All Chapters of Under Lights, I End Our Story: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Liana's POVWeston didn't get home until almost midnight.I was a light sleeper, so the sound of the front door closing jolted me awake. Then I heard a flurry of footsteps drawing closer and closer.The light clicked on, and the sudden brightness made me squint."Sure enough, it woke you up," Weston muttered as he pulled a box out of a shopping bag and set it down right in front of me.Then he pointed his phone camera straight at my face."Mona insisted I bring this to you as an apology. Even though there was a reason for what happened, she still feels bad about disrupting our plans."He gestured toward the box. "Come on, take a bite. I need to send her a video. Once she sees for herself that you've eaten some, she can finally get some sleep."My blurry vision slowly focused on the box in front of me.It was a strawberry cream cake—red velvet sponge dotted with delicate little strawberries.It was Mona's favorite.I looked up at the dark camera lens pointed at me and said, "

Liana's POVAfter wrapping up the last bit of work on my plate, I headed home.To my surprise, Mom and Dad were sitting in the living room with Mona beside them.I instinctively glanced toward the bedroom. My packed luggage was tucked behind the door, safely out of sight."How did you get in?" I asked.Only Weston and I knew the keycode to the front door."Never mind how we got in," Mom cut me off, her words tumbling out fast and frantic. "What's gotten into you? Mona says you don't want your wedding dress anymore. That custom dress took three months to make, and the wedding is only a month away. Where are you supposed to get another one now?""We've already sent out all the invitations," Dad chimed in. "All our friends and relatives know the date. If we delay the wedding, what are people going to think of us?"Having spent half their lives in poverty, they valued their pride more than anything. Even now that our lives were better, they still instinctively placed themselves ben

Liana's POVDuring my layover, I swapped in a new SIM card right away and set up a new messaging account.By the time I arrived in Casavera and dragged my suitcase up to the lookout on Pipilar Hill, the last rays of sunlight were spilling across the entire city.Colorful houses crowded the valley below—tangerine orange, mint green, lake blue, rose pink, and sun-bleached red. Every shade fought for attention, yet somehow they were unexpectedly harmonious.A breeze swept up through the valley, carrying the distant chime of church bells and the sweet scent of an unknown plant.I leaned against the railing for a long time, suddenly realizing that the last time I'd truly taken in a sunset was back in college.Since then, every single evening had been taken up by overtime work and my relationship.Now, everything spread out before me was mine alone, and no one could ever strip it away from my memory.…The next day, I wandered down the narrow alleys, the walls on both sides painted

Liana's POVWith that, I shut the door and casually tossed the wedding dress out after Weston.He stood outside for a long time.…The next morning, I opened the window and noticed a folding chair on the balcony of the long-vacant pink house opposite mine. A dark gray suit jacket was draped over its back.Weston had moved in across from me.He didn't knock on my door again, but every single day, new items appeared on my doorstep—a colorful handwoven table lamp, a woven grass basket decorated with fresh flowers, a piece of hand-dyed indigo fabric printed with tiny white flowers, and a seashell wind chime that jingled whenever the breeze swept by.The one constant was a single freesia.One day, I even spotted the freesia I'd left at home. It had clearly been well cared for.I just piled everything in the corner outside my door so it wouldn't block the entryway.I got into the car and headed toward the guesthouse.I'd first met Jesse Yates back in Casavera.He was squatting by