Page 33 of Twisted Promise

She pretended the split second of broken sanity in his eyes wasn’t there or the strength behind his hands when he stroked her cheeks with perilous care.

That night, they slept with backs turned, but familiarity found its way home when she woke up in his arms and his lips on her hair.

The sky was almost white as the fuming afternoon sun eradicated early daybreak.

His arms tightened, and she muttered the ending of their relationship.

He was awake the whole time, and Alessio kissed her hair once more before letting her go in all meanings. She didn’t know whether to be glad he didn’t put up a fight or be upset that he gave up on them so easily.

She was the one who gave up.

Dissonance tore her apart, yet numbness stretched thinly into threads that sewed her together like a tattered doll. He still wished her a good morning, for the last time, with utter gentleness when her eyes closed again.

* * *

TWENTY-FIVE

Alessio’s sponsorship was plastered all over. It happened whenever he had a new sponsor, so it felt like he never left her life.

She tried not to search for him online. It didn’t help because Meryl was an influencer, and she was her assistant.

Though she didn’t have to specifically look for information, his updates were fed to her from every direction.

That was the treatment of geniuses. Smart, attractive, and talented ones got the most attention. He made a name for himself in the archery field many years ago but took it more seriously after their breakup.

A photo of him carrying a fishing pole on one of his fan pages blew up and set her home feed on fire. Fans thought he was changing careers, but his manager clarified it was simply a case of him forgetting it in his car during his break and that his boss didn’t fish.

The running joke for the month was fishermen catching everything but fish.

* * *

TWENTY-EIGHT

They met again under unusual circumstances and a funny coincidence.

Her heart sang and danced for him, just as it had always been when he looked at her with just enough obsession to burn a single thread of her safety net.

And she still didn’t know what she wanted in life.

She didn’t have ambition, goals, or even a plan for the next five years. She didn’t find it alarming because life was unpredictable, so she wanted to live life day by day. Life couldn’t get the element of surprise on her if there was nothing to look forward to.

But Alessio broke that streak with his steadfast devotion and unpredictable landmine of emotions.

“Anya.”

He called her with a deep baritone, splintering her resolution, and pushed her into the endless maze he built for her.

Chapter Eight

__________

Alessio

The idea of this happening never crossed anyone’s mind: not in the past, the present, or in the realms of endless possibility.

It was out of nowhere, so painfullyunpredictable, to receive a text message outlining the next morning’s mission five minutes before midnight.

A day for closure, reconciliation, and acceptance.

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