Chapter 17

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. “Tve 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.”

And then, as if sensing that wasn’t enough, he insisted on picking out another gift.

“Something from me.”

1 didn’t argue.

shopping

someone watching their own life play out from a distance.

ran into

Nina.

in white. Her makeup

23:08

Years of Love, Seven Minutes A

51.8%

Chapter 17

perfect picture

saw Pax,

up immediately, slipping down her cheeks in silent, measured streams. Her shoulders trembled as if she were standing in the eye of some invisible

slowly,she should really consider acting.

level of control, she could land a starring role

trembling with raw emotion. “He said you were going

the fabric of her dress, wringing it as if

believe him. I thought”

shook her head, exhaling in

true, isn’t

world around us didn’t

by, conversations still

Yet somehow-

us blurred.

a scene suspended

three of

to me.

instinctive, reflexive–like he needed to read my expression before he could decide

I smiled.

curve of my

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