All Chapters of For What Still Burns : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Damien"Only dahlias," I said into the phone, balancing it between my shoulder and cheek while flipping through a file. “Dark red. The kind that looks almost black in certain light. No fillers, no roses, no distractions. Just them.”The florist on the other end hesitated. “Would you like to include a card, Mr. von Adler?”I stared out the floor-to-ceiling window of my office. The skyline was pale today, dipped in soft grey, like the city itself was holding its breath.“No card,” I said quietly. “Just the flowers.”When we were seventeen, Aria told me she loved dahlias because they looked like stars that bloomed in the wrong sky. "They’re romantic in a quiet way," she’d said, twirling one in her fingers during some field trip I barely remember except her. "Like they’re trying to be noticed, but not too much. I like flowers that don’t beg."And of course she’d like something like that. Something beautiful, subtle, unyielding.After hanging up, I opened a browser tab and typed in the num

AriaThe smell of cinnamon and caramel danced in the air, warm and sharp like memory. My kitchen was loud with laughter and clattering trays… chaos in its purest, most comforting form.“Hugo,” I called over the noise, “if you keep piping like that, I’m going to enter you into the next city bake-off.”He grinned, smearing icing across a cake like it owed her money. “Only if you promise not to come and steal the prize, boss.”“Me? Never,” I said with mock offense. “I’m far too humble for that.”A ripple of laughter spread through the kitchen. Beryl was flipping pancakes like he was auditioning for a cooking show. Serena was dancing between two timers, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like Beyoncé lyrics.It was normal. Easy. Safe.Until Maeve poked her head through the swinging door and said the words that sent my heartbeat into a nosedive.“They’re here.”I didn’t ask who. I didn’t need to.I wiped my hands on a towel, straightened my apron, and walked out into the front of

Aria“I know that tone, Karissah. What did I forget?”“Oh my god,” she groans through the phone. “Aria. Don’t tell me you actually forgot.”“The date,” I whisper, the words forming in my mouth before my brain fully catches up. I blink at the oven clock in the kitchen. “Oh my god, Karissah…..I did. I completely forgot.”A sigh from the other end of the line, half amused, half exasperated. “I figured. It’s okay. You’ve got two hours. He’s picking you up at seven. It’s five now, so you have time to get your life together.”“I’m so sorry,” I mumble, already walking toward my bedroom. “Today has just been… a lot.”“I know,” she says gently. “But this is just a date, not a lifetime commitment. Put on a pretty dress. Talk about your favorite dessert. Smile. That’s it.”“That’s it,” I echo faintly, the echoes of Damien’s voice still playing somewhere in the back of my head like background music I can’t shut off. You're it for me. I shake my head, physically trying to expel the memory. “Okay.

DamienI wasn’t following her. Not really.I’d been pacing outside my apartment for over an hour, keys in hand, debating whether or not to see her. Again.It was stupid. She told me she needed space. That she was done. But I couldn’t stay away. Not tonight. Not after what I said to her. Not after how she looked at me when I said it.You’re it for me.And maybe that was reckless. Maybe it was selfish. But it was true. Every inch of it. And I needed her to know that.So, I went. No driver. Just me. A walk I’ve made a thousand times in my head since the day she left.And then I saw them.She was walking next to him—tall, clean-cut, casual confidence like he knew he belonged beside her. I didn’t recognize him at first. Just another man on the sidewalk. But then he leaned in, and she laughed….soft, the kind of laugh I hadn’t heard in six years.My feet stopped moving.She looked good. That navy dress she wore hugged her like it had been sewn onto memory. Her hair fell in loose waves down h

AriaThe zipper got stuck halfway up my back. Of course it did.I groaned in frustration and twisted at an impossible angle, trying to yank it the rest of the way. The dress clung stubbornly to my hip--silky, and clearly not wanting to be a participant of this dinner.“I swear this thing was less temperamental when I tried it on last month,” I muttered.From the living room, Elena’s voice floated in, amused. “That’s what they all say before a date.”“This isn’t a date,” I called back.She walked in with two glasses of rosé, looking smug and comfortable in her linen shirt and house shorts. “You’re wearing a floor-length dress and heels that could wound a man. If it walks like a date and zips like one…”I sighed and turned my back to her. “Help me before I tear it in half.”She set the glasses down and moved behind me, her hands cool and certain as she zipped me up. “So... are you still pretending I don’t know who’s picking you up tonight?”“I’m not pretending,” I said too quickly. “I j