Lost Love, Bitter Victory

Ethan. You're not

he phone. I was huddled in my studio, the photo lying

h continued. "I know Olivia. She ad

fend Olivia. The whole world would defend Olivia. Olivia Reed, the architectural prodigy who had defi

The way her colleagues would look at me, their eyes filled with a mixture of pity

fierce pride. "This is Ethan Miller," she would say, her voice clear and s

ression. I couldn't paint, I could barely get out of bed. It was Olivia who sat with me in the dark, who hel

; it was the desecration of a sacred history. It turned every memory we

g. "I saw it. I saw the picture.

line. I could hear the doubt in her silence, but

lly asked, her tone shifting

ing foreign and drastic on my tongue. "I need

she said without hesitation.

through the despair. I

front of me. Just as I was trying to breathe, to th

t mes

But is it a real happiness, or just

a secret; he was a presence, watching us, taunting me. The message confirmed it all.

blow knocked me into my chair. I sat there for what felt like hours, the

front door o

Are you

e, once a comfort, now

answer. I

concern. "There you are. I was worri

ch my cheek. I flinched, a small, involuntary mo

ed, her brow furrowing.

thing. Anything.

o say. "Thinking about... ever

r expression softened. "I kno

deceit, any crack in the perfect facade. I found no

sting like ash in my mouth. "A

fused. "Hiding what? Eth

ng away. "It's nothing.

hands were cold. "We're in this together, Ethan. Alwa

like a violation. I could feel the lies on her lips. She pulled back and smile

eautiful, suffocating lie, my own