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“I’m so swamped with events that my mind is everywhere at once. Any tiny thing snaps me back like that.”

I try to open the door, but she puts her hand on it and pushes it shut again.

“And where exactly do you think you’re going?” she asks, amused.

“Uh… back to my desk?”

“Thalia, I left Serena with Nick specifically so we could talk,” she says, suddenly serious. Then she grabs my hand and pulls me back toward the mirrors, not letting me escape.

“I want to know everything that’s going on between you and Ethan,” she starts, and I open my mouth, ready to explain there’s absolutely nothing.

But she lifts a brow and a finger at the same time, silencing me on the spot.

“Don’t you dare lie to me,” she warns. “Before you say one word, know this—we all figured out something’s going on.”

She grins, triumphant, watching me with full attention.

“Honestly, we knew there was a story there long before you and Theo pretended to be a couple.”

Her words make me snap my gaze toward hers, stunned. Since when?

She gives me that accusatory look, the one that says she still hasn’t fully forgiven me for hiding the plan with Theo. She understands why I did it, and she isn’t angry anymore, but she will absolutely bring it up at every chance she gets.

“Since when?” I ask, genuinely shocked. “Jesus, Ser. It’s not even been two months since we started having sex…”

The moment the words leave my mouth, I realize I’ve just exposed myself.

She bursts out laughing—loud, triumphant, throwing a hand up in the air like she just won a championship. I throw my head back with a groan. Fuck my life. Seriously.

“I knew it,” she says, delighted, breaking into a little dance right there on the bathroom floor. “It was obvious. It is obvious that you’re drawn to each other. Every time you’re in the same room, you somehow end up next to him.”

She sounds like she’s narrating the beginning of a love story, and I have to bring her back to reality, even just a little.

“Uh, Ser…” I start.

But she keeps going, waving me off.

“It’s obvious you get flustered around him, it’s obvious he teases you on purpose, pushes your buttons on purpose…” she laughs. “And in Zanzibar… Jesus, Thalia. You completely lost it when you saw he was hurt. The guys just stared when you touched him like that,” she says, raising her brows. “But they were even more shocked when he—Mr. Calm, Mr. Unshakeable—tried to reassure you that he was fine. And let’s not forget the police station incident. What was that?”

I knew those moments didn’t go unnoticed. But no one said a word. Not even Sierra. Until now, apparently.

“Oh my God, Ser. Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask, panicked. “Why didn’t you warn me it was that obvious?”

“Warn you?” She looks genuinely confused. “Thalia, whatever you two are doing, that’s your business.” Her voice softens. “I only want you to be happy, safe…”

Then she pauses. Her eyes lift, her expression rearranges itself, now serious.

“And to not get hurt,” she adds quietly.

It’s an affection-wrapped warning. Because of course it is. Sierra knows Ethan better than anyone, far better than I do. She knows he isn’t built for a relationship. And she knows me better than anyone too. She knows I am built for one. That I want one.

And she’s right. I do want that.

But for now, I’ll take whatever version of Ethan he’s capable of giving me, until I eventually find the person I can build a life with. My own universe. One filled with harmony, respect, warmth, quiet, and peace. And above all, love.

I want a family where my kids are adored, protected, cherished. I want a home where laughter comes easily, where my husband and I dance barefoot in the kitchen. I want everything I wished my parents had given me when I was a child—ironically, all the things that weren’t material. All the things they could have offered, if they had felt the slightest desire. But they never did. Not for a second.

“Thalia,” Sierra’s voice cuts through my thoughts. I’ve drifted so far inside my head that I forgot to answer her.