Semua Bab Hate Me, Desire Me: Bab 41 - Bab 44

TIARA MCKENZIE'S POVThe sunlight slipped through the edges of the hotel curtains, casting soft golden stripes across the carpet and the side of the bed. I sat on the armchair, legs pulled to my chest, wearing the same clothes from last night and feeling like my skin didn't belong to me. My eyes burned, not from tears, but from the kind of exhaustion that sits in the bones after something inside you has shattered. I didn't know what time it was, but the quiet hum of the city waking up made it clear that morning had arrived whether I wanted it to or not. Everything about this day felt too bright for the kind of heaviness I was carrying.Elijah was asleep on the floor, his back turned to me, a pillow wedged under his head and the spare blanket bunched around his legs. He hadn't said much after I told him I was still leaving. No

TIARA MCKENZIE'S POINT OF VIEWThe first light of morning slipped past the curtains, painting the room in a pale golden hue. I blinked awake slowly, and the first thing my eyes landed on was the silver bracelet around my wrist. The lily charm glinted against the sunlight, innocent and beautiful, as though it had been meant for me all along. I turned my arm gently, considering unclasping it before anyone could see, but my fingers hesitated. Somehow, it felt heavier than its weight. It was not just metal. It was Elijah's presence lingering on me, even across oceans.I lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, feeling the way silence pressed against my ears. Sleep had not been generous last night. The bracelet had kept reminding me of him, of everything that was said and unsaid, of everything we were and weren't. My heart argued between removing it to protect myself and keeping it to protect the fragile thread that still existed between us. I hated the pull, the way one simple gift