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.

the high–end shopping mall, trailing behind him like a

life play out from a distance.

then we ran into her.

Nina.

in white. Her makeup was soft,

23:08

of Love, Seven Minutes A

51.8%

Chapter 17

picture of

she saw Pax, something in her shattereil.

Her shoulders trembled as if she were standing in the eye of some invisible storm.

really consider acting.

that level of control, she could land a starring role without an

whispered, voice trembling with raw emotion. “He said you were going to propose to

her dress, wringing it as if trying

believe him. I

exhaling in sharp, uneven

true, isn’t it?”

world around us didn’t stop.

still passed by, conversations still buzzed

Yet somehow-

us

scene suspended

the three

turned to me.

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

I smiled.

effortless curve of

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