Chapter 100
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“I can’t believe that at one in the morning, you’re sitting out here alone! Luca’s voice cracked with anger, the frustration boiling over. “What? Were you waiting for something to happen to you?” His heart was pounding, not just from fear for her, but from the sheer insanity of it all. She could’ve been hurt, attacked, or worse, and he was furious with her for putting herself in danger. But Amber said nothing. She just stared at
him with an empty expression, as if his words barely registered.
“Come on, let’s go home,” Luca said, softer now. His anger had fizzled into something else–something more like fear. Fear for what she had
become. She didn’t argue, didn’t protest, didn’t even ask how he knew to find her here. She simply rose to her feet, holding her sandals in one
hand, and began walking beside him without a word. Her silence unnerved him more than anything else.
As they walked back to the car, Luca stole glances at her, trying to decipher the strange expression on her face. There was something broken in
the way she moved, something defeated. And that terrified him. This wasn’t the fiery, sharp–tongued Amber he had known. This was a ghost, a
shadow of the woman she used to be.
They drove in silence. Amber’s face was turned toward the window, the dim streetlights casting flickering shadows across her pale skin. Loca clenched his teeth, his frustration growing with each passing moment.
“What’s wrong with you?” he finally snapped, unable to hold back any longer. “Are you trying to get yourself killed or something?” He was hoping to provoke her, to get some kind of reaction–anything that would shatter the eerie silence. But Amber didn’t rise to the bait. She remained silent, her eyes fixed on the city lights passing by outside.
“How was the dinner?” she asked suddenly, her voice flat, emotionless.
Luca gritted his teeth. “Fine.” He didn’t want to talk about dinner. He didn’t want to think about the chaos of the evening, the judgmental looks from his family, the tension between them all. He especially didn’t want to think about Nico’s heart–wrenching breakdown.
“And Nico? Did he go to sleep?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” Luca said, his voice clipped. He didn’t want to get into that right now either. They needed to talk about Nico and his fears, but it was a conversation better left for the morning. He felt too tired, too frayed at the edges to deal with it now.
The rest of the drive passed in silence, the tension between them thick enough to choke on. Amber’s face remained turned away from him, her eyes dull, her spirit seemingly crushed. Luca’s frustration mounted with every second. This wasn’t right. She wasn’t right.
When they finally arrived back at the casa, Luca was relieved to see that his mother’s car was gone. As Amber climbed out of the car, Luca stopped her. “Amber…” His voice softened, guilt creeping into his words. Im really sorry for what happened this evening. You were a guest in my home, I invited you, and it was disgraceful-
“Let it go, Luca,” she interrupted, her voice tired, defeated. “I’m fine. Everything is fine. It doesn’t matter.”
Fine? Luca stared at her, stunned by the emptiness in her voice. Nothing about this was fine. The haunted look in her eyes, the defeated set of her shoulders–it screamed that nothing was fine. But she turned away from him, heading toward the door without another word.
Luca stood there for a long moment, watching her walk away, his chest tight with the realization that something was deeply wrong. Amber was slipping away, and he had no idea how to stop it.
Tomorrow, he told himself. Tomorrow, he would talk to her and Nico. Tomgrow, he would face the problems he had been avoiding for far too
long.
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Thu, Feb 5 B
Chapter 100
But tonight, they were both too tired, too broken, to do anything more.
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He watched her disappear inside, the weight of all their unresolved issues pressing down on him like a lead blanket. Tomorrow, he promued himself.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
