Chapter 77

Twenty-four hours.

That was all the time I had left.

Last night-After Pax asked me to start over, I didn't respond.

I simply sat there, letting the weight of his words sink into the candlelit hush between us.

The restaurant, once warm and intimate, suddenly felt distant, the glow of the chandeliers dimmed by something neither of us was willing to name.

A silence stretched between us, thick and unresolved.

Pax's mother, ever perceptive, didn't push for an answer.

"These kinds of things should be settled between the two of you," she murmured, dabbing the corner of her lips with a napkin. "I've had my fill. I'll be heading home."

Before leaving, she handed me a gift.

An emerald jade bracelet-delicate, flawless.

I refused instantly.

It was too much, too significant.

But Pax didn't hesitate. He took it for me, slipping it into his pocket with the ease

of someone who had already decided for me.

"Then I'll hold onto it for now."

that wasn't enough, he insisted on picking out another gift.

I didn't argue.

shopping mall,

watching their own life play out from a

we ran into

Nina.

in white. Her makeup was soft, natural-deliberately

perfect picture of

moment she saw Pax, something in her

Her shoulders trembled as if she

slowly, she should really consider

control, she could land a starring role

voice trembling with raw emotion. "He said

hands clutched the fabric of her dress, wringing

believe him.

her head, exhaling

it's true, isn't

world around us

by, conversations still

Yet somehow-

Everything around us blurred.

a scene suspended in

the three of

Pax turned to me.

he needed to read my expression

decide how to

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