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I stood by the window long after my mother left. Her words didn’t just echo in my mind—they wrapped around my soul like a whisper I couldn’t shake off.

*"You’re no different right now, Lucien."*

*"Talk to the woman you once wanted forever with."*

I hated that she was right.

I hated that deep down, I didn’t want to hurt Aria—I just didn’t know how to stop hurting.

She’d shattered something in me.

And I’d tried to shatter her right back.

But there we were now, pieces of a once-whole bond, floating in the same room every day, pretending like we didn’t ache for each other.

And I did....