Home / Romance / Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms / Chapter Twenty-One: Through His Eyes

Share

Chapter Twenty-One: Through His Eyes

Author: Crankyswan
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-26 05:25:25

He hadn’t slept.

Even after their walk, even after the bookstore, even after her laughter—the kind that curled around his ribs and lodged somewhere beneath his heart—he couldn’t quiet the gnawing ache that had bloomed in the pit of his chest.

Something was wrong.

He knew it before she spoke it. Before she even said goodbye that evening, something in her eyes had shifted. Not away from him, but away from the world.

It was subtle. Most wouldn’t have noticed. But he had memorized her expressions like poetry. And this new one—tight, guarded, dimmed—was not part of the verses he’d come to love.

She was pulling in.

Folding.

And whatever light she usually carried so naturally had begun to flicker.

He replayed their last interaction for the third time, leaning back in his study chair, phone in hand.

He had watched the security footage again—yes, he’d asked for it. Not from her building, never that invasive, but from the café’s outdoor camera.

After she walked away, there had been a hesitation
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms   Chapter Forty-Three: Something to Celebrate

    POV: Layla BrooksThe ride back home felt longer than usual, though I knew every turn by heart. The quiet hum of the train rattled under me, and I caught my reflection in the window—blurry, thoughtful, older somehow.It had been a while since I’d visited for more than a day or two. The last time I’d stood in that living room, I had been unraveling. But this time, I was arriving with something to celebrate.I held the printed letter in my bag like it was made of glass. I didn’t need to carry it—there was nothing in it I didn’t know by heart now—but I wanted to show it to them. To

  • Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms   Chapter Forty-Two: The Words I Keep to Myself

    POV: Layla BrooksThe email came on a Thursday morning.There was nothing dramatic about its arrival—just a quiet notification blinking at the top of my screen as I sipped lukewarm tea and reviewed line edits for an article on sustainable textile dyes.Subject line: Your Application to The FoldI froze.I didn’t open it. Not immediately. I just stared, heart beating somewhere behind my teeth. I could feel the air shift, like something important had just crossed a line in the sand.The Fold. The one place I’d allowed myself to hope for. The kind of opportu

  • Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms   Chapter Forty-One: Almost, Maybe, Not Quite

    POV: Lucas FordI’ve always been good at reading people.It’s part of the job, really—listening between the lines of what a client says, what a writer means. People think editing is all about words, but it’s more about tone. Rhythm. Silence.Lately, the silence between Layla and me said more than her laughter ever could.She laughed more now, sure—especially when Zoe was around. But it was like watching someone walk on a tightrope, every step deliberate. Balanced. Beautiful. A little terrifying.Zoe bounced into the office around 8:57, full of life and barely disguised nervous energy. She always wore h

  • Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms   Chapter Forty: Between the Wait and the Word

    POV: Layla BrooksIt had been three days since I hit send. Two days since I stopped checking my email every hour. And one day since the trembling started beneath my ribs—an anxious kind of restlessness I couldn’t quite name.Still no response from The Fold.I was beginning to feel like Schrödinger’s applicant—accepted and rejected at the same time, suspended in a purgatory of potential.Lucas nudged my elbow gently. “You’ve been staring at that inbox like it owes you money.”I blinked. “It kind of does. Like, the emotional equivalent.”He chuckled and handed me a croissant. “Eat something. You’re too tense.”“I’m fine,” I said, but the truth was—I wasn’t.Zoe walked in a moment later, balancing her tablet and an iced latte like a seasoned pro. “Did you check this morning?” she asked immediately, her voice tinged with hope.“Checked. Refreshed. Stared at the screen. Nothing.”“It’s still early,” Zoe said. “And no news doesn’t mean bad news. It could mean your application made it to t

  • Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms   Chapter Thirty Nine: The Things We Don’t Say

    POV: Mara GreeneLayla was smiling again. But I’d learned not to trust smiles. Not the kind she wore lately—thin, practiced, flickering like a candle someone kept trying to blow out.We’d both learned to master the art of pretending after trauma. So I saw through it.And I worried.“I’m fine,” she said that Saturday as we sat in our favorite little café, the one with chipped mugs and piano jazz playing too low for anyone but us to notice.She stirred her tea like it held secrets. Like her silence could dissolve if she just kept moving the spoon long enough.“You’re not,” I replied gently.Layla looked up, her eyes betraying the fatigue beneath her polished face. “I’m just tired. Work’s intense. The Fold application. That’s all.”“You’ve been tired before,” I said. “This feels different.”She didn’t answer right away.I waited.It’s how we’d learned to talk—quietly, carefully, giving each other the space to unfold or retreat.“I feel like I’m holding everything up with strings,” she

  • Love, Lessons, and Late Blossoms   Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Pitch and the Petals

    POV: Layla BrooksEvery hour felt like a heartbeat against a deadline.The Fold wasn’t just an opportunity—it was the opportunity. If I got this right, everything I’d been building for would take flight. If I failed… I’d go back to the shadows of someone else’s pages.But I wasn’t the same girl who once hid behind silence.So I drafted. Deleted. Rewrote. Breathed. Cried. Sipped lukewarm coffee at midnight and stared out my window, searching for a line that would make someone feel something.Because that’s what I knew how to do—make words feel.The task was twofold: a written application and a five-minute video presentation that captured not just my experience, but my editorial vision. What kind of voice would you elevate if given the chance? they asked.I knew the answer instinctively.Voices that have been overlooked, muted, or flattened into someone else’s comfort. Voices like mine. Like Mara’s. Like every girl who learned to survive by folding herself small.It wasn’t a resume that

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status