Chapter 113: A Goodbye
In the morning,
Aveline stirred to soft light bleeding through the delicate curtains as the events of the night settled back into her mind. The night was over. The day had started. She wasn’t sure how the vacation was going to feel now.
Her hand brushed over the bed, searching for warmth, his presence. But it was cold. Empty and silent.
Propping herself up on her arm, Aveline blinked toward the vacant space beside her and scanned the room. He wasn’t there.
A single rose on the coffee table caught her eye. Below it were a few papers and a folded note.
"Breakfast note?" she murmured, shifting to the edge of the bed with the sheet clutched over her chest.
The sheet slipped from her fingers when she noticed the black shirt draped over her shoulders. It still smelled like him. She vaguely remembered slipping into the water, but nothing after that.
She reached for the rose, dropped it into the half-empty water bottle beside the bed, then unfolded the note.
[I won’t be another weight on your shoulders. I’ve arranged for your friends to join you. Stay as long as you want. And when you’re ready, come back.]
Aveline read the words twice. They were too clean, too composed, every letter was pressed into the page like he hadn’t hesitated once.
He had left.