Page 147 of Legacy

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I’m afraid it’ll all slip through my fingers again.

That I imagined it. That this is a dream and I’m about to wake up alone again.

But she continues, her resolve unwavering.

“I have a lot of unanswered questions,” she adds, her voice carrying a firmer edge now. “So no lies. No expectations.”

Each word hits like a commandment.

And I nod.

“Okay.”

She raises a brow. “Okay?”

“Yes. No lies. No expectations.” I repeat it like scripture.

Because it is.

Because she just cracked the window open, and now she’s giving me a door.

And I’ll crawl through both on my knees if I have to.

She watches me for a long second. Then turns back to her food like she didn’t just reroute the entire trajectory of my soul.

I eat in silence.

But inside?

I’m already perfecting furniture in my mind.

Changing sheets.

Preparing for something new.

Something sacred.

Preparing forher.

“I’ll be gone most of the day,” she says, not meeting my eyes. “I’ll pack some things tonight. Should I meet you there?”

I thought we’d go together. But if she meets me, maybe that gives me time.

Time to make it perfect.

“Alright,” I say.

Her gaze flicks up, sharp and measured.

“Is seven okay?”

“Yeah. Seven works.”

She nods once, gathers her dishes, puts them in the sink and disappears down the hall.

And I sit in the kitchen, alone.

Her words echo in my mind long after she leaves the room: No lies. No expectations.

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