Chapter 2 Painful Goodbye

CHAPTER 1: Painful Goodbye

ELARA

The zipper of my suitcase refused to close.

I shoved harder, knee pressed into the bulging fabric, as if force could make space where there was none. Clothes wrinkled beneath my palms, the metal teeth biting back. My chest felt the same way—too full, too tight, packed with things I didn’t know how to carry.

He’s leaving today.

The thought lodged itself between my ribs and stayed there.

Behind me, Mia leaned against the doorframe. “He’s leaving the city,” she said gently. Too gently. “You won’t see him again. Not for a long time. Maybe never.”

I didn’t look at her. “So?”

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of my bed. “So… aren’t you going to tell him?”

My hands stilled.

Tell him.

I turned sharply. “Tell him what?” The words came out harsher than I meant. “That I’m in love with my brother’s best friend? That I’m stupid enough to think he could ever look at me that way?”

Mia didn’t flinch. She never did. “You’ve loved Alessandro since we were kids,” she said. “And don’t pretend he hasn’t noticed you. I see the way he watches you when he thinks no one’s looking.”

I laughed, short and hollow. “You’re imagining things.”

But my pulse betrayed me.

Alessandro De Luca didn’t smile. Didn’t joke. He moved through rooms like a shadow that belonged there, sharp-edged and silent. His blue eyes were always distant, like they were fixed on something far darker than the moment in front of him.

My family laughed loudly. Loved loudly. Lived loudly.

Alessandro didn’t.

He carried the weight of his world differently like it was carved into him. Like it had claimed him long before he ever had a choice.

And yet, every time he passed me, my heart forgot how to behave.

Today would be the last time.

I wrapped my arms around myself. Maybe this was mercy. No confession. No rejection spoken aloud. Just distance doing the work fear couldn’t.

“Elara.” Mia’s voice sharpened. “He’s outside.”

My breath caught.

I moved to the window without thinking. In the driveway, Alessandro stood beside my brother, sunlight catching on the dark leather of his jacket. Adrian laughed at something he said. Alessandro didn’t but the corner of his mouth twitched, almost imperceptibly.

Then his head lifted.

Our eyes met.

Something cracked open in my chest.

I stepped back, heart racing. “I can’t.”

“You can,” Mia said quietly. “And if you don’t, this will haunt you.”

The words settled deep.

I ran.

Down the stairs, past familiar walls that suddenly felt too small. The front door swung open and there he was mid-sentence, mid-life until he saw me.

The world narrowed.

“Elara,” Adrian said. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for school?”

I rolled my eyes automatically. “Don’t start.”

He smirked. “I’m your elder brother. It’s my job.”

I slipped behind Alessandro without thinking.

“Leave her,” Alessandro said calmly. “She’s fine.”

Adrian hesitated, studying him, then shrugged. “Whatever. Don’t be late.” He walked off.

Silence rushed in.

“I have to go,” Alessandro said. “My flight”

“I like you.”

The words escaped before fear could drag them back.

His eyes flicked to mine.

“I’ve liked you since I was a child,” I continued, voice shaking. “I just needed you to know.”

For one terrifying second, I thought he might say something different.

Then his expression hardened.

“Focus on your studies, Elara,” he said flatly. “You’re young. And you’re my best friend’s sister.”

Each word landed with surgical precision.

“I can’t be what you’re imagining.”

He stepped back, opened the car door.

“I’ll always protect you,” he added. “But this ends here.”

The engine roared to life.

I stood frozen as the car pulled away, dust rising behind it.

So this was goodbye.

But as the vehicle disappeared down the road, a chill slid down my spine sharp and sudden, for reasons I couldn’t explain.

I didn’t know then that this wasn’t the end.

It was the beginning of everything that would break me.