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.

followed him through the high–end shopping mall, trailing behind him like

someone watching their own life play out from a distance.

then we ran into

Nina.

in white. Her makeup was soft, natural–deliberately

23:08

Love, Seven

51.8%

Chapter 17

picture

moment she saw Pax, something in her

silent, measured streams. Her shoulders trembled as if

really consider acting.

could land a starring role without

with raw emotion. “He said you were going to

her dress, wringing it as if

him. I thought”

exhaling in sharp, uneven

it’s true, isn’t it?”

us didn’t stop.

still buzzed in the air.

Yet somehow-

us blurred.

scene suspended in

three of us.

turned to me.

read my expression before he

I smiled.

effortless curve

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