chapter 26
654 Words
Shadows of Yesterday
Anna sat in her office, sunlight washing over her desk as the morning dragged itself through the windows like an uninvited guest. The hum of the city below, the clacking of keyboards outside her door—it all felt muffled and distant. Her heart was heavy with the kind of ache she thought she’d buried long ago.
She hadn’t spoken to Noah since that kiss.
Worse still, she hadn’t spoken to Daniel.
Her fingers hovered above the keyboard, but the document on her screen remained blank. Legal briefs and courtroom drama used to fuel her—now, even reading a contract felt like dragging herself through quicksand.
A soft knock interrupted her daze.
“Anna?” Mia’s voice peeked through the door. “Daniel’s here. He says it’s quick.”
Anna’s heart skipped. She hesitated, then nodded. “Let him in.”
Daniel entered with that familiar look of composure. He was dressed smartly, as always, but his eyes… his eyes were colder than usual.
“I just wanted to drop this off,” he said, holding up her charger. “You left it at my place.”
She stood awkwardly. “Thank you. I didn’t realize.”
A pause settled over them.
“Are you okay?” he asked, softer now. “Because I haven’t heard from you. And when I showed up at the hospital, I saw… things.”
Anna looked away. “I didn’t plan for that to happen, Daniel.”
“But it did,” he replied, voice clipped. “You kissed him, Anna.”
“No,” she said quickly. “He kissed me.”
He stepped closer. “And you didn’t stop him.”
She closed her eyes. “It’s not what you think—”
Daniel exhaled, forcing calm. “Anna, I’ve been by your side for four years. I watched you fall apart and rebuild. I was there when you couldn’t sleep. When you broke down in court. I never pushed. I waited.”
“I know,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “You’ve been nothing but good to me.”
“Then tell me this… Are you still in love with him?”
The question burned.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, tears welling. “I thought I wasn’t. I thought he was a chapter I’d closed.”
"But why do I feel like a part of u is still in love him."
Anna sank into her chair, shoulders shaking as she cried silently.
"You don't have to say it,"Daniel said in a low voice."I see it I your eyes every time his name come up_how your face changes . That not something you can fake."Anna was silence,she can't argue with the truth.
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Meanwhile…
At Noah’s house, the sun filtered softly through the garden trees. He sat under the canopy with a book open in his lap, eyes unfocused.
Juliet and Isabella had just returned from brunch and were chatting in the kitchen.
Noah’s eyes flicked to a rose bush blooming nearby.
And then it hit him.
Anna’s laughter. The garden party. Her red dress. Her barefoot steps on the grass. Her head thrown back in laughter as he carried her inside.
The sound, the scent, the warmth—it was real. Too real.
He gripped the table edge, breathing hard.
His vision blurred.
The door creaked open. Juliet appeared.
“Noah?”
He turned, pale. “I think I just remembered something.”
Juliet’s smile was strained. “Probably just a dream.”
“No,” he said, firmer now. “It felt… like something real. Like a life I had with someone.”
Juliet moved quickly, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You need rest. You’re tired. Don’t confuse imagination with truth.”
But he wasn’t listening.
Because the name—Anna—was beating in his chest like a drum.
And it wasn’t letting go.
- Writer
