Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 361 - Chapitre 370

ELLISShe processed it quickly, like it was nothing more than just another transaction, with no connection to me whatsoever. True, but still."Payment received," she said matter-of-factly, sliding the receipt across the counter.I took it, glancing down at the numbers before folding it neatly and tucking it into my bag. I didn’t need to linger over them; I had that entire breakdown committed to memory at this point, a skill I wished I hadn’t developed.Not much was left after that.Not enough to feel comfortable. Not enough to deceive myself into thinking I had life in control like they do on TV, with their spotless kitchens and savings accounts and complete absence of billing reminders.I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair as I stepped away from the counter, doing the money math instinctively because I just couldn’t help it. It was automatic now, just like breathing.Rent...well, not rent anymore, technically, which was the one small win in my current situation.Food, tra

ELLIS By the time I got back to Pinnacle Hall, I was so worn out that everything felt like it was running just a beat behind. My brain was barely keeping up with my body, reminding me to do simple things like blink and walk without tripping. The walk back to the rich people dorm felt longer than usual, not because the distance had changed, but because the day had stretched thin in ways I couldn’t really explain. Between the flower shop, the cafe, the hospital, and the weight of my thoughts, I had drained my energy without even realizing it. For the last twenty minutes, I was basically running on fumes, and my body was starting to complain. I adjusted the crinkly grocery bag in my hand; the cheap pack of instant noodles inside was awkwardly bumping against a couple of last-minute items I’d grabbed. Nothing fancy or impressive...just enough to get me through the week without pretending I had choices, which might as well be my personal motto these days. I nudged the door open wit

ELLISA few days drifted by, and if you had asked me to describe them, I honestly wouldn’t have much beyond saying I was still alive, functioning, and somehow cohabitating with someone who had perfected the art of pretending I didn’t exist. To be fair, that was a skill I never thought I’d need to tolerate, but life had a way of surprising me.It wasn’t dramatic.And that was truly the worst part.There were no fights, no confrontations, no explosive moments I could point to and say, this is the reason I can’t stand living here, here’s my proof. Instead, it was just... quiet. Controlled. It felt consistent in a manufactured kind of way, as if someone had carefully crafted a method for two people to coexist without interacting, and then executed it without any warning.But there were times where I’d catch him staring at me, intensely...as if he was trying to unravel me with those icy blue hues of his.Julian woke up early, left early, returned at his usual hours, and fell into his routi

ELLISHe flipped another page."Honestly, that would explain the personality," I noted thoughtfully.Nothing. Not even a twitch, damn I might as well have been talking to the wall. I stared at him a moment longer, genuinely astounded, before letting out a soft snort."You know what your issue is?" I asked, as if I had been invited to share.Still nothing, which I took as a green light."You’ve got that whole mysterious cold guy persona," I gestured vaguely in his direction. "The silence, the sharp jawline and the total lack of warmth. Very curated. I respect the consistency, but I think it’s a terrible idea."That got the tiniest pause.Just a fraction of a second where the page didn’t flip when it probably should have. But I caught it, because I’d been watching him like a hawk.Yeah! Victory. Small, but it was better than nothing. I pointed at him like I was having a breakthrough in court."See? Exactly that, that pause. Some guys think being emotionally unavailable makes them attrac

ELLISI gotta ask though, who could be this quiet?Especially someone who was alive and kicking and sharing the same space as another human being. There should be signs of life: a cough, a sigh, a ping from a phone. Anything, really.But especially not Julian.He moved around like a ghost in a fancy apartment, floating through the space without disrupting a thing, leaving no sign of his presence except for the occasional page turn and this nagging feeling that he was always aware of what I was doing, judging it from a distance.Every morning, he woke up at the same time, a fact I’d come to know because I’d started to involuntarily track it in my sleep, like an unwanted alarm going off. Every little movement of his was precise and annoyingly organized—every item returned to its rightful spot, every surface left untouched.It was like he was prepping the apartment for a magazine shoot and didn’t want to leave anything out of place. At night, he’d sit at his desk for hours, buried in hef