Lara Sanders and Ethan Cole had been together for five years, but Lara had never been his priority. Ethan, obsessed with his work, did not see the soul of the woman he had married. Lara had tried to rekindle the flame, but in vain. She had had enough. One day, she left everything: the house, the promises, and Ethan. Years later, Lara reappears. She has become a successful entrepreneur, an icon of the business world, and no one recognizes her anymore as the fragile young woman she once was. Far from the shy and discreet Lara, she is now a queen of industry, admired and respected. At a public event, a journalist asks her: "Lara, you are the most influential businesswoman of the moment. What is the key to your success?" Lara, with a mysterious smile, answers: "Never let a man define you. Take charge of your life. » The next day, to everyone's surprise, Ethan appears at Lara's door. The man she thought had been forgotten, who had let her go without a glance, returns with a surprising proposition: "Lara, I made a mistake. Can we start all over again... Together?"
Chapter 1 Chapitre 1
Lara worked silently in the kitchen, her movements precise and measured. The air was filled with the scent of a dish she had prepared especially for Ethan: a creamy risotto with saffron, his favorite dish. She had pulled out all the stops, as they say. The candles were lit on the table, creating a soft, warm glow. She had even slipped into a red dress, the one he loved, and had taken care of her hair, letting it fall in silky waves over her shoulders. A smile, shy and full of hope, floated on her lips. Tonight, everything would be perfect.
Tonight, she wanted them to find that complicity they had lost, to rediscover each other, like in the beginning.
She checked the time on her phone. The clock was ticking, and he still wasn't there. It had been months since they had shared a quiet evening, just the two of them. Months since he had been busy with work, coming home exhausted and in a hurry, barely seeing her anymore. But tonight, Lara hoped. She hoped that tonight would change everything, that her love would be enough to fill the void between them.
She sat down at the table, her mind a little elsewhere. The sound of her phone made her jump. She hurried to grab it, thinking it was him, but a message appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry, Lara. Something unexpected at work, I won't be able to come home tonight. I promise we'll make it up to you." Lara's heart sank. She read and reread the message, hoping to find something she had missed, an apology, a promise, a word that would erase this coldness that was slowly but surely setting in.
Her hands shook. The risotto, still warm in the pan, suddenly felt as cold as this absence. She felt a lump form in her throat, and she forced herself to breathe deeply, to not let the tears overwhelm her. But they were there, lurking, ready to fall. Lara stood abruptly, pushing the chair back. The sound of wood against the floor echoed in the silence of the room.
She glanced around quickly, and everything suddenly seemed strange, like she was in a place she didn't know anymore. Home. Their home. The one they had chosen together. But it wasn't the same anymore. She wasn't the same anymore. She had lost herself. They had lost each other. She stood there, in that little corner of the kitchen, her heart breaking with every breath, every beat. Love wasn't enough anymore, she knew. He didn't see her anymore. Or maybe he never really saw her.
She put her phone on the table and turned on her heel. Her footsteps echoed in the hallway like a sad melody, each step taking her further from the reality she had constructed. She stopped in front of their bedroom door. He wasn't even there to see her, to hold her, to tell her that everything would be okay, that he loved her. Because he didn't love her anymore. Not like before. He had replaced her with other things, other priorities. Work, ambition, fatigue. And she, she had become a shadow in his own life.
Lara suddenly felt very alone. How had they gotten to this point? How had they let time, routine, indifference, devour everything they had been? She closed her eyes, letting the memories invade her. The first months, the passion, the smiles exchanged, the endless discussions, the plans, the dreams they built together. Then the silences. Then the absences. Then the false hopes. And now, this letter he had just sent her, a cold and distant message, which left no room for doubt: there was no more of her in his world.
She walked to the living room, where he usually left his things lying around. Nothing was in its place. Nothing was the same as before. No more magazines scattered on the couch, no more coat thrown on the chair. Only emptiness, this emptiness that seemed to extend into every corner of the house. Lara sat on the couch, her hands clasped in her lap. She was tired. Tired of fighting for a love that no longer existed. Tired of giving herself, of giving her heart and soul to someone who didn't even see her anymore. Tired of waiting.
She stood up suddenly, like an impulse that had passed through her. She went into the bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and grabbed a suitcase. There was no reason to stay anymore. No reason to hope anymore. He would never see her, and his love would no longer be enough. She had had enough. She had had enough of being invisible, of being a shadow of what she had been to him. She couldn't go on like this. Not a second longer.
With a speed she didn't know she had, she began to fill the suitcase. Clothes, a few personal items. The bare minimum. She didn't know where she was going, she hadn't thought about all that yet. But she knew she had to leave. She had to find herself, find herself again, far from this relationship that no longer nourished her. Far from this life where she had faded away, where she was nothing more than a ghost.
She paused for a moment, her gaze fixed on the suitcase she had just closed. She thought of Ethan, of all they had shared, of all they had built together. But it was over. She knew it. They were already dead, both of them, in what they had become. And the Lara he had loved no longer existed. She was only a memory. An illusion. She took a deep breath, then, without looking back, she approached the desk. There, under an abandoned notebook, was a sheet of paper. She grabbed it, took a pen, and wrote. She didn't write long paragraphs. Just a few words. A few words that, she hoped, would explain everything.
"I'm not who you wanted anymore. I'm not who you love anymore. It's time for me to go. To live for myself. To find myself again. I love you, but it's too late. Lara."
She put down the quill and stared at the words. They didn't hold the pain she felt, but they held a kind of resignation. Of release. She knew it was all over. And that now, there was nothing left to save. She grabbed the letter, folded it carefully, and set it down on the couch, where he would sit when he got home, if he got home.
The door opened slowly, but she didn't stop. She crossed the threshold of the house, suitcase in hand. Each step took her further, away from him, away from everything she had ever known. When she crossed the front door, she felt a heavy weight lift off her shoulders, a heavy mist dissipate. The night air hit her softly. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling this freedom she hadn't had in so long. She walked, without a specific goal, just to escape. Escape the shadow of herself.
Chapter 1 Chapitre 1
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Chapter 2 Chapitre 2
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Chapter 3 Chapitre 3
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Chapter 4 Chapitre 4
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Chapter 5 Chapitre 5
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Chapter 6 Chapitre 6
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Chapter 7 Chapitre 7
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Chapter 8 Chapitre 8
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Chapter 9 Chapitre 9
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Chapter 10 Chapitre 10
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Chapter 11 Chapitre 11
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Chapter 12 Chapitre 12
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Chapter 13 Chapitre 13
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Chapter 14 Chapitre 14
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Chapter 15 Chapitre 15
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Chapter 16 Chapitre 16
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Chapter 17 Chapitre 17
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Chapter 18 Chapitre 18
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Chapter 19 Chapitre 19
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Chapter 20 Chapitre 20
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Chapter 21 Chapitre 21
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Chapter 22 Chapitre 22
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Chapter 23 Chapitre 23
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Chapter 24 Chapitre 24
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Chapter 25 Chapitre 25
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Chapter 26 Chapitre 26
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Chapter 27 Chapitre 27
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Chapter 28 Chapitre 28
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Chapter 29 Chapitre 29
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Chapter 30 Chapitre 30
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Chapter 31 Chapitre 31
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Chapter 32 Chapitre 32
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Chapter 33 Chapitre 33
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Chapter 34 Chapitre 34
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Chapter 35 Chapitre 35
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Chapter 36 Chapitre 36
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Chapter 37 Chapitre 37
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Chapter 38 Chapitre 38
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Chapter 39 Chapitre 39
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Chapter 40 Chapitre 40
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