All Chapters of Fractured Desire: Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Elara POVWhen I arrived at the restaurant, I was met with an amazing and cosy odor of garlic and wine, the kind of scent that envelopes you the moment you enter—full, alluring, inviting both warmth and satisfaction. Above my head the chandeliers were shining with their golden light, and this light was spreading over the shiny marble floor and the immaculate white tablecloths. The sound of glasses clinking, people's voices mingling, the quiet and sweet melodic playing of violins—all this I felt around me like a fog of beauty.With my other hand, I held on to the small velvet box as I entered La Riviera by force with my shoulder, the most expensive and most luxurious restaurant in town. It felt like the box was way heavier than it should have been - not because of what was inside but because of what it meant. My heart was racing like crazy, every beat it was throwing up a cocktail of panic, expectation, and love.Breathe, Elara. Just breathe.I mouthed the words to myself, unsteady but

Elara POVThat night, I sat on the floor of my apartment surrounded by half-packed boxes. Cardboard towers leaned against the walls like silent witnesses, and every object I touched carried a memory sharp enough to cut me.The chair Daniel once teased me about. The shelf where Cassandra had set her coffee during study nights. The framed photos I had flipped face-down so I wouldn’t have to look at them.All of it felt poisoned.On the coffee table sat the small velvet box. The cufflinks. My fingers trembled as I picked it up, the lid half-open, glimmering weakly under the lamplight.I whispered to myself, bitterly. “Stupid. You saved up for weeks, Elara. For this?”The silver caught the light, mocking me. I had pictured him wearing them at a pitch, at our wedding. They weren’t cufflinks anymore—they were my faith, my future, my trust… all broken.My chest tightened, my throat closing around the weight of it.I held them over the trash bin, my hand shaking. I couldn’t let go. Not yet.“

Elara POVHis words lingered in the air, heavy and dangerous. My pen slipped from my hand, clattering against the table, but I didn’t move to pick it up. His presence was too close, his eyes pinning me down as if the whole room had vanished and it was just us.“I don’t have time for games, Mr. Velasco,” I said, though my voice came out lower than I intended.“Good,” he murmured. His gaze dipped briefly to my lips before snapping back to my eyes. “Neither do I.”The silence between us was sharp, like a string stretched too tight, ready to snap at any second. The hum of the lobby faded into nothing. I could feel the heat radiating off him, the subtle scent of his cologne—dark, woodsy, commanding.I forced myself to move, to break whatever spell he was weaving. I bent down to retrieve my pen, but before I could grab it, his hand was already there.Our fingers brushed.Electric. Immediate.I snatched my hand back as if burned, clutching the pen like it was a weapon. “Thank you,” I said, c