Chapter 9
Meanwhile, across town->
On stage, the music and the performance flowed together perfectly, but Bruno couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling crawling up his spine. Anxiety kept buzzing in the back of his mind, making it impossible to focus, like something important was slipping night out of his hands.
When the musical finally
finally ended, Bruno realized he hadn’t paid attention to a single part of it. He couldn’t even remember what the actors had said. All he could hear was this voice in his head, pushing him to go home. Almost on autopilot, he stood up the second the applause started.
His sudden movement made Kylie jump. She watched him get up and head for the exit, then quickly rushed after him
“Bruno! Hey, Bruno, what’s wrong? Didn’t you like the show?”
He stopped for a moment at her voice, glanced back, but just shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I just remembered something I need to take care of. I have someone drive you home later.”
Without waiting for Kylie’s response, Bruno turned and walked away, ignoring her calling after him.
Kylie stood there, a little confused, wondering if she’d somehow upset him. But then she remembered what he said and just shrugged. So what if he was annoyed? Their engagement was already decided, and with their families‘ partnership, nothing was really going to mess that up S
Bruno wasn’t even gure what was wrong with him. He
fully snap out of it until he was standing in front
illa.8
He pushed through the front door and, almost without thinking, called out the name that had been second nature for so long. “Lina.“!
of his villa. 8
The house was silent.
Seconds ticked by. No answer.
That’s when it hit him–Lina hadn’t replied to his calls in a long time.
When had that started? Maybe maybe it was that day she’d shown him the photo of him and Kylie together, her eyes glassy with tears, demanding to know what was going on. He’d just lost his patience, tossed the picture in the trash, and brushed her off like it didn’t matter, “I told you, it was just business. Why do you keep bringing up stuff that isn’t even real?”
Bruno couldn’t remember how Lina had reacted. He just remembered how she’d started to pull away after that, getting quieter and more distant every day.
She’d really taken a lot lately.
But it was okay, he thought. He’d make it up to her?
With that in mind, Bruno headed further inside–then stopped short. Something felt off.
It was too quiet. Too empty
He frowned, looking around. The silent house felt hollow, and a strange chill ran through him.
He started searching, checking every room, every comer. His heart pounded harder the more he looked.
By the time he’d finished, he couldn’t deny it anymore–Lina’s things were gone.
She’d left?
No way. That couldn’t be right. They’d been together for three years, leaning on each other through everything. Their relationship ran deep. How could she just walk away, no warning, no goodbye?%
Bruno didn’t want to believe ILX
That’s when his phone started ringing, loud and shrill in the empty house. His mind was racing with thoughts of Lina; he didn’t even bother picking up. The phone rang again and again, echoing in the silence.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before a loud, urgent knock sounded at the door.
It was only then that Bruno snapped out of it and went to answer Amber stood there, frowning at him.!!
“Why haven’t you answered your phone?” she demanded Before Bruno could say a word, her eyes swept over the mess in the living mom and her tone sharpened even more. “What are you doing in here? It looks like a disaster zone! And you left Kylie all alone tonight–how could you just ditch her and come home by yourself? You know you two are getting married soon, right? You used to handle at this to
