After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 80

I never thought I'd see Pax again.

But fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor.

Two years later, on another Christmas Eve, as Berlin slipped into wintertime, I found myself walking through streets dusted in the season's first snowfall. The golden glow of streetlamps flickered against frost-coated windows, the world outside hushed and serene.

Inside the lab, however, serenity was the last thing on our professor's mind.

"This one's going to be a handful," she muttered, rubbing her temples in exasperation.

Her frustration was so uncharacteristic that Erike and I exchanged amused glances.

"What's the problem, Professor?" Erike asked, barely suppressing a grin.

"A hard case," she sighed. "Connections. Family money. One of those. Can't be fired, hard to manage-what a headache."

Then, as if resigning herself to fate, she looked between the two of us.

"So? Which one of you is going to mentor him?"

A man, then.

I instinctively took a full step back.

"Erike you do it." I shook my head with mock solemnity.

"I'd hate for her to fall helplessly in love with me."

A voice came from behind me.

A voice I hadn't heard in two years.

"Cecilia."

I stilled.

I thought I had

when I turned, there he

Pax Brown.

Standing in our lab.

he officially joined

in the weeks that followed

off the equipment

nearly melted an expensive sensor,

to him and, for the first time in two

you should just

Pax froze.

he just stared

eyes turned

he breathed, voice raw. "Does this mean

waiting

me he had meant

done

since severed

been the real

grown

by her side, buying her gifts. Picking her up

of night.

been in her place, maybe

I shook my head.

that you're even asking me this question means you

hitched, his fingers twitching at his sides-like he wanted to reach for

before he could, Huaiyu stepped forward, casually

Pax's breathing turned uneven.

then?" His voice was barely above a whisper. "You're with