Chapter 735:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

Ever since Ethan and I had gone our separate ways, I’d unconsciously distanced myself from almost every man around me. Letting someone else into that space, even something as simple as exchanging contact information, felt strangely wrong.

Still, refusing a perfectly reasonable work request in front of Alex would only create unnecessary awkwardness. Suppressing my unease, I nodded.

Once the transition was complete and my resignation became official, there’d be no reason for us to stay in contact.

Turning to Alex, I said, “If everything goes smoothly, I’d like to request an early release after the handover.”

Before Alex could answer, Damien smiled. “Why rush off?” he asked casually. “I’d rather take some time getting familiar with the project. Besides, it’d be nice if we got to know each other a little better. It’d be a shame to lose a designer as talented as you so quickly.”

Alex clearly caught the implication behind Damien’s words. Clearing his throat, he cut in with an amused warning. “Easy there, Damien. Don’t scare her away.” Then he looked at me. “Lianne, you can head back to work.”

Grateful for the interruption, I excused myself without another word.

F𝗶ո𝖽 ոоv𝗲𝘭 P𝘋F𝘀 𝗼n 𝘨𝘢𝗹n𝗈𝗏еlѕ.с𝗈𝗆

As I rounded the corner of the hallway, Damien’s lowered voice drifted faintly into my ears. “She doesn’t seem to be in a very good place,” he said to Alex. “Is she single?”

Almost instinctively, I glanced back. Our eyes met.

Standing beneath the shifting light, Damien curved his lips into a knowing smile, confident, playful, and unmistakably flirtatious.

I immediately looked away and hurried back to my office, my thoughts growing heavier with every step.

Lunch break arrived, and I quietly began packing my belongings.

There wasn’t much. A handful of sketch pens I’d grown accustomed to using. An old ceramic mug. A few professional reference books.

I’d been preparing to resign for quite some time, so everything had already been pared down to the essentials.

I was absentmindedly sorting through my things when my phone suddenly rang, the sharp ringtone echoing through the otherwise quiet office. It was Tracy.

“Lianne! Have you heard what Ethan did?” she blurted out the moment I answered. Even over the phone, her anger was unmistakable.

My fingers tightened around the handset. “What happened?”

“He sold the house!” she exclaimed. “The one you two lived in together! The buyer paid in full, and they’re already moving furniture out today.” She sounded so furious she was nearly out of breath. “That house held all your memories together! How could he be so heartless? He’s erasing every trace of the two of you!”

The words struck like a knife. An invisible force seemed to squeeze around my heart until it hurt to breathe.

That house contained nearly every chapter of our life together.

The night Ethan kissed me beneath the stars on the terrace. The quiet afternoons we’d spent curled up on the living room carpet. Ruby and Silas chasing each other across the lawn while we watched from the porch. Every memory remained painfully vivid.

And now he’d sold the house.

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