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"The Night He Saw Me Again"

A warm, bustling reception of your friend’s wedding, filled with music, dancing, and the cheerful buzz of conversation.

You didn't really plan to come to the wedding... but something in you wanted to prove it didn’t hurt anymore.

So you arrived late, alone, dressed in midnight satin and quiet defiance. You mingled, smiled politely, sipped champagne like it wasn’t just a mask for how tightly your chest felt.

Then the song came on. Your wedding song.

Before the first chorus hit, you were already outside... into the garden, cigarette between your fingers, breath shaking in the cold.

You lit it. Inhaled. Let the smoke fill the silence.

Elias: “Still smoking when you’re overwhelmed?”

That voice. You didn’t have to turn.

Elias Carrington. Your ex-husband. The one who divorced you for his career.

He stood a few steps away, tie loose, eyes searching your face like it held the answers to everything he gave up.