001: saving myself

Liana’s POV

(2 days earlier ……)

I wasn’t supposed to be here—and definitely not like this. Puffy eyes. Smudged makeup. An expired gym pass and a trail of broken pieces. Matteo should never find out

Matteo made sure the world saw a picture-perfect marriage. He didn’t care what happened behind locked doors—as long as no one ever questioned it.”

But here I was, sitting cross-legged on cold concrete beside the door of a gym I couldn’t legally enter, pretending like I wasn’t about to lose what little sanity I had left.

The early morning air stung my skin, damp with June’s indecision between spring and summer. I kept my head down, hoodie drawn, as if that Could hide the fact that I’d cried like a child in my car for fifteen whole minutes before dragging myself here.

Mornings like this, when reality felt like a nightmare, I ran.

A nightmare that once felt like a blessing. I would still remember that day I said those wedding vows. It felt like my best decision. But now I don’t even know what it feels like anymore.

Sometimes I miss the man he used to be. And I hate myself for that.

If I can just make it through today without breaking, maybe I can figure out how to leave for good tomorrow.

I heard Footsteps echoed down the pavement. Bringing me off my thought back to my reality

My head snapped up.

A man, tall, broad, confident in the kind of quiet way that made you think twice, Strode toward the door. I quickly sat up straighter. Panic stirred.

Don’t chicken out now.

He didn’t see me at first. His gaze was focused, steps sure, like someone who owned his world, or at least didn’t let it Own him. His eyes flicked toward me when he got close enough, surprised to see someone crouched in his path.

I stood, smoothing my leggings like that would erase the mess I clearly was.

“Hey,” I said, voice scratchy. “Do you mind if I come in after you?”

He stopped mid-stride, one brow arching. God, he had the most annoyingly sculpted face, clean-cut jawline, a faint scar near his brow, and sleepy eyes that definitely weren’t sleepy.

“Your pass not working?” he asked, voice low, skeptical.

“Technically,” I coughed, “it’s expired. I just, need a run. A quiet run. I swear I won’t implicate you or do anything noticeable. I’ll vanish in the background. Like a gym ghost.”

He stared at me like I’d just offered to rob the place with jazz hands.

“You’re asking me to sneak you into someone else’s gym. That’s like going against the rule of this place.”

“I’m not sneaking. I’m… slipping through a moral crack. There’s a difference,” I said with a small smile.

His lips twitched. There. A crack in the marble.

“No one will know. Not even the owner.”

Oh.

Crap.

My smile froze. “…Oh.”

He leaned a little closer. “So tell me why I should let a random woman with raccoon eyes and an expired pass card into my gym before sunrise?”

I bit my lip, flushed. “Because… you look like the kind of guy who understands quiet desperation.”

He blinked.

Okay, maybe too dramatic.

“…And because if I don’t run for at least twenty minutes, I might actually stab someone today.”

“Or maybe commit suicide.” I added with a Fake smile. Deep down, I knew I wasn’t joking. I might actually do that. Because my life is a total mess, and I really can’t wait to get out of it.

There was a beat of silence. Then he stepped aside and pushed open the door.

“Twenty minutes. I don’t plan on staying long in the gym today,” he said.

“Thank you. Seriously. You’re my morning miracle.”

I stepped past him, ignoring the way his cologne hit me, spice, woodsmoke, and something dangerously clean. Like sin in a suit. Or a gym tee.

Was I really begging a stranger to let me run like it was my last meal? What even was I anymore?

I could feel his eyes on me as I jogged to the treadmill like a fugitive who just got a free pass from the warden. But I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.

I wasn’t happy about it.Twenty minutes would never be enough. But I took it anyway.

As I stepped onto the treadmill, I told myself I wasn’t here to run. I was here to remember how to breathe—before going back to the place I used to call home.