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The sound of laughter and clinking glasses filled the grand hall of the Crown Hotel.
Liam Ford had attended countless events like this, but tonight, the wine burned sharper, heavier. Every toast tasted like obligation.
He smiled when expected, spoke when necessary â but his thoughts were miles away.
By the time the speeches ended, he had drunk more than he intended.
Business associates clapped him on the back, praising deals and numbers that suddenly felt meaningless.
All Liam wanted was silence.
When he finally left, it was raining outside. His steps were steady at first â until the alcohol settled in.
He didn't remember how long the drive home took, only that the house was dark, except for the soft glow spilling from the living room.
Someone was still awake.
Ana.
She sat curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest, a blanket draped over her shoulders. The television murmured quietly in the background, forgotten.
She'd promised to wait for him â said she couldn't sleep alone.
When she heard the door click, she stood immediately.
"You're back."
Liam blinked slowly, his sharp blue eyes dulled by exhaustion.
"You should've gone to bed."
"I said I'd wait," she murmured. "It didn't feel right⊠sleeping when you were still out."
He smiled faintly, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"You sound like her."
Her brows furrowed. "Like who?"
"My wife." The words fell heavy and unguarded. "She used to wait up too."
He smiled â barely â but Ana saw it.
Ava's heart sank. She didn't know what to say. She wasn't supposed to care. She wasn't even supposed to feel. She wasn't even herself here.
"I didn't meanâ" she began, but he was already walking toward her. His movements were slow, tired, unsteady.
"You shouldn't wait for someone like me," he said, voice low. "It hurts people."
The thick scent of alcohol lingered in the air between them.
"You're drunk," she whispered, covering her nose.
He gave a soft, humorless laugh. "Maybe. But I still know what I see."
You're seeing the wrong person, she thought.
He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "You look just like her."
His thumb grazed her cheek gentle, not cold. This wasn't the same domineering man she met earlier. His gaze now was soft, almost pleading, and her knees trembled beneath it.
Ava only stared at him, barely breathing. He wasn't seeing her. He was seeing someone else.
She wanted to pull away, to tell him the truth but guilt pressed down on her chest like a weight.
If she spoke now, if she told him who she really was, it would destroy everything.
"Liam, you need rest," she said quietly, removing his hand from her face and turning to leave. She knew if she didn't, things would escalate.
But he caught her wrist gently. His touch was warm; his gaze, distant almost lost.
"Don't go," he murmured. "Stay⊠please. Don't leave me again." His voice was a whisper soaked in grief.
Her throat tightened. Again. He wasn't talking to her â he was talking to his wife.
And yetâŠ
"Liam, Iâ" she started, but he pulled her into a hug. She could smell him not just alcohol, but cologne that wrapped around her like warmth and sorrow.
"I missed you," he whispered, his voice trembling. "So much."
Before she could pull away, his lips brushed hers â soft, searching, full of grief.
Ava stiffened, her heart pounding painfully. She should've stopped him. She knew she should have. But he looked so broken, so completely lost, that for one moment⊠she froze.
Everything blurred after that â his hands, his voice, the rain outside. The room spun with the sound of his breath against hers.
She hadn't meant for it to happen.
She hadn't come here for this.
But the lie had gone too far, and in his drunken grief, he couldn't see the difference.
And she didn't stop him.
The next morning, sunlight poured through the curtains like judgment.
Liam stirred first, his head pounding. The empty bottle on the table glimmered faintly in the light.
He reached across the bed instinctively then froze.
Empty. The pillow beside him was cold.
He sat up, blinking as flashes from the night before scattered through his memory.
Her face. Her voice. Her name.
Or was it her name?
Then he saw it a note resting on the nightstand, his name written neatly across it.
He picked it up, hands trembling slightly.
> Liam,
I'm sorry. I never meant for last night to happen. You were drunk, and I should have stopped you.
You called me by her name⊠and I couldn't correct you. Maybe because, for a moment, I didn't want to.
I wanted to believe that I could be someone who made you feel whole again.
But it was a lie. All of it.
I'm not who you think I am. My name isn't Ana Carter.
I shouldn't have come into your life pretending to be someone else but I had no choice since I couldn't give up my adventurous life.
I thought I could make things right,help you but instead, I made everything worse.
I'll leave before you wake.we are both adults doing what we did was common considering it a fling will make me less guilty,so please don't look for me.
>Ava
Liam's fingers tightened around the letter until the paper crumpled. She called what we had a fling His chest ached not with anger but with a familiar feeling.
He remembered flashes the sound of her voice, the warmth of her hands, the confusion in her eyes.
He looked around, but she was gone. The only trace left was her scent â soft and faint on the pillow.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then, quietly, almost brokenly, he whispered her name.
"AvaâŠ"
A/N
While writing this chapter my brain was fuckin emptyđ©,I won't lie editing a already drafted novel is so fuckin hard đźâđš.buh don't worry I will keep up the good workđââïž.Keep the comments rolling in.Leave your thoughts on this chapter
Thanks đ.