Chapter 48 Fool

Christian

Now

I could barely breathe as I looked into Bernice's eyes and said the words I'd been holding back for a decade. "It's me, Bernice. I'm Charlie - the one you knew all those years ago."

Her eyes widened in shock, those emerald green depths that had captivated me from the moment we met. But there was something else there too...confusion, uncertainty.

"How can that be possible?" she whispered, her voice strained. "Charlie...you...how?"

I reached across the console, my hand hovering just over hers. "I know it seems unbelievable. But I promise you, it's the truth. I'm the same Charlie you once knew, just...older now. Wiser, I hope."

She didn't pull away from my touch, but she also didn't lean into it. Her body was tense, rigid almost, like she was bracing herself.

"All this time..." she began haltingly. "You knew who I was? And you never said anything?"

The hurt in her voice lanced through me like a physical blow. "Bernie, you have to understand, it killed me to stay away. But I