Lahat ng Kabanata ng The One He Let Go: Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

KellyThe sound of Harper's excitement in the house was infectious. Harper darted around the living room, her small suitcase rolling behind her as if it were a pet she couldn’t part with. “Mommy, do they have unicorns in Italy?” she asked for the fifth time since breakfast.I laughed, zipping up my own suitcase and placing it by the door. “No unicorns, baby. But they have gelato, and I promise you’ll love it.”Her eyes widened. “What’s gelato?”“It’s like ice cream,” Adrian chimed in from the kitchen. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his strong forearms as he made coffee. The sight of him so at ease in our home felt oddly comforting.“Better than ice cream,” I corrected, grabbing Harper’s hand to stop her from unzipping her bag again. “And no, you don’t need your stuffed whale, Harper. You’ve already packed five toys.”“But Whale-y wants to see Italy too!” Harper pouted, her lips forming the perfect little bow.Adrian chuckled, walking over with a cup of coffee. “Let her take

KellyThe soft morning breeze wrapped me as I stood on the balcony, staring out at the hills of Tuscany. The view was breathtaking, the kind that could heal wounds and soothe worries. You needed to see the view, it was beautiful—extremly. But this morning, it wasn’t working. My thoughts were far from it.Francesca.I hadn’t met her yet, but the mere idea of her had taken a place in my head. A part of me, the irrational part, couldn’t help but wonder if she was the reason Adrian kept me at arm length. He spoke of her fondly, the kind of warmth I hadn’t heard from him before. Was she someone he had loved? Was she someone he still loved?I shook my head, frustrated at myself. You have no right to feel this way, I reminded myself. Adrian and I weren’t anything more than two people navigating a complicated contract. And yet, the thought of him being close to someone else, someone who might have seen sides of him I hadn’t... it stung.I leaned against the railing, the sun warming my skin as

KateAva was every bit as clueless as I’d expected her to be. Or maybe she was pretending. Sitting across from her at the coffee shop, I could tell she had no idea what game I was playing at. Her answers were simple, her stories about Kelly were things I already knew. Yet, there were some piece of information buried beneath her amused chatter, small details that didn’t fit into the Kelly I thought I knew.“You’re sure Kelly never mentioned me?” I pressed, stirring my cappuccino absently.Ava blinked, her brow furrowing. “Not really. I mean, she’s private, you know? But she always said she had a complicated family. Why do you ask?”I smiled thinly. “Just curious. Family is... important to me.”It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. Ava didn’t need to know the depth of my curiosity or the reasons behind it. She was just another stepping stone.By the time we parted ways, I’d learned little things about Kelly, but it wasn't enough, it didn’t matter. This was only the beginnin

EvelynI couldn’t breathe. The words cut through the air, sharp as glass. Kelly was already married. How was that even possible? And to him. That man.The man I had never seen, the one who had somehow slipped under my monitoring. Of course, I had known about her daughter, there was no doubt about that. Anderson’s daughter, the little girl Kelly had kept hidden from everyone for so long. But Kelly... she had always been such a mystery, even when she was married to Anderson.She showed up, married and flaunting that particular Birkin bag as if she was some queen. The one bag I had been wanting for months, the one that had been sold out everywhere. It was limited edition, exclusive, and yet here she was wearing it. My fingers twitched at the thought of it. She was wearing it, and I wanted it badly.But I couldn’t let her see the anger in my face. Instead, I walked away too, not sparing her a single glance. My breath came in ragged bursts as I processed the amount of emotions she had jus

KellyWhen we got back to the hotel, the space felt heavy and suffocated. The kind of tension that clings to your skin and makes every breath harder to take. I couldn’t shake the feeling of something off in the air, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the conversation earlier. I’d had said Adrian was my husband, blatantly telling everyone when we’d both agreed that our marriage should stay under wraps. Why did I say that? I thought to myself. What was wrong with me? Adrian and I had made it clear, secret or not, that’s how it had to stay. But what choice did I have?There had been no way around it. Not with Evelyn and Kate showing up out of nowhere, their presence amplifying the already uncomfortable atmosphere. It made everything worse. The mess was getting messier, and I was at the center of it, holding a tangled thread I didn’t know how to unravel.I paced around my room. My thumb traced the edge of my phone, the screen still lighting up with unanswered texts. Harper h