CHAPTER FIFTEEN; THE PAST RETURNS
229 Words
Just when everything felt right…
The past came knocking.
A woman walked into the office one morning.
Confident.
Elegant.
Familiar.
“Adrian,” she said smoothly.
Hailey froze.
Because she recognized her.
Not from memory…
But from something Adrian had once thought.
The one who left.
Her name was Victoria.
Adrian’s ex.
“I’m back,” Victoria said, smiling.
Hailey watched from a distance.
Her chest tightened slightly.
This time…
She couldn’t hear his thoughts.
And that scared her.
Victoria didn’t leave.
She stayed.
For business reasons, she claimed.
But it didn’t feel like just business.
She was always around.
Always talking to Adrian.
Always… close.
“Should I be worried?” Hailey asked herself one night.
Without her ability…
She didn’t know.
And not knowing…
Was hard.
The next day, Hailey made a decision.
She walked into Adrian’s office.
“Are you still in love with her?” she asked directly.
He looked up, surprised.
“What?”
“Victoria,” she said. “Are you still in love with her?”
Silence.
Then—
“No.”
No hesitation.
No confusion.
Just certainty.
Hailey felt something inside her relax.
“Then I trust you,” she said.
He stood up.
Walked toward her.
“You don’t need to read my mind to know that,” he said softly.
She smiled.
“I know.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
