Chapter 6
The airport announcement echoed through the bustling terminal, but Layla didn’t hear it–her mind was elsewhere, her heart already in a distant place. She walked briskly toward the gate, dragging her small suitcase behind her. Her phone buzzed relentlessly in her coat pocket, but she didn’t bother looking. She knew who it was.
Brent.8
The screen lit up again and again, his name flashing like a silent plea she refused to answer. Her grip tightened on the handle of her bag, jaw clenched. This time, she was really leaving–and she wouldn’t be looking back.”
Meanwhile, miles away in the Westwood estate, chaos was blooming in the cold halls Brent called home.}}
“Where is she?” Brent’s voice echoed, sharp and dangerous. His eyes were bloodshot, hair disheveled, collar undone as he stormed through the house. “Find her. Now.“N
He had just come back from the hospital with a slight unease, thinking Layla would be home waiting, like always. But the silence that welcomed him felt deafening.N
One of the staff approached cautiously. “Sir, we checked the hospital records… she never went there.“}
Brent’s eyes widened, the color draining from his face. “She never went…?“}}
“No, sir. And her phone’s unreachable,”
He froze.N
She dared to leave me? Without a word?N
A bitter laugh escaped his throat, raw and disbelieving. “Unbelievable. She really left me alone…”
Just as he tried to process the thought, a familiar voice broke through the tension.“]
“Brother!”
Brent turned, and there she was–Celeste. Dressed in her favorite pastel tones, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders, she looked radiant. In her hands, she clutched something wrapped in a velvet pouch.
“I… I didn’t know where else to go,” Celeste said with a sheepish smile, handing him the pouch.”
He opened it slowly.
Inside lay a gleaming gold ring–Layla’s wedding ring.
A folded letter accompanied it. His throat tightened.§
“She gave this to me… earlier today,” Celeste said, almost whispering. “She told me it would fit me better. That you… that you love me.“>
Brent’s brow furrowed. “What?”
She unfolded the letter before he could stop her.
“I didn’t even know about this. Why did you hide it from me, brother? You had feelings for me all along?” Her voice trembled, not with fear, but a certain excitement.”
Brent took the letter with shaking hands. Layla’s handwriting stared back at him.”
“Give him this ring. I know it was never mine to keep. After all, he has a room dedicated just for you in the house–I’ve always known. Maybe you’ll fit better in his heart than I ever did.”}]
His chest clenched.”
She knew. All this time.”
He didn’t know how to breathe. Layla had never said a word. She just… left.
But before he could make sense of the emotions swirling in his chest–grief, guilt, denial–Celeste stepped closer.”
“You don’t have to pretend anymore,” she murmured, her fingers grazing his cheek. “We’re not really related. So we can be together… right?”
Brent looked at her, stunned. His mind screamed with reasons to stop–but his heart, twisted as it was, pulsed with something shameful. He had buried his feelings for Celeste deep for years, convincing himself that Layla was just a replacement, a distraction from the truth.“] Now that the truth was out… what reason did he have to deny it?!!
“I’m so happy you like me,” Celeste whispered.!!
His voice came out hoarse, low. “Yes… I do.“!
And then, like a slow poison taking root, their lips met.“]
It was the first time they didn’t hide behind ‘siblings‘ or family obligations. For once, Brent gave in completely.”
That night, he held Celeste in the bed that used to belong to him and Layla. Their bodies tangled under the sheets, the world outside disappearing into shadows.
But morning came too soon.”
Light poured through the curtains, harsh and unforgiving. Brent blinked against it, his arm draped over Celeste’s bare waist. She slept peacefully beside him, lips curled in a satisfied smile.
This should’ve been everything he ever wanted.
And yet…
The sheets felt cold. The silence too heavy.”
He sat up, staring at the empty space beside him. Layla’s side.”
She wasn’t there. She’d never be there again.
And his chest–his cursed, traitorous chest–ached in a way it hadn’t before. He told himself it was guilt. Confusion. But deep down, he knew.
He had lost her.
And not because of fate. But because he let her go.”
He wandered through the mansion like a ghost, hands brushing against the walls Layla once decorated with her quiet touches. Her favorite flowers were wilting on the table. Her slippers gone. Her soft scent no longer in the air.
Everything was still, but something inside him screamed.
And somewhere far away, Layla was finally free.
She stepped into a quiet house nestled at the edge of a small lakeside town. The air was different here–fresher, lighter. She breathed it in, finally, like she’d surfaced from deep water.
Her brother, Lucas, stood by the doorway with her luggage in hand.”
“Welcome home, Layla,” he said softly, reaching out to hug her.
Tears threatened, but she blinked them away.
She didn’t look back. Not this time.
She was done breaking for people who only knew how to shatter her.
And this time–she wouldn’t be the one left behind.”
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Switzerland was a dream.
