Semua Bab The Sin Between US : Bab 91 - Bab 100

The cold tiles felt unforgiving against my cheek. My breathing was shallow, broken, each inhale a struggle, as if my lungs couldn’t quite remember how to draw in air. Every part of me ached, my knees, my chest, my pride. I didn’t know how long I had been curled on Ethan's floor, sobbing until my throat felt raw, the tears blurring everything until it was impossible to tell where the pain ended and where I began. But when I finally gathered the strength to move, I reached for the wall behind me, fingers digging in for support, as if the walls might hold me together when I couldn't.I stood. Barely.I didn’t call out his name again. I didn’t plead. I didn’t slam the door behind me. I simply left.Quiet. Defeated.Each step back to my car was heavy, like I was dragging pieces of myself behind me. There was no fight left in me, no urgency to escape. It was like my legs didn’t know where to go anymore, like I didn’t know where I belonged.The engine started, but I didn’t drive right away.

I sat in front of my dressing table, my phone resting in my hands. Ethan’s name was glowing on the screen like it had been for the past hour. I hadn’t called. I hadn’t texted. I just stared at it, stared at the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he’d answer.But I didn’t even know if I wanted him to.It had been two days since I was discharged from the hospital. The doctors said it was stress, emotional exhaustion, whatever label they could use to explain the way my body simply gave out. All I heard was “rest” and “don’t think too much.” Easier said than done.Favour and Gift had been hovering around me like I was made of glass. Bringing me food, fluffing pillows, asking every ten minutes if I was okay. My mum came over yesterday with enough side dishes to feed a wedding. She didn’t want to leave. I had to practically drag her out, well, call my dad to come and carry her away.Things spiraled when they asked about Ethan. I couldn’t dodge it anymore. I told them we weren’t together.W

I didn’t know when I fell asleep.Maybe it was the warmth of the room or the way Ethan’s presence settled the storm in my chest. All I remembered was the sound of his footsteps fading, the pressure on my forehead easing as he gently dabbed me with the cold towel, and then… silence.When I opened my eyes, the living room was bathed in the amber hue of evening. The blanket had been pulled up to my chest, and the smell of food drifted from the kitchen.I sat up slowly, my head still slightly heavy. Through the open doorway, I saw Ethan moving around the kitchen. He was moving around quietly, shirt sleeves rolled up, dishing rice into a bowl, adding small side dishes. I watched from the couch, eyes half-lidded, body still heavy with fever but lighter than before.He glanced over when he noticed me stirring. “You’re awake,” he said simply, walking over.“Yeah,” I said, my voice husky from sleep. “How long was I out?”“Couple hours. You needed it.”“Favour’s been calling,” he said after a b

The sunlight was already heavy against my window when I opened my eyes. I blinked against the brightness, groaning softly as I turned to the side. My bed felt too warm, too empty, too quiet. My body ached with the kind of tired that sleep didn’t fix. The emotional kind.I reached for my phone. One new notification. Not from Ethan.Just a calendar reminder. Something about an old assignment due date I had forgotten to delete.I unlocked it anyway and opened our messages. His last text stared back at me: Get some rest. Text me when you wake up.I stared at it for a while before tapping the message box.I'm up. Slept okay. You?I hovered over the send button, then deleted it. Rewrote it. Deleted it again.Eventually, I gave up trying to be clever and just typed: I'm up.A pause. Then I added: Slept okay.I hit send.Then I dropped the phone on the bed and rolled onto my back, one arm slung across my face.As I waited, my mind wandered. It didn’t take long to go back to last night. The co

The office air felt different today. Not in any visible or obvious way no unusual smells, no lowered blinds or changed lighting. But I felt it. In the way my skin tingled when I walked through the doors, in the way my heartbeat sped up the moment I stepped into the hallway. Like my body remembered what had happened in the boardroom yesterday, even if my mind was trying to act like everything was normal.I walked in with practiced calm, every step measured, my face smooth. But beneath it all, my pulse was drumming a frantic rhythm, like it couldn’t decide if I was nervous or excited.Natalie met me near the entrance, all sunshine and curiosity, her energy as bright as always.“Morning, boss.” Her voice held that teasing lilt I’d come to know. “Everyone’s talking about how you and the VP worked so smoothly together yesterday.”I raised an eyebrow, trying to keep it light. “Oh?”“Mmhmm.” She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice like she was sharing a secret. “Like, really smoothly. You