Eloise didn’t even know how she made it back to the apartment. One hand clutched her heels, and the other held the photo tight to her chest. Still, it got soaked. The woman’s beautiful face blurred even more.
She collapsed to the cold floor and broke down. Cried hard. She wiped the photo again and again, but her tears kept falling, smudging everything. Her sobs turned ragged. She lay there, gasping.
Then, a knock at the door. The next second, a pair of black leather shoes stepped into view.
Leon stood there, staring at her curled up on the floor. His brow twitched. He picked her up and set her on the couch, his face full of frustrated pity.
“I just didn’t take you to Claire’s manor. Was that really such a big deal?”
Was it?
Right then, Eloise saw it clearly. The man she loved wasn’t the same anymore and hadn’t been for a long time.
Before she left Claire’s manor, she heard the whole story. Leon and Aurelie were a perfect match. Talented guy- beautiful girl. Everyone used to envy them. No one knew why they broke up.
Back then, they were California’s golden couple. Aurelie would mention some tiny little thing, and Leon would re- member it like scripture.
She looked at the man in front of her and gave a bitter smile. So this is what it feels like-when someone doesn’t love you. It’s painfully obvious.
Even if he’d treated her well these past three years, she could still tell—he was looking through her, missing someone
else.
She pulled away from his arms, her voice calm, distant. “It’s a big deal.”
Leon yanked at his tie, annoyed and drained.
“It’s just something small.” Then he got up and left. The door slammed behind him. Loud. Final.
Eloise flinched. A second later, her phone buzzed. It was a message from Yvonne. A photo. Her tears slipped out again and hit the screen. Leon was standing outside Aurelie’s place. Arms full of roses. But Aurelie never came down.
That night, Eloise barely slept a wink.
This apartment had been a gift from Leon. He said it was meant to be her safety net. But Eloise didn’t want it any- more. She took the deed to the property office and had the name changed back to Leon’s.
“I’ll return everything you gave me,” she thought.
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Chapter 4
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Staring out at the green trees beyond the window, she felt herself drift. It had been a long time since she’d really
looked at the world outside.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed-a message from Aurelie. After a long pause, Eloise replied to it.
Aurelie asked to meet at a café. When Eloise arrived, Aurelie was already seated, smiling brightly the moment she walked in. “Hey, Elle! Want something to drink?”
Eloise froze for half a second, then walked over slowly and pulled out the chair. It had been so long since anyone called her that. To most, she was just “Eloise.” To the Claire family, she was “the bastard daughter.” And only Leon used to call her “Elle.”
Now she realized-even that had probably just been his way of remembering Aurelie.
“Whatever’s fine.”
Maybe it was the exhaustion on her face or the silence that hung between them, but Aurelie fet out a quiet sigh.
“Elle, I’m sorry.”
