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Chapter 63

last update publish date: 2026-04-12 01:06:17

Maria:

I wake up and for a few seconds, everything feels normal.

Quiet room. Soft light filtering through the curtains. Nothing heavy.

Then it hits.

Not all at once. Just… pieces.

The car. The beach. My voice.

I sit up slowly.

“Oh no.”

It comes out under my breath, like maybe if I say it quietly enough, it won’t be real.

It is.

I press my fingers to my forehead, trying to retrace it properly, but that only makes it worse because now I’m remembering details.

Not just what happened.

What I said.

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  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 63

    Maria:I wake up and for a few seconds, everything feels normal.Quiet room. Soft light filtering through the curtains. Nothing heavy.Then it hits.Not all at once. Just… pieces.The car. The beach. My voice.I sit up slowly.“Oh no.”It comes out under my breath, like maybe if I say it quietly enough, it won’t be real.It is.I press my fingers to my forehead, trying to retrace it properly, but that only makes it worse because now I’m remembering details.Not just what happened.What I said.I drop back onto the bed and stare at the ceiling.Why would I ask him that?Out of everything I could have said.Out of everything I could have kept to myself.I turn to my side and pull the duvet over my face. The fabric feels warm and slightly suffocating against my skin.“I actually said that out loud.”And not even calmly.No. I said it like I had every right to ask him.Like I was entitled to an answer.I sit up again, dragging a hand down my face.“I need help.”That’s the only conclusion

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 62

    Maria“Mom, what is it about Daniel that you don’t already know?”I say it before I even sit down, my bag still hanging off my shoulder like I might leave again if this goes left. The strap digs into my skin, a small anchor.She doesn’t answer immediately. She just looks at me, measured, like she’s deciding how serious this conversation is about to be.That’s never a good sign.I drop my bag on the chair and finally sit, smoothing my dress down without really thinking about it. The fabric whispers against my legs. The room still feels like mine, familiar, quiet, but something about the way she’s standing makes it feel smaller. The lamp on the side table casts a warm pool of light across the floor between us.“We saw the headlines,” she says.Of course.I nod once. “So did everyone else.”She doesn’t react to that. “Is he proposing or not?”I blink at her.For a second, I almost laugh, but it doesn’t quite come out.“Excuse me?”“Maria,” she says, a little firmer now, “this is not some

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 61

    Daniel:She walks away like she needs space and doesn’t bother explaining it.Barefoot. Heels dangling from her fingers. The sand shifts under her steps, but she doesn’t slow down or look back. She just keeps going, straight toward the water like the rest of the world can sort itself out without her for a minute. The wind catches the hem of her dress, lifting it slightly against her legs.I stay where I am.Not for long. Just long enough to notice.The way she moves isn’t careful. There is no adjustment, no awareness of being watched, no effort to compose herself into something presentable. Her dress catches the wind, her hair follows, and she doesn’t fix any of it. The moonlight catches the strands, turning them silver for a brief second.She doesn’t know what that looks like from here.That someone would stop and watch.That I did.I let out a quiet breath and start walking after her. My shoes sink into the cool sand with each step, the grains shifting and clinging.She reaches the

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 60

    Maria: For a while, we just walk. No urgency. No destination. Just the quiet stretch of sand and the steady rhythm of the waves folding into themselves and pulling back again. I hold my heels in one hand, the straps dangling between my fingers, and focus on where I’m stepping so I don’t sink too deep. The cool grains shift under my bare feet with every step. He stays beside me. Close, but not touching. It feels deliberate. Like we both understand that something already shifted and we are being careful not to rush past it. “I don’t do this,” he says after a while. I glance at him. “Do what?” “This.” He gestures vaguely, like even naming it is unnecessary. “Talking like this. Feeling… anything I can’t control.” I let out a small breath that almost turns into a smile. “That explains a lot.” He doesn’t react to that. Just keeps walking, eyes ahead. The wind carries the salty scent of the sea across the beach. “I’m not avoiding it,” he adds. “You are.” “I’m not.” “You are,” I

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 59

    Maria: By the time Daniel pulls up, I am already done pretending. Not dramatically done. Not in a way that makes me slam doors or cancel plans. Just… quietly finished with whatever this has been pretending to be. I stand in front of my mirror longer than necessary, adjusting an earring I already fixed two minutes ago, and I catch myself staring. I look like I belong in this life. That thought unsettles me more than anything. Everything is right. The dress. The makeup. The hair. If someone took a picture right now, it would fit perfectly into everything people already think they know about me. I reach for my phone without thinking. The screen lights up, and even though I do not open anything, I remember it clearly. The pictures. The angles. The way something as small as standing close to someone can be turned into a narrative you did not agree to. The land stays with me. Not the gala. Not the café. That quiet stretch of space that felt like mine the moment I stepped into it. T

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 58

    Daniel: I read the same line again. Then again. The numbers are right. The projections are clean. There is nothing wrong with the document in front of me. If anything, it is one of the better reports this quarter. I close it anyway. The office is quiet. Glass walls, muted light filtering through the tall windows, everything exactly where it should be. It usually helps me think. Keeps things in order. Today, it just feels… still. The faint hum of the air conditioning fills the space, but it does nothing to ease the restlessness under my skin. My phone lights up on the desk. I glance at it, then ignore it. If it is important, it will come back. It always does. I lean back slightly and rest my hand against the arm of the chair, my eyes settling somewhere past the desk, toward the city skyline visible through the glass. And then, without effort, my mind shifts. Not to work. To her. Maria. The land comes first, but not in the way it should. Not like a project I am assessing.

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 50

    Maria: It’s been a month. The thought comes and settles, not heavy, not urgent. Just there. A quiet fact I can’t ignore even if I don’t want to sit with it. A month since Noah. It doesn’t feel like something I lost. That part is clear to me. I made that decision with my eyes open. It wasn’t dra

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 49

    Daniel: I shouldn’t have done that. The thought is clear. Not loud, not dramatic. Just… there, settled in place like a fact I can’t argue with. I lean back in my chair and stare at nothing in particular, the office still quiet at this hour. The city hasn’t fully started yet. No calls. No interru

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 48

    Maria: We don’t stay on the balcony much longer after that. Not because anything interrupts us. Nothing does. The night is still loud somewhere behind the doors, people laughing, glasses clinking, voices rising and falling like it’s all part of a script they’ve memorized. But out there, it feels

  • What We Pretended To Be    Chapter 47

    Maria: For a second, we just stand there. It feels like one of those moments that stretches longer than it should. Not because anything is happening, but because too much already has. He looks at me, and I know. I don’t need him to ask. He knows I heard. I open my mouth, close it, then try aga

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