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Todos os capítulos de Wrong Pair of Eyes: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

69 Capítulos

Wandering eyes

CHAPTER 1 POV: Mia Mia Caldwell wasn’t the kind of girl who believed in signs. She believed in routines, in the quiet comfort of a life mapped out in careful increments. Her days followed a rhythm she could count on: morning run at 6:30, black coffee from the cart near the east gate, lectures until three, then the library until it closed. And every night, without fail, a call with Ethan. Ethan was six thousand miles away in Tokyo, closing the biggest deal of his career. He sent her photos of neon-lit streets and matcha desserts that looked too pretty to eat. He called her “baby” in that soft, steady voice that had carried her through her sophomore year breakdowns. Their relationship wasn’t fireworks; it was foundation. Solid. Earned. She wasn’t looking for anything else. The cafeteria at Ridgewood University smelled like burnt coffee and damp wool from too many rain-soaked jackets. Mia balanced her phone between her ear and shoulder while she scanned the sandwich line. Ethan’

His Name Is Ryder

CHAPTER 2 POV: Mia The Thursday meeting loomed like a storm cloud Mia couldn’t outrun. She spent the morning in the library pretending to review articles on conformity bias, but her highlighter kept hovering over the same paragraph without marking anything. Every few minutes her phone would light up with another message from Ethan, photos of him in a suit at some corporate dinner, a voice note saying he’d found the perfect sushi place for when he got back. She listened to it twice, smiling at the way his accent thickened when he got excited. Then she deleted the voice note and stared at the blank screen until her eyes burned. By 2:15PM, she was in the student union’s study lounge, the one with the big windows overlooking the quad. Neutral ground. Public. Safe. She’d chosen a table near the back, laptop open, two coffees already cooling in front of her, one black for him, one with oat milk for herself. Research spread out like armor. Ryder arrived at 2:30PM exactly. She knew bec

Don’t Look At Me Like That

CHAPTER 3 POV: Mia Mia stood in front of her closet for twenty minutes on Sunday afternoon, which was ridiculous. It was just a project meeting. Not a date. Not even close. She pulled out a simple gray sweater and dark jeans, then stared at them like they might betray her. The sweater was soft, a little oversized, Ethan’s favorite on her because it made her look small and huggable. She put it on anyway, telling herself it was armor, not a reminder. The coffee shop off campus was called The Grind, a converted old house with creaky wooden floors and mismatched chairs. It was far enough from Ridgewood that she wouldn’t run into anyone from class. Neutral territory. Safe. She arrived at 2:50, claiming a corner table upstairs where the light was softer and the noise from the espresso machine below faded into background hum. Two notebooks. Laptop. A fresh set of printed articles. Everything professional. Ryder walked in at 3:02. She knew the exact minute because she’d been watching t

Borrowed Time

CHAPTER 4 POV: Mia Mia woke up to the faint buzz of her phone vibrating on the nightstand, the sound cutting through the early morning quiet like a warning she wanted to ignore. She reached for it groggily, squinting at the screen. Two new messages from Ryder, sent sometime after midnight. Ryder: You taste like rain and hesitation. Next time I won’t let the phone stop me. Ryder: Sleep well, Mia. Her thumb hovered over the delete button, heart hammering in the dim light of the dorm room. Lena was still snoring softly across the room, oblivious. Mia read the words again, heat blooming low in her belly despite the guilt that followed like a cold wave. She deleted both messages, then cleared the trash for good measure, as if that could erase the memory of his hand on her neck, his breath warming her lips under that old oak tree. It was Monday. Ten days until Ethan came home. She rolled out of bed and went through her routine on autopilot, run, shower, black coffee from the ca

What He Doesn’t Say

CHAPTER 5POV: Mia + RyderWednesday morning Mia woke up ready.Mentally prepared. Emotionally organized. She’d had a good call with Ethan the night before, genuinely good, the kind that reminded her exactly why she’d chosen him. He’d made her laugh twice. Called her by the nickname only he used. Said I love you the way he always did, like breathing, like it required no effort because it was just true.She’d gone to sleep feeling like herself again.She woke up and her first thought was the library.Her second thought, before she could stop it, before she’d even sat up, was…… Him.Not dramatically. Not in any way she could hold up and examine cleanly. Just a low persistent frequency underneath everything, the way a sound you can’t locate still finds you.She lay there for a moment.Then got up, got dressed, and bought two coffees on the way.She told herself the second one was extra caffeine.She didn’t believe herself and she didn’t care.He was already there.Same table, same window

Three Weeks

CHAPTER 6POV: MiaThree weeks sounded like enough time.Mia told herself that Thursday morning while brushing her teeth. Told herself again on the walk to campus, coffee in hand, earphones in, music she wasn’t actually listening to. Three weeks was twenty one days. Five hundred and four hours. Enough time to build a habit, break one, cross an ocean, fall out of love.Enough time to get this under control.She almost believed it.The problem with Ryder Holt was that he didn’t do anything she could point to.He didn’t flirt, not obviously, not in any way she could screenshot and show Priya and say look, see, this is the thing I’m dealing with. He didn’t touch her. Didn’t say things that crossed lines. He showed up to their sessions on time, worked harder than anyone she’d ever sat across from, said things that were occasionally devastating but always, always, deniable.“You’re good at this”. “You’re just not trusting it”.“People who grew up holding their space argue differently”.“You

The Wrong Time To Be Happy

CHAPTER 7POV: MiaThe knock came at 7:43pm.Mia was in her oversized university hoodie, hair piled on top of her head, lecture notes spread across her bed like a small catastrophe. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Priya always texted first. Her neighbour knocked differently, three fast raps, impatient.This was two knocks. Unhurried.She opened the door.Ethan.Backpack on one shoulder, jacket creased from travel, hair slightly longer than she remembered. He had that look he got after long flights, tired around the eyes but smiling in the mouth, like exhaustion hadn’t quite reached the part of him that was happy to see her.“Surprise,” he said.She stared at him for exactly one second.Then she was in his arms.He caught her the way he always did, steady, solid, both arms coming around her without hesitation, chin dropping to the top of her head. He smelled like the same cologne he’d worn since second year and something about that, the sameness of it, the reliability, made her hold on ti

Four Days

CHAPTER 8 POV: Mia She cancelled Wednesday in eleven words. Mia: Something came up. Can we push the meeting to next week? Ryder’s response took four minutes. Ryder: Fine. One word. No punctuation. No follow up. She stared at it longer than she should have and told herself the tightness in her chest was relief. Thursday with Ethan was good. Genuinely good, the kind of day that reminded her what it felt like to be someone’s priority in a physical, present, taking up space kinda way. He made her breakfast. Actually cooked, standing at her small stove in yesterday’s shirt, making eggs he called gourmet and she called aggressively seasoned. They argued about it for ten minutes. She ate two helpings. They walked the long route to campus. His hand found hers without ceremony, no moment, no decision, just fingers lacing through hers like they’d always belonged there. He talked about his plans for the three weeks. The restaurant with the courtyard. A day trip somewhere green. Just th

The Wrong Corner

CHAPTER 9POV: MiaWednesday came and went.She told herself she’d write about it later, process it, examine it, hold it up to the light and figure out what it meant that two hours in the library with Ryder felt more like oxygen than anything else had in days. She told herself that.She didn’t write anything.She just carried it.Thursday was warm for the season.Ethan was in good spirits, the kind that arrived without warning and filled whatever room he was in. He’d finished his admin, spoken to his family, slept properly for the first time since arriving. He showed up at her door at noon with food from the place near the river and the easy energy of someone who had nowhere else to be and was glad about it.They ate on her small balcony. He stretched his legs out, face tilted toward the thin winter sun, talking about nothing in particular, a documentary he’d watched, a book he kept meaning to finish, a friend back home who’d just gotten engaged.She listened.Laughed.Offered her opi

Six Words

CHAPTER 10 POV: Mia She didn’t tell Priya about the texts. She didn’t tell anyone. She carried them the way you carry something fragile and slightly dangerous, carefully, close to the chest, aware that putting it down wrong would break something she couldn’t fix. Friday passed. Saturday. Sunday. Ethan filled the days with warmth and intention and she let him, gave him what she could, laughed when things were funny and held his hand when they walked and told herself this was enough. This was real. This was chosen. She almost convinced herself. Almost was doing a lot of work. Monday arrived the way bad weeks always did, ordinary on the surface. Grey sky, full lecture schedule, the smell of rain that hadn’t arrived yet. She was crossing the main courtyard alone, coffee in hand, earphones in, head down against the wind. Priya was running late. Ethan was across campus at the administrative office sorting something for his visa. She had twelve minutes before her first lecture and

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