Love Was Never Enough

Everything Fell Apart

Elaris's POV

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the cold.

My hand reached across the bed before I had even opened my eyes.

Empty.

A small smile found its way to my lips.

It wasn't unusual.

Evren had stayed over often enough for me to know his routine. Whenever work called early, he'd slip out as quietly as possible so he wouldn't wake me.

The first few times, I'd complained.

"You could've at least said goodbye."

After that, he'd started leaving little notes instead.

I pushed myself up and looked toward the bedside table.

There it was.

A neatly folded piece of paper.

My smile widened.

I picked it up and unfolded it.

> Morning, sleepyhead.

You looked too peaceful to wake.

Please eat breakfast today. Not just coffee.

Lunch too. Don't skip it because the salon gets busy.

I'll call you later.

Love you.

—Evren

A soft laugh escaped me.

"You sound like Dora."

I folded the note carefully and slipped it into the drawer beside my bed.

I'd started keeping every one of them.

There were already more than a dozen inside.

Maybe more.

I didn't really know why I kept them.

I just liked knowing they were there.

The apartment was quiet.

His coffee mug still sat in the sink beside mine.

His jacket was gone.

His shoes too.

Only the faint scent of his cologne lingered in the room.

I stretched before climbing out of bed.

The old radiator knocked against the wall again.

"I know," I muttered.

"I'm getting up."

Forty minutes later, I was dressed in my usual uniform.

Black trousers.

A white blouse.

My hair pulled neatly into a low bun.

A little concealer beneath my eyes.

Lip balm.

Nothing else.

Breakfast was toast, scrambled eggs, and coffee.

"Happy now?" I asked with a smile.

The apartment, unsurprisingly, didn't answer.

I grabbed my bag, locked the door behind me, and headed for the bus stop.

The streets were busier than usual.

A delivery truck had blocked part of Clover Lane, forcing traffic to crawl.

By the time the bus finally arrived, it was already packed.

Traffic wasn't much better.

Every light seemed determined to stay red.

I checked the time on my phone.

8:18 a.m.

"Oh, no..."

A sigh escaped me.

"I'm late."

By the time I hurried through the doors of Blush, it was already 8:27.

The salon was alive with its usual morning rhythm.

Hairdryers hummed.

Clients chatted.

Someone laughed from the styling area.

The smell of fresh coffee drifted through the room.

Dora looked up from the reception desk.

"There you are."

"I'm sorry."

"Traffic?"

"And a delivery truck."

She nodded knowingly.

"I figured."

"I'll make up the time."

"I know you will."

I slipped behind the front desk and switched on the computer.

"Morning," Nessa called as she arranged her brushes.

"Morning."

I smiled at Iris.

She smiled back.

For some reason, it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Ruth wasn't in today.

She only came in a couple of times each week to handle payroll, supplier invoices, and the mountain of paperwork none of us wanted to touch.

The morning settled into its familiar rhythm.

Phone calls.

Appointments.

Receipts.

Walk-ins.

Questions.

Smiles.

Everything felt normal.

Almost.

Around nine-thirty, I caught Mara glancing in my direction.

She leaned toward Tia and whispered something.

They both looked at me.

Then quickly looked away.

A second later, they laughed.

I frowned.

Maybe I was imagining it.

Ten minutes later, one of the junior assistants walked past the front desk.

She slowed just enough to glance at me before lowering her eyes and hurrying away.

Another whisper.

Another look.

My fingers paused above the keyboard.

Something felt...

Off.

As the morning wore on, the whispers became harder to ignore.

Every time I looked up...

Someone looked away.

Every time I walked past...

The conversations seemed to pause.

I told myself I was overthinking it.

Maybe there was some gossip going around the salon that had nothing to do with me.

Maybe everyone was simply having an off day.

Still...

The uneasy feeling refused to leave.

At exactly 10:17 a.m., I reached for my phone.

Evren hadn't called.

He'd said he would.

Maybe another meeting had come up.

I smiled to myself.

He was probably too busy reminding everyone else to eat while forgetting to eat himself.

I opened our chat.

My thumb hovered over the call button.

Before I could press it...

A notification slid across my screen.

BREAKING NEWS

My eyes found one name before anything else.

Arden.

Without thinking, I tapped it.

The article opened.

For a second, all I saw was the photograph.

Evren.

Standing beneath a shower of camera flashes.

Beside him was a woman I had never seen before. She wore an elegant ivory gown, one hand resting lightly on his arm.

They were smiling.

My gaze dropped to the headline.

ARDEN GROUP HEIR EVREN ARDEN ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO CELESTINE VALERIUS, ONLY DAUGHTER OF VALERIUS CONSORTIUM CHAIRMAN, ADRIAN VALERIUS.

I stared at the screen.

The words refused to make sense.

Engagement.

Evren.

Celestine Valerius.

I blinked once.

Then again.

Nothing changed.

My thumb moved on its own, scrolling down.

More photographs appeared.

Different angles.

Different news outlets.

The same smiles.

The same announcement.

I opened another article.

Then another.

And another.

Every headline told the same story.

A union between two of the country's most influential families.

A marriage expected to reshape the business landscape.

The perfect match.

Perfect.

The word echoed through my mind until it stopped meaning anything.

I kept scrolling.

The comments came first.

"Finally. A woman worthy of standing beside him."

"I've been waiting for this announcement!"

"They're gorgeous together."

"Power recognizes power. This marriage makes perfect sense."

"She isn't just beautiful. She's the heiress of the Valerius Consortium. What a couple."

The comments kept coming.

Hundreds.

Then thousands.

Every refresh brought more congratulations.

More excitement.

More people celebrating a future I knew nothing about.

I swallowed hard and kept scrolling.

Then I saw it.

An official statement from Arden Group.

Pinned at the top of every article.

I opened it.

The Arden Group is pleased to announce the engagement of Executive Vice President Evren Arden and Miss Celestine Valerius. The wedding ceremony will take place this Saturday in the presence of family, close friends, and invited guests. We appreciate the public's warm wishes as both families begin this new chapter together.

Saturday.

My eyes stayed on that single word.

Saturday.

Today was Tuesday.

Four days.

The salon around me suddenly felt too bright.

The sound of the hairdryers blurred together.

Someone laughed.

A client thanked one of the stylists.

The bell above the front door chimed as someone walked in.

Everything continued.

As though my world hadn't just stopped.

I looked up slowly.

Nessa was talking quietly with a client.

Iris was blow-drying someone's hair.

Mara glanced in my direction.

The moment our eyes met, she looked away.

Tia whispered something to one of the assistants.

Another quiet laugh.

Maybe it had nothing to do with me.

Maybe it did.

My fingers tightened around my phone.

No.

There had to be an explanation.

There had to be.

Maybe it was a business arrangement.

Maybe the articles were wrong.

Maybe….

My phone remained silent.

No calls or messages.

Nothing from Evren.

I opened our chat.

The last message was mine.

Hey. Just finished work. Called a few times. Are you okay? I'll be home in an hour. Love you.

He'd never replied.

I pressed the call button.

The phone rang three times and entered voicemail.

I ended the call.

I tried again and it entered voicemail again.

I tried the third time.

Nothing.

A strange numbness settled over me.

I slipped my phone into my bag and stood so quickly my chair rolled backward.

"Elaris?"

Dora's voice reached me from across the salon.

"Where are you going?"

"I..." My throat tightened. "I need to leave."

She frowned and took a step toward me.

"Lari, what's wrong?"

"I just..."

The words wouldn't come.

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry."

Before she could stop me, I picked up my bag and walked toward the door.

Then I walked faster.

And faster.

Until I was almost running.

I heard Dora call my name behind me.

I didn't stop.

I couldn't.

The bell above the salon door jingled as I pushed it open.

Cool air hit my face.

But it did nothing to steady me.

I kept walking.

Toward the bus stop.

Without knowing what I was hoping to find.

Or what I was running from.

By the time I reached the bus stop, my breathing had started to even out.

My thoughts hadn't.

People stood scattered beneath the shelter, checking their phones or watching the traffic crawl past.

No one paid any attention to me.

I wrapped my arms around myself and stared at the road.

The bus arrived a few minutes later.

I climbed aboard and took the first empty seat by the window.

As the bus pulled away, I rested my forehead lightly against the cool glass.

I told myself not to think.

Just get home.

Just breathe.

It didn't last.

"...Did you see the announcement?"

The voice came from somewhere behind me.

"I did," another man replied. "It's all over the news."

"I always knew he'd marry someone from his own circle."

A woman across the aisle nodded.

"The Valerius family is enormous. Those two families joining together... That's business history."

"They look good together," someone else added. "I saw the pictures this morning."

"They do," another passenger agreed. "A perfect match."

I closed my eyes.

Please...

Not now.

"I've actually seen him around Brookhaven before," an older man said. "Nice-looking fellow. Always thought he seemed familiar."

"The Arden heir?"

"Yeah."

"I heard a funny rumor about him once," a younger woman said with a laugh.

"What rumor?"

"That he was dating some receptionist at a little salon around here."

A few people chuckled.

"Oh, come on," a man said. "You believe everything you read online."

"I never said I believed it."

"Besides," another voice cut in, "someone like Evren Arden was never going to marry a salon receptionist."

"Exactly."

"He was always going to end up with someone like Celestine Valerius."

"The families match."

"The status matches."

"Everything matches."

Someone laughed softly.

"People love making up stories about rich men."

The conversation drifted on, moving to wedding venues, designer gowns, and how beautiful the engagement photos looked.

I stopped listening.

Or maybe I simply couldn't anymore.

I kept my eyes fixed on the passing streets outside the window.

The familiar buildings blurred together.

Shops.

Traffic lights.

People crossing the road.

Everything looked exactly the same.

Only my life didn't.

The bus slowed to a stop.

My stop.

I stood on unsteady legs and stepped onto the pavement.

The walk home felt longer than usual.

Mrs. Patel was arranging fresh bread in her bakery window.

Mr. Hale swept the front of his convenience store.

A little boy rode past on his bicycle, laughing as his mother called after him.

The whole neighborhood carried on as though nothing had happened.

Maybe nothing had.

Maybe I still didn't know the whole story.

That thought was enough to keep my feet moving.

I unlocked my apartment door and stepped inside.

The silence wrapped around me instantly.

I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment.

Then I reached for my phone.

Evren.

I pressed Call.

It rang three times.

And again it entered into voicemail.

I called again and again and again and it still ended the same way.

I lowered the phone just long enough to look at his name on the screen.

Then I called once more.

Still nothing.

A lump rose slowly into my throat.

"No..." I whispered.

I tried again.

The call didn't even ring this time.

It ended almost immediately.

I stared at the screen.

Then dialed again.

And again.

Each attempt ended exactly the same.

I sank onto the couch, my phone still clutched tightly in my hand.

There had to be an explanation.

There had to be.

Because the man who had slept beside me last night...

The man who had kissed my forehead before leaving for work...

The man who had promised to call me later...

Couldn't be the same man smiling beside another woman on every news channel in the country.

I refused to believe it.

Not yet.