12 Chapter 12 - Lantern Dinner 12 Chapter 12 - Lantern Dinner Twinkling paper lanterns bobbed gently above the rooftop, casting warm circles of light across the weathered wood table and lemon trees that lined the edges like quiet sentinels. 1 Lina Hart stood still for a moment, taking it all in. String quartet in the corner. Wind chimes swaying in rhythm. Bruce Chen holding two glasses of Sicilian red, his easy smile dimpling as he gestured for her to sit. "You really didn't have to do all this," she said, lips curling despite herself. "Didn't have to," Bruce replied, offering her a glass. "Wanted to." She took it, fingers brushing his. A subtle spark passed between them-no fire, just a flicker of something gently unfolding. Over rosemary dumplings and roasted sea bass, they talked. About everything and nothing. About Elias's gruff wisdom. About fabric salvage missions gone wrong. About how Bruce once accidentally ordered 300 meters of purple satin due to a translation error. Lina laughed until tears threatened. It felt foreign. It felt good. Then Bruce said, more quietly, "You never talk about the night it happened. The crash." She tensed. "Because I don't want to be defined by it." "I get that," he said. "But sometimes naming the wound makes the healing real" She sipped her wine. After a long pause, she said, "I remember the cold first. Not fear. Just cold. Like the ocean didn't want me." Bruce didn't interrupt. "I kept thinking, "This is it. I loved someone who wouldn't look for me. And this is how I die."" < 12 Chapter 12 - Lantern Dinner Her voice was steady. Her eyes were not. "I wasn't afraid of dying. I was afraid no one would notice." Bruce reached across the table, palm open-not grasping, not pushing. Just offering. "I notice," he said quietly. And Lina... believed him. They didn't kiss. Not yet. But something deep and invisible braided between them under the string lights, warm and fragile as first trust. When Bruce walked her home, they paused outside her building. She turned toward him, meaning to say goodnight. But he spoke first. "I don't want to be another man who forgets to choose you." Lina's breath caught. She didn't speak. But she didn't look away. Miles across the city, Mason stared at a grainy zoomed-in photo: Bruce adjusting the hem of Lina's dress during the fashion preview, Lina was laughing. Not politely. 10:13 214 < 12 Chapter 12 - Lantern Dinner Not professionally. Laughing with her whole face. The same face that used to search *him* for scraps of attention. He closed the photo. Then opened a private security feed. Tracked Lina's location to her apartment building. He told himself it was for safety. He didn't believe it. He clicked through her upcoming calendar. Dinner with Bruce. Showroom walkthrough. Editorial fitting. His throat tightened. He'd let her slip through his fingers once. This time, he wasn't waiting for fate. This time, he'd take* her back. Back in her apartment, Lina stood barefoot in the kitchen, sketchbook open, pencil dancing over the page. She didn't hear the storm building beyond the windows. Didn't sense the change in the air. But she felt it. The shift. The whisper of old hauntings stirring awake. She touched the place over her heart. It didn't ache. 1012 DIA 12 Chapter 12 - Lantern Dinner Not yet. But it remembered. And outside, thunder rolled low over the city-foreshadowing a collision that no forecast had dared predict. Comment 0 Leave the first comment for this chapter. Vote 5 Show support to the author by leaving comments when sending gift. Swipe Left To Continue > Send Gifts