more like Vito now, from the controlled set of his mouth to the two security men waiting near the street.For a moment, neither of us spoke."I heard you were home," he said. "Why didn't you tell me?""There was nothing I needed to tell you."His gaze moved over my face as if he were checking for changes. He lifted one hand, then stopped before touching me. "I called you for two years.""I know.""And you ignored every call. You sent the ring back twice. You left me one recording and decided that was enough.""It told you I was leaving.""It didn't tell me why."I looked at the rink, where children clung to the rail while their parents tried not to fall. "You knew why before I got on the plane. You just thought my reasons were stupid."Nico's jaw tightened. "If this was about the hotel, nothing happened with Celeste. I took her to the suite and left. I never slep
Last Birthday Wish Chapter 7
Life in Seattle filled up faster than I expected.I took a campus job calibrating equipment, learned which dining hall stayed open late, and stopped getting lost between the engineering buildings. Our competition car failed three inspections, survived two crashes, and finally completed a full course without touching a barrier.Nico's messages changed over time.The first ones were orders sent from new numbers.[Come home.][We can still start Columbia in the fall.][Stop shutting me out and talk to me.]By winter, they became apologies that still asked for something.[I should have stopped Celeste at prom. Give me a chance to explain.][I know the hotel picture looked bad. Nothing happened.]Months later, one final email reached my student account.[I was cruel because I thought you would always forgive me. You don't owe me an answer. I hope you're happy, Ivy.]I read it once, archived it, and returned to the code on my screen. No new message came after that.At the end of freshman yea
Last Birthday Wish Chapter 6
By the time Nico's birthday dinner began, my plane was somewhere over Montana.I landed in Seattle after dark, called my parents from baggage claim, and took the airport train to campus. No Escalade waited at the curb. No driver reached for my suitcase. I dragged it uphill to the dorm myself, sweating inside the waterproof coat Mom had insisted I wear.My room was narrow enough that I could touch both beds if I stretched out my arms. The window faced a brick wall, the mattress squeaked, and the communal bathroom was at the far end of the hall.I loved it on sight.The summer research program started two days later. Professor Lane assigned me to an autonomous-systems lab where miniature self-driving cars raced around a track made from black tape. My team spent the first morning arguing over sensors, then discovered half our equipment had been labeled incorrectly.During my second week, I found a timing error that had been corrupting the camera feed. Professor Lane made me explain the fi
Last Birthday Wish Chapter 5
The recording ended, but Nico kept staring at Mark's phone as if Ivy might take back the last sentence."Play it again."Mark hesitated before pressing the screen. Ivy's voice filled the front drive for a second time, calm and final. Behind Nico, the quartet kept playing inside the ballroom while guests talked beneath the chandeliers, unaware that the only person he had been waiting for was already somewhere over the country.Nico took out his phone and called her. The call went straight to voicemail. He tried again, then grabbed Mark's phone and dialed from that number. It went to voicemail too."Find out which flight she took," he said. "Tell the crew to get the jet ready.""The jet stays where it is."Vito Moretti stood in the open doorway. His black dinner jacket was buttoned, and his expression hadn't shifted, but the two guards nearest the steps moved aside without being told.Nico closed his hand around the ring box. "She left without telling me.""She returned your ring, turned
Last Birthday Wish Chapter 4
When I got home, I moved my flight up by four days.Dad changed the oil in my old car so Mom could drive it while I was gone. Mom packed a first-aid kit and three pairs of thick socks into my suitcase because, according to her, Seattle existed in a permanent state of freezing rain. None of us mentioned Nico. We talked about my dorm address, when the scholarship money would clear, and whether I owned a jacket that was actually waterproof.The Morettis carried on as if nothing had changed. A few days later, a black envelope arrived with an embossed gold crest and an invitation to Nico's eighteenth-birthday celebration. The dress code was formal. My assigned seat was listed at his right hand.I had always been the first person to wish him happy birthday. When we were kids, I hid clue cards around his kitchen and sent him on ridiculous scavenger hunts for his present. Once we were old enough to drive, I took him to the seawall at midnight and made him wait for sunrise with me. Nico never a
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