Chapter 72

• Olivia
• Being so close to Dante today felt like opening a drawer that should have remained locked. Memories I would rather bury surfaced and left me exhausted. His words echoed in my head like a dissonant melody. He thought he was protecting me and but protecting me from what? From himself? From Ester? From a reality that, no matter how complicated, we could have faced together?
• I closed my eyes for a moment, leaning back against the living room sofa, the soft glow of the lamp illuminating the dimness around me. I could not deny that, in part, I understood why he did what he did. But that did not erase the pain. The betrayal was not Ester or the pregnancy. It was the fact that he had decided on his own what was best for both of us.