The announcement came suddenly.
Adrian's assignment would end earlier than expected. Two weeks. Then London.
The words echoed through Elara like a countdown she hadn't agreed to start.
She congratulated him professionally. Smiled. Left early.
That night, the weight of everything she hadn't said collapsed inward. She realized she had been waiting—for reassurance, for certainty, for Adrian to choose her without hesitation.
And Adrian, packing in his apartment, realized something equally devastating.
He had been waiting for Elara to ask him to stay.
They met accidentally at the office late one night, both drawn there by unfinished work and unfinished emotions.
"This is it, isn't it?" Elara said quietly.
"It doesn't have to be," Adrian replied.
"But you're still leaving."
"I was hoping you'd ask me not to."
The words hung between them, fragile and dangerous.
Elara laughed bitterly. "I shouldn't have to."
And that was the moment everything broke.