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Chapter 16: Morning Surprises

Author: Angel
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-28 11:58:43

The buzzing starts before I’m even fully awake.

I shift beneath my blanket, groggy, blindly reaching for my phone on the nightstand. The screen lights up with dozens—no, hundreds—of notifications.

9:04 a.m.

Lea has sent what might be a small novel in fragmented apology messages. Some are long and teary, others desperate and pleading. There’s a vague sense of panic in the way she writes, like she’s finally realized what she’s done—or what she’s lost. Still, not a single message from Jace.

My chest tightens a little at that.

I scroll down to find a string of texts from Mom. Apologies pour in. She swears she didn't mean to forget my birthday, that things at work have been overwhelming, that she’ll make it up to me tenfold. There are even pictures of a cake she plans to bake.

I’m halfway through another one of Lea’s paragraphs when a soft knock echoes on my door.

I don’t move. I’m still a blanket burrito, tangled in my sheets like some sleep-deprived caterpillar, and not remotely ready to
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