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The door clicked shut behind him, leaving the three of us alone..."Love, would you mind if I asked you for a favor?" My mother rarely asked for favors, but the tone of her voice implied her urgency and my curiosity."If it's within my power, I'll gladly help." Love says without hesitation."Right now it seems you would be the only one able to do it... I would like it if you convinced Sebastian to go see the doctors again and do new tests. It's been five years since he stepped into the doctor's office and I really believe that there could be something more done for him now." I could see why my mother would ask this of her. Love had made an impact on Seb since she arrived but she wasn’t asking Love to help with some minor task."I could, yes..." Love said, her voice low and measured, as if she were carefully considering her words. "but not right now. It is too early for that now. He gave me the benefit of the doubt but that doesn't mean he trusts me enough to touch that subject with him
Love's POVOne month later..."Close your eyes," Mira says, startling me as she opens our apartment door while I am sitting on the couch studying Brail."What!" I ask my hand over my chest. "What is happening?""Just close your eyes." She insists so I put the book aside and cover my eyes with my palms. "Now keep them close until I tell you." I can hear him moving, closing the door. Footsteps creak over our old floors. Ever since I started helping Sebastian I feel like I have heightened my senses as well. To even out the field as much as I could sometimes I would close my eyes to be blind with him."Ok..." Mira says as she sits down on the couch and an unusual smell hits my nose. "Open them." She says and I open my eyes to the most adorable puppy I have ever seen, all scared, wet, looking up at me with big brown eyes. His fur is matted and damp from the rain, and his fur is a mix of golden brown."Mira, what did you do? You know our landlord forbids us to have pets. Just because we paid
Christian's POVI sat in my office yet I wasn't going through documents, rewieveing contracts, supervising the new collection... What would even be the point of reading all that when I can't focus on a single word... my mind is occupied with her... Love.How the hell did she do this to me?I’ve built this empire that my father left us on precision, on structure, on keeping everything in its place. I made it into something even bigger than he ever imagined it could be. Dad might have started the idea with the money from our other companies but I polished it to have the shine it has today. But with her, it feels like all my carefully constructed walls are crumbling...like I’m standing on the edge of something I can’t predict, can’t control, and it terrifies me.And yet… I don't want to fight it.I clenched my jaw and stood up abruptly, pushing the chair back with a groan of frustration. I walked over to the window, eyes scanning the skyline, though I didn’t really see it. My life now had
…I shot him a look, irritated. "I’m not stumped," I said. "I’m... overwhelmed. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met." Aiden raised an eyebrow, clearly interested. "Okay, okay. I’m intrigued. Go on. Where did you meet her?" Perhaps I saw her in a dream and pulled her out into this world just for me... but no I had a street robber to thank for that. "I helped her when she got mugged... after that, I offered her a job. She is somewhat of a guide for Sebastian. Working with him, in my own house. Everyday." My own personal torture device. "Wait, she works with Sebastian? Like he actually agreed to have her stay. She must be something special to get through to him." Clearly, he is already impressed, after all, he knows Sebastian. We three were inseparable even tho Seb was older than us, he was always there to get us out of trouble... out of danger. Until I pushed the bar too far and he paid the price. "Well the circumstances were different with her, she helps him in her own special way sinc
Love's POV"Now you stay here, ok Charlie?" I said as I pointed to a pillow on the floor while Charlie looked at me with his confused puppy eyes. "I left you with enough water and food so please no barking... otherwise we will all be homeless in no time.""I dont think he can understand you Love," Mira says as she picks up her bag and walks over to the couch to put on her shoes."You were the one who brought him here Mira, maybe you should explain the rules to him," I say joking and Mira smiles as Charlie runs to her feet."Now do you see how much love he has brought to this place, it feels so much warmer with him here." She says as she plays with him. "It's not for nothing people often go for support animals, they read us better than humans. Dont you, Charlie? Dont you?" I watch as Mira crouches down, Charlie wagging his tail furiously as she scratches behind his ears. His eyes gleam up at her, full of adoration, his small body practically vibrating with happiness.Support animals? No
Mira’s words echo in my head...“You’re already in love with him, Love.” I try to push them away, but they cling to me, impossible to ignore. If there was ever a good time to stop being a dreamer it's now, because Christian is a dream I can allow myself to fall under. Maybe I could be one of those lovers who love from afar, from the safe distance where they hear it the strongest. "Miss Bennett, " the driver called out to me as he held the car door wide open while I was lost in my thoughts. To him, I was a blind person, so he must not have thought much about my slow reaction. "Yes, sorry. I got a bit stuck inside my head." I say as I bend my cane and get into the car, the hum of the engine the only sound accompanying my thoughts. I go back to the idea of a service dog for Sebastian. He needs friends who better than someone who would always be there, always loyal, always present. A wagging tail, and that comforting, grounding presence. It might be exactly what he needs. Someone who can
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I take off my sunglasses, my voice a bit harsher than I intended. I can't possibly understand what kind of police emergency would have her in a support dog training facility. Do they train police dogs here also? Tamara raises an eyebrow at my sharp tone, but she doesn't flinch. Instead, she crosses her arms and looks me over, her police uniform tightening against her shoulders while trying to gauge what’s going on behind my sudden outburst. “I could ask you the same thing,” she replies, a teasing glint in her eyes that doesn’t quite reach the concern buried underneath. “But, since you’re so curious, my TO is teaching me a lesson on..." Her eyes slid down to the cane in my hands. The confusion on her face is evident. She tilts her head slightly, studying me, and then her gaze shifts back up to meet mine, more focused now. "Why are you walking around with a cane for blind people?" She asks and I glance back to make sure that the driver is far enough
"I think we made the right choice," Christian says as we exit the facility with a Golden Retriever on a lease. Marley was the first dog that ran up to my legs the second we entered the room. I can't believe I even lied to the dogs when all I wanted was to drop on the floor and start playing with them. And pretending to be blind in a place filled with people associated with real blind people made me nervous, afraid they would be able to see through me. Perhaps I was just still under the impression after Tamara found out about my lies. "Hey," Christian says, his voice gentle as he falls in step beside me."You okay?" I force a smile but I dont look at him, trying to push the panic away. "Yeahh." I bite my tongue at the informal tone I took. "Yes, Mr.Callahan. I just got a little lost in my thoughts... wondering how your brother will react to Marley... I'm excited." Lie. I lie to you again. Even if it's a small thing now, it adds to the pile that one day will outgrow me. "Sebastian will
I didn’t know how I felt anymore. I still loved him, but a part of me was starting to fear him. The love that once felt so pure, so effortless, was now tangled in a web of control and lies. Every interaction, every word exchanged between us, left me more uncertain. The warmth I once felt in his touch had turned into something that made my bones feel frozen.I wanted to reach out, to say something that would make him hear me, make him understand the pain that I was going through. But every time I opened my mouth, the words felt wrong, twisted by the fear of saying the wrong thing, of pushing him further away. Every time I tried to speak, I felt like I was walking on a tightrope, the fear of falling into his wrath too great.After spending a week and a half not leaving the villa, he finally decided to leave. Here he would just casually reach for my hand as we walked but he did not talk much. At a spot with a beautiful view, he asked a stranger to take a photo of us, and he hugged and ev
Christian kept his word. To the outside world, we were this perfect, happy newlywed couple. So in love, so eager to start our honeymoon. But behind the facade, everything was different. Every touch, every word, every look felt hollow. His arms around me were nothing more than a carefully constructed performance, a show for the people around us. As we walked through the airport, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the eyes on us. The casual paparazzi snapped their pictures, capturing our smiles, our closeness, and the image of a perfect couple. But it was all just that, a picture. A snapshot of a life that didn’t belong to us.Christian kept his distance from the photographers, his presence almost protective. He would always make sure no one got too close, his hand gripping my arm just a little tighter whenever the flashes started. In that moment, I felt both protected and imprisoned, wrapped in a cocoon of control that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with appearanc
Love's POVI just stood there. At the same exact spot, I was when he left me. I didn’t dare to move. I didn’t know how to. The weight of his absence pressed against me, suffocating, as if the very air around me had turned thick and impossible to breathe.The wonderful dream about a new future disappeared. It shattered, crushed into a million pieces like glass breaking across the floor. The vision I had of us, of something real, something lasting, seemed so far away now, an illusion I had foolishly believed in.This was a nightmare. One even worse than I could have ever imagined. Because it wasn’t just about losing him...it was the way he had left, the coldness in his eyes that made me feel like I never mattered at all. It was the way everything had felt so perfect one minute, and then the next, it all collapsed. I thought we had found something special, something real. But as he said, it was all built on a lie. I never wanted to hurt him, God is my witness. I wanted to defend myself,
Mira’s POVThe wedding was beautiful, and Love looked so happy. Genuinely happy, with no weight on her shoulders that I for one dont feel bad about how their story started. With the lie I told and she followed. Perhaps it was destiny if there even existed such a thing.There was only one thing about the wedding I didn't get, and that is how the hell did Vincenzo score an invitation. It was no secret Christian wasn't a fan of him, so how did he get in?Not that I care.For one I did what Tamara asked me to do in the first place, I stayed away from him. It wasn't like I wanted to be around him anyway. He looked at me like I was a puzzle meant to be solved, and I hated how that felt. He didn't have the right to dig out all the things I buried.I left the venue and waited for the taxi I ordered to return me to the city, I was dying to take off my shoes and curl up in bed with Charlie.“Don’t tell me you’re avoiding me now,” Vincenzo said, his voice low and teasing. I froze. This is the clo
Christian’s POV I smiled. I smiled as I said yes, took her hand, and promised to stand by her side for the rest of our lives. I smiled as our picture was taken, each click of the camera capturing a moment that felt so bittersweet. I smiled as Aidan gave his best man speech, his words were meant to celebrate our love, but they fell on deaf ears because all I could hear in my head were the things she had told me, the secrets she kept buried deep inside. I smiled as we cut the cake, though it felt like I was slicing into something that was no longer real. I smiled as we shared our first dance, the music playing, the room spinning around me, but I was stuck in the silence of my own thoughts. I smiled. But every smile, every gesture, every movement felt like a lie. I was drowning. I smiled while I was dying inside. She had told me everything. I should have been angry, furious even, for what she had kept from me. But all I felt was the sharp sting of betrayal, and the even sharpe
Christian stares at me, his mouth slightly agape, as though he’s trying to process what I just confessed. His lips move, but no sound comes out for a long moment. The air between us feels thick with disbelief, and I can see his chest rising and falling as he takes in my words, still not fully able to comprehend them. "I know you must hate me now. But please, listen to me." I say as I hold onto his hands now, for him to stay, but also so I wouldn't crumble down. "I need you to know that none of this was planned. From the moment I entered your life all I wanted to do was help Sebastian. This lie wasn't supposed to last, I was planning to leave after he got better and while that does not make any of this any better I thought that in a way we helped each other. But then I started falling in love with you, that is why I tried so hard to put a distance between us. I knew how wrong it was, it haunted me every day but as much as I wanted to tell you the truth the fear of losing you was muc
Love's POVThe wedding day..."You look absolutely stunning, gorgeous.""Beautiful... I just might cry."Mira and Tamara talked around me, I could hear them but for some reason, I couldn't find it within me to say anything. I just stared at my own reflection. I didn't sleep all night; my thoughts were eating at me. This day, the day when everything was supposed to be all happiness, was far from being happy for me. This isn't what my life was supposed to look like. The mere fact that it all began with a lie was reason enough for me to feel like a stranger in my own skin. I wasn’t sure who I was anymore.The soft rustling of fabric from Mira and Tamara as they moved around the room felt distant, like I was underwater, trapped in my own thoughts.I glance at the mirror again, my reflection staring back at me. The dress, the makeup, the carefully styled hair... it all screamed perfection, the kind of perfection I was supposed to feel excited about. But inside, all I could feel was a deep,
"Christian, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Vincenzo asked as he lifted his head from his book. I had a feeling I would find him at the club, it seemed he operated from here these days."What's the deal with Volkav?" I ask wasting no time. The look on his face tho was awesome enough."Why do you ask?""Because he just left my office, but not before threatening me. He wants me to reopen the deal, and sign the contract with him." Vincenzo listens to me and then nods his head to a man sitting at the table next to us. "And you come to me... why exactly?" He asks."Cut the crap, Vincenzo," I say as I sit down, not wanting to attract more attention to us. "I know what you do, and I know the kind of people you are associated with. So tell me why does he want the deal so bad?"Vincenzo leans back in his chair, his fingers drumming slowly on the table as his eyes narrow. For a moment, the club's muted hum of chatter and clinking glasses fade into the background, leaving the two of us in a ten
Love’s POV"What do you mean he moved into the building?" I ask Mira over the phone as I walk alone in the garden. As it turns out finding solitude in this enormous house was much harder than I thought. It was as if the walls had eyes and I was forced to walk around with this damn cane all the time."Exactly that, and he has Tolga behind me all the time. I'm telling you I'm gonna go crazy." Meanwhile, I find this reassuring. Vincenzo is keeping his word, keeping her safe. It made what I had to do a bit easier on me."As long as you keep in touch with him, can you pass on a message to me? Tell him it's done." "Done? What are you talking about? What’s done?" Mira’s voice on the other end of the line crackles slightly, her frustration bleeding through the words."You don’t need to worry about the details," I say quietly, my voice steady but with an edge of something darker. "Just tell him. It’s done. I’ve taken care of it." There’s a pause on the other end of the line. I can almost hear