Lyra slipped out of the cab and walked quickly through the hospital doors, her mind set on reaching her office.
She wasn’t in the mood to do any work and simply stayed in her office, letting the silence settle around her until late at night.
She would only go ho when her grandmother was asleep, and the maids had all gone ho.
But as the minutes passed, her mind refused to rest. A small, wicked voice seed to whisper in her ear poking at her doubts about Lucas.
The way he had pointed out her faults, the way he had shouted at her.
She couldn’t even think clearly now, couldn’t tell who was right or wrong anymore.
Maybe it was partly her fault too. She hated admitting that, but even with her heart still aching, this wasn’t the mont to think about herself.
Staring at the phone, Lyra dialed. She needed to clear the air once and for all before the wedding.
Hopefully, things could start to get better if she apologized.
But after three tries, she slumped back in her chair, defeated.
"Of course," she muttered under her breath.
"Why did I think he’d pick up? Silly , hoping for logic in a man’s world."
Every ti they fought, Lucas punished her with silence for at least three days. Her ssages went unanswered, her calls ignored, only returning when it suited him—as if nothing had ever happened.
...
The next morning, she woke early, dabbed on concealer, hiding the puffiness around her eyes and dragged herself to the Arden Group Business Tower.
The mont she entered the building, security guards straightened and bowed in greeting, while a woman at the front desk imdiately rose from her seat. "Good morning, madam."
Everyone in the building recognized her, the CEO’s fiancée.
Lyra returned a brief nod, though the address still felt foreign despite hearing it countless tis.
"Mr. Arden left a short while ago," the receptionist inford her smoothly. "He’s attending a eting at another branch."
"In this early morning?" Lyra asked. She had arrived early, but Lucas had gotten there even earlier.
Lucas really was a workaholic. But no matter what, she couldn’t let herself get discouraged.
Lyra had left him a ssage saying she would wait for him at his office. But after three hours without a single reply, she finally gave up and headed to the hospital.
As she arrived, a few eyebrows were raised.
Everyone knew her wedding leave was supposed to start today. But she only smiled, pretending nothing was wrong, and walked toward her office.
Lyra still hoping she might catch him after office hours, though at this rate, she was starting to think Lucas had a secret talent for avoiding her.
By the ti the sun slipped behind the city skyline, casting long shadows across the office, Lyra was still at her desk, scrolling through her phone for the hundredth ti.
She leaned back in her chair, ready to shove her phone into her pocket, when it suddenly buzzed. An unfamiliar number glowed on the screen, and with a quick breath, she tapped to answer.
A deep voice ca through the line. "Lyra, it’s ."
"Lucas? Whose number is this?" Lyra felt both strange and worried at the sa ti.
"This is just my temporary number," he said, but didn’t explain much.
"Why are you using a temporary number? Where’s your phone?"
There were so many things she wanted to ask. She’d been ssaging and calling him, yet he hadn’t received any of it?
She sighed. "I thought you were avoiding . Where are you? I’ll co to you," she added.
Lucas fell silent. It was true, he had been avoiding her since last night. But now, he had to tell her.
"Lyra, sothing’s co up. I can’t et you."
"Why?" Lyra’s voice dropped. She sensed sothing unpleasant stirring in her chest.
"I’ve just arrived at the branch office in the US. Tomorrow’s crucial. The investors are on edge, and I can’t risk losing them."
"US?"
The US was so far from Mistvale City, thousand miles away.
Her fingers tightened around her dress as she asked, "When will you co back?"
"Maybe the day after tomorrow," he said, his voice calm, like he was discussing a minor household chore.
"But tomorrow is our wedding," Lyra reminded him, just in case he had developed amnesia and forgotten the most important day of their lives.
"Yeah, that’s why I called you," he said. "It’s hard for to make this decision, but I have to."
"And what have you decided?"
"Listen... the wedding can wait. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it." he said, as though postponing their wedding was a small matter to him.
But what about her? had he ever asked for her consent?
For a mont, silence filled the line.
"Are you still there?" Lucas checked, the line was still connected.
"Yes, still here."
Lyra took a deep breath, sorting through her thoughts, and exhaled slowly.
"Lucas, I need a break."
"Okay, just rest. I’ll handle the new date—"
"We can’t keep pretending things are fine," she cut in, her voice trembling slightly.
"I’m ending this, for both our sakes."
For a second, there was silence. Then Lyra heard Lucas chuckle on the other end of the line.
"Hell no, baby," he said softly, almost amused. "You can’t break up with ."
"Why not?" Lyra asked, but he turned the question back on her.
"Seriously? Do you not love anymore, Lyra?" His voice cracked with disbelief.
This ti, her eyes welled up before she could stop them. "I still love you," she choked out, her voice trembling, "but I can’t keep hurting like this."
Lucas exhaled slowly. "Just rest, baby," he said. "We’ll postpone the wedding, like I said, and talk about it when I co back."
"No. This relationship is finished," she said firmly—but Lucas ended the call abruptly, unwilling to hear another word.
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