Chapter 63

The sharp click of the shutter echoed as Jayceon snapped the picture.

Only then did Millie realize she hadn't been ready."Oops, I wasn't looking at the camera. Can we try that again?"

A bright grin lit up Jayceon's face. "Absolutely, let's take another one!"

Turning back toward the lens, Millie put on her best smile.

The instant camera whirred,freezing Jayceon,Adriana,and Millie-mask and all-together in one shot.

She watched Jayceon slide the fresh print free and pass it over to her.

Carefully,Millie scrawled Serena's name on the glossy white border.

Task finished, her eyes drifted to the spot Brandon had occupied just a minute earlier.

He was gone now, already swept away by Vivian.

Only emptiness remained where he'd stood. For a moment, Millie lingered; then she turned away,only to lock eyes with Myron by chance.

No words left his lips-he just watched her,and as soon as he noticed her looking, he pivoted and called for his siblings to follow him out.

Saying nothing, Millie simply slipped into the luxury vehicle behind Charles.

The car eased onto the road,and with today's show wrapping up without a hitch, Millie found herself heading back earlier than usual.

Steadily, her health had turned a corner-gone was the constant weakness that once defined her days.

Inside the comfort of the vehicle, she began her routine: wiping away her makeup, slipping off her mask,and changing into casual clothes.

Her mind wandered back to her earlier conversation with the policewoman-her car repairs were finally finished. Mentioning it to Charles, she let him know she'd be getting off partway.

A plan formed: she would pick up her car and make a quick stop at her own place.

After countless nights spent in the hospital, nothing sounded better than her own bed.

No objection came from Charles; he simply let her out near the dealership with a nod.

Millie waited for hiatus car to disappear down the street before she headed inside.

A few signatures later, her keys were returned and her car was hers again.

Settling into the driver's seat, a wave of nostalgia hit her.

It amazed her how only ten days apart felt like a lifetime away from the familiar feel of the steering wheel.

With a small exhale, she brushed off the odd sense of distance, started the ignition, and merged into the rhythm of city traffic.

By this time, dusk had deepened to night, and rush hour painted the streets with constant movement.

Streetlights flickered to life, headlights stretched out in lines ahead, and the city hummed with the restless energy of the evening crowd.

From the radio, a mournful love song played, its melody occasionally drowned out by announcements about gridlocked roads ahead.

After so many nights spent in a sterile hospital room,Millie felt strangely out of place among the city's relentless energy and noise.

The familiar world seemed distant, almost as if she'd been gone for much longer than she had.

Traffic on the overpass moved in steady streams.Millie shook off her sense of disconnect and kept her attention firmly on the drive.

Not far away, beneath that same overpass, a sleek Bentley inched along in bumper-to-bumper congestion.

Brandon occupied the rear seat, his gaze lost in the cityscape flashing past the glass.

Next to him, Vivian was completely absorbed in her phone,tapping out message after message.

Another glance at the endless line of cars outside kept Brandon distracted.

Years might have passed, but the city's chaos and crowds had not changed at all.

In a moment of silence, the memory of a masked woman taking a picture with the Elliott siblings replayed in his mind.

Despite knowing she was supposed to be Charles 'girlfriend, thoughts of her lingered far longer than they should have.

Something about her just kept reminding him so much of Millie.

A red light halted the Bentley's slow progress.

Perhaps that brief stop was all it took to pull Millie's name back to the surface of Brandon's mind.

The memory of that endless twelve-hour ferry ride from Eldoria drifted through his mind.

After what felt like forever, they reached the shore at last, friends waiting to greet them with open arms.

No harrowing twists, no real danger-just the two of them, the night, and the quiet certainty in her gaze when she looked up at him: warm, trusting, filled with nothing but faith in him.

Now,sitting in the back of the Bentley, Brandon felt a tightness in his chest, as if the air itself was pressing in on him.

Lowering the window brought a rush of city air, but it did nothing to loosen the ache.

A heavy, lingering sorrow made it hard to breathe.

From a nearby car, the plaintive notes of a song floated over. "I listen to the whispers of a cloudy day.Standing in the dimness, I long to tell the sky-whatever happens, may there be joy, even under these cloudy days..."

Traffic had come to a halt at the light, and for a moment,the world stilled with the music.

Brandon's mind once again wandered back to that distant dock, the sky heavy with clouds, just like tonight. After the snowfall, the sea's chill shimmered with an austere beauty. Millie's hand had been locked in his,gripping with fierce determination.

Those memories tugged at Brandon, refusingto let go.

Vivian's voice broke through his reverie. "Everyone online keeps saying how gorgeous this pendant you got me is."

Reality snapped back into focus as Brandon glanced at the sparkling jewel hanging from Vivian's neck.

"It suits you," he said quietly.

A wide smile lit up Vivian's face. "I think so,too."

His gaze dropped, lips drawn into a firm line.

The truth weighed on him-Vivian's time was running short. Fewer than six months remained.

That knowledge gnawed at himn. The blame for her suffering fell directly on his own shoulders.

The divorce with Millie was already in motion.

Until those final months had passed, nothing else could take priority.

Recently, Millie had become noticeably more accommodating. She might have still been upset,but at least there were no more outbursts. That, at least,made things easier.

With the end of the song from the next car and the light shifting to green, the Bentley rolled on, turning away from the memory-laden streets.

High above the city streets, Millie steered her car along the overpass, heading in the opposite direction from Brandon.

Their paths split, each bound for a separate corner of the sprawling city.

Soon,Millie rolled into her apartment complex's lot.

She parked, switched off the ignition, and reached for her purse in the passenger seat, pausing just long enough to peek into the glove compartment, half-expecting it to be empty.

Instead, her fingers brushed against a forgotten bag.

A furrow creased her brow as she drew it out.

Opening the small paper bag, her movements slowed -her hands hovering for a moment over its contents.

There it was: a bottle of medication, one the therapist had prescribed.

In those days, she was still carrying her child.

The true weight of what she was losing hadn't sunk in then. She'd agreed to end the pregnancy, planning to take the medicine afterward.

But after the tragic loss-everything unraveled. The hospital stay, the car repairs, and the prescription abandoned in the glove box all tangled into one long aftermath.

After a long hesitation, Millie finally took out the medicine.

She tried to open the bottle, but her hands refused to cooperate, trembling too much to manage even the simplest task.

Tears splashed onto the label, grief and regret crashing over her in an unstoppable tide.

Ten days had passed since her child was lost. The moment she woke in the hospital and learned her baby was gone, she shut everything out and sank into numbness, untouched by either happiness or grief.

Only now, sitting with the medication in her hands,did the fog begin to lift-a jolt of pain dragging her back into the reality she'd been avoiding.

Hot tears splattered across the bottle, staining the label with silent anguish.

Not once, until this moment, had she wept. And now,she simply couldn't stop her tears.

A heavy,aching sadness took hold, filling every hollow part of her.