Chapter 12
“Hey Neil, why are you staring like that? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sean said with a smirk, leaning on the steering wheel. “Don’t tell me you still care about Olivia?”
Neil shot him a glare. “Shut up.”
Meanwhile, a text message he’d received earlier flashed through his mind: [Neill I just saw Olivia looking for an apartment near the bar district.]
‘Apartment hunting… So she’s really planning to cut all ties,‘ Neil thought. His chest felt tight, like he couldn’t catch his breath. Without a word, Neil got
out of the car.
“Hey! Neil? Where are you going? Everyone’s waiting,” Sean called out..
“Something came up. I’m not going,” Neil replied, already walking away.
The bar district was a riot of lights and noise, but the surrounding area was a different story. Old, rundown apartment buildings lined the streets, and the one Olivia was standing in front of was no exception.
Although the interior had been renovated, the building still lacked an elevator, with only flights of stairs to climb. And the stairwell was particularly
shabby.
But Olivia was in desperate need of a place to stay, and she couldn’t afford to be choosy. “Mike, I’ll take it,” she said without hesitation.
Mike grinned. “Great choice! Give me a sec. I’ll grab the contract from my car.”
“Take your time,” Olivia replied.
As Mike hurried out, Olivia pulled out her phone, intending to snap some photos of the place and send them to Grace.
But then her phone buzzed with a message. She glanced down and froze. ‘Liam? After all these years?‘
They’d connected on social media ages ago, but they hadn’t exchanged a single word since. His profile picture was still ti his feed was as empty as ever. She’d long ago stopped wondering if he’d even kept the account active.
[Send me your location.] The message blinked on her screen–their first contact after all the years.
Olivia furrowed her brow, wondering why he asked for her location. She typed back: [My location?]
His reply was pure Liam–concise and no–nonsense: [Yes. Now.]
Without another thought, Olivia sent him her real–time location. As soon as she hit send, she heard a noise behind her.
amé stark black image, and
She turned and froze–it was Neil. Living in the same city, she had steeled herself for the chance encounter with him after their breakup. She just hadn’t expected it to be this soon. Her heart still ached at the sight of the man she’d loved for seven years.
And there he was, holding hands with another girl. Olivia recognized her instantly–the same girl from yesterday’s photo, the one who had kissed Neil
She remembered the first time Neil had taken her hand, saying, “Olivia, I’ll only hold your hand from now on,”
She sneered to herself, ‘Well, check this out. Hah! Men’s promises are as flimsy as a spider’s web.
The silence in the room was broken by the realtor, Mike, who had followed Neilinside. “Ms. Erwin… Um, I’m afraid we can’t rent this apartment to your
Olivia had known it the moment she saw Neil.
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Chapter 12
But before Olivia could get a word in, the girl’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? Olivia’s interested in this place too? Neil, I had no idea! The houses around here are like gold dust–hard to come by. Maybe we should just let Olivia have it?”
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