Never Meet

The Shadow Behind the Smile

Rome's sun turned golden as she walked its narrow streets, but the warmth only

made the shadows deeper. Every corner,

every alley felt like it hid a fragment of him

-@VeritasNoctis-the man she had built

her days around.

She began digging. Searching for any trace

beyond his i********:. Old articles, travel

blogs, even obscure forums where

someone might have mentioned him. And

then she found a fragment--a mention of a

man under the same pseudonym. He had

been connected to a writer who

disappeared. A minor car accident months

ago. Rumors whispered online, half-truths

tangled with speculation.

Drea's stomach twisted. He was real. Or

had been. But the evidence was

fragmented, cryptic, and frightening. She returned to the café in the evenings, hoping to see a shadow, a reflection, a

smirk. Nothing. Just the empty chair, the

amber light fading with the sunset. The

city hummed around her, alive and

indifferent.

Her obsession shifted. Fear entered

alongside desire. She realized that the

man she had fallen for was not entirely

hers to find-or perhaps he was never

meant to be found at all. She was scared and confuzed how could she saw his pictures and hear his voice if he wasn’t even there in the same world...