Chapter 58- Diverging
Lucia Some said, love wasn’t supposed to feel like drowning.
Morning light painted the city in shares of loneliness through bulletproof glass Campaign posters dotted the urban landscape below – Dante’s perfect political smile watching over his future domain. Even in printed form, his calculated charm made my heart ache in ways I couldn’t afford to
examine.
The polls showed him nenty points ahead. The perfect culmination of has carefully planned rise to power. Every move precisely orchestrated. every step measured with tactical precision.
I guess it just like everything else in his life.
The penthouse kitchen gleamed with its usual precise luxury imported marble caching sunlight, professional–grade appliances humming with quier efficiency. Everything in its proper place, just as he preferred. The careful order he demanded in all things.
Your cappuccino, Miss Valentini? Mrs. Chen’s voice carned careful deference as she placed my favorite Versace cup before me. The foam held an intricate leaf design–another sign of the staffs meticulous anention to preferences I’d never actually voiced. “And the amarriti enokies you enjoy With breakfast.”
The small Italian cookies sat on delicate china, perfectly arranged like everything else in this precisely curated world. My stomach tumed at the sight of them they reminded me too much of quiet mornings when he’d been here, when I’d foolishly thought we might be building something real beneath all the pretense.
“Will Mr. Romano be joining you this morning!” Mrs. Chen’s question carried careful neutrality as she arranged fresh fruit on bone china.
The ache in my chest intensified. “Has he been home?”
A slight hesitation. “Not for several days, Miss. The final campaign pusly requires significant attention…
d coffee, letting it burn away the tears threatening to form. The election takes priority.”
“Of course.” I sipped perfectly prepared i
Abray’s priority. Always careful planning and precise control. Never space for messy things like emotion or attachment of love.
God. love. When had that happened! When had careful arrangement tamed into this consuming ache that made every breath feel like swimming through grief?
“Shall I have the car brought around Mrs. Chen gathered empty dishes with practiced efficiency. “The Downtown Development Committee incets
*Actually I set down my cup, proud of how steady my hands remained despite the chaos in my chest. “Thave some personal matters to handle this morning. I’ll drive myself.”
Her eyebrows rose slightly – I hadn’t driven myicif mywhere since the marriage – but the simply nadded. “As you wish. Miss Though Mr. Romano
prefers
“Mr. Romano isn’t here. The words tasted like ashes. Like truth I been avoiding since that day in the villa. “But th
thank you for your concern.”
Alone in my study, I pulled up the website I’d been circling for days. The University of Oslo’s Master of Public Policy program gleamed on my screen prestigious, challenging, and most importantly, an orean away from care fully negotiated marriages and calculated emotion.
And Norway. Far enough from here.
The application deadline loomed in two weeks. Just enough time to gather recommendations, write essays, plan an elegant exit. The program started next fall perfectly timed with the end of our contract terms.
to swim before
my eyes, foreign and welcoming in their
My vision blurred slightly as i stared at the screen. The Norwegian words seemed to
strangeness.
The phone rang, jarring me from dangerous thoughts. Sofia’s name lit up my screen.
“Please tell me you’re coming to the campaign rally tonight,” she said without preamble. “Maria’s threatening to wear that horrible green dress again. and I need hackup…”
“Actually,” I minimized the Oslo website quickly, quilt twisting in my chest. “I have a foundation board meeting that might rum e.”
“Luria.” Her voice turned serious. “You haven’t been to a campaign event in weeks. People are starting to notice. Dante’s staming to notice.
The sound of his name felt like a physical blow. The election’s practically won at this point. The polls-”
“This fin’t about polls.” Sofia’s sigh carried genuine concent. “Something’s wrong. Ever since the fever, you’re different. Sad in a way Tye never seen before. Talk to me, sorella. What’s really happening“”
Everything. Nothing. The realization that I’d fallen in love with a man who w relationships as tactical advantages. Who reduced every emotion to carefully negotiated terms.
“I need to go” My voice cracked slightly despite my best efforts. “The board meeting
“You’re running away. Sofia’s accusation hit too close to truth. “I see it in your eyes when anyone mentions him. You’re planning something, aren’t
your
“I have to ” The admission slipped out before I could catch it. “I can’t. I can’t stay here and pretend anymore. Pretend this is just business when.
“When you love him
Chapter 58- Diverging
The words lang between us, sharp and honest in ways Ed been avoiding, A sob caught in my throat.
“He doesn’t know how.” I whispered finally, “How to love without contracts and terms and careful control. And Iran’t. I can’t keep letting my heart. break watching him reduce everything to business advantage-
“Oh, Luris,” Real pain colored Sofia’s voice. “Have you talked to him? Really talked, not just maintained careful distance?”
1 laughed, but it came out more like a sob. What would I say? Sorry, Throke the cardinal rule of our arrangement by actually falling in love with you?‘ He’d probably draw up a new contract with terms for handling emotional complications”
“That’s not bir-
“Isn’t it?” I turned back to my computer screen, in possible escape routes and carefully planned exits. “You know him, Sofia. Everything in his life is precisely calculated Love doesn’t fit into neat boxes or careful arrangements
“Neather do you.” She said softly. “Maybe that’s what scares him.”
I ended the call before she could break what remained of my composure. The Oslo application waited patiently on my screen – a possible future without carefully maintained facades or measured emotio
My fingers moved across the keyboard, filling in preliminary information with practiced efficiency. Each field another step toward escape from this ache in my chest that threatened to ronwame me.
A notification popped up- another campaign spelate. Dante speaking as a community center, that perfect smile in place as he worked the crowd. The photos showed him in lais element power wrapped in careful clar, every gesture calculated for maximum effed.
He looked exhausted beneath the political polish, if you knew where to look Subule shadows under expertly concealed eyes, tension in his shoulders inøsked by perfect adoring.
My heart twisted painfully. Even now, even knowing everything was just careful arrangement, I wanted to take care of him. To make sure he was cating properly, sleeping enough, taking care of himself between perfect performances….
1 closed the campaign updates before they could break the completely. That wasn’t my role anymore if it ever truly had heen. We’d both been playing parts in this elaborate arrangement.
I just hadn’t expected my heart to forget it was all pretense.
The Oslo application waited I returned to filling in required fields. Professional experience sendemic achievements, carefully crafted answers about future goals and aspirations
“Personal Statement” blinked at me from the screen, cursor pulsing in the empty test box like judgment. How did one explain running away from Invang someone who saw emotion as tactical disadvantage? Who turned every relationship into carefully structured business?
Perhaps something abous professional development Groath opportunities. The kind of carefully chosen language that turned heartbreak into
strategic career moves.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
“Miss Valentini?” Taylor’s voice carried professional deference. “Mr. Romane asked me to deliver these documents for your review”
More campaign statements probably. More carefully scripted soundbites about our perfect political marriage. The thought made fresh tears bum behind my eyes.
“Come in
He entered with military precision, placing a leather folder on my desk. He also asked me to remind you about tonight’s rally. The press expects-”
Thave a previous commitment.” I didn’t look up, couldn’t let him see how close I was to breaking. Please inform Mr. Romano that I’ll review these when time permits.”
A slight hesitation. “He specifically requested-”
Im sure he did.” I finally met his eyes, letting him see raw pain beneath careful composure. ” as I said, I have other obligations
Understanding flickered across his professionally blank face. He’d witnessed enough lately to read between lines.
“Of course, Miss. A perfectly measured pause. “Though if I may. He’s been asking about you Checking security feeds to make sure you’re eating properly, sleeping enough..”.
The words felt like knives in my chest. Even now, he monitored every lung with careful precision. Maintaining appropriate oversight of his political
I turned back to my laptop, dismissing Taylor with carefully maintained indifference. But as his footsteps faded, the first tear fmally escaped.
The Odo application glowed accusingly as I wiped it away. The personal statement box still waited, cursor blinking like countdown to inevitable
goodbye
“Describe your motivations for pursuing this program..
My fingers hovered over keys as more tears fell. Because how did one explain ruming, from loving someone who didn’t know how to love back! Who tumed every emotion into carefully negotiated advarsage?
The campaign folder Taylor had delivered sat heavy on my desk, its expensive leather matching everything else in this precisely curated world. Inside would be more carefully chosen word, more perfectly scripted performances.
More pretense that my heart wasn’t breaking with every careful arrangemem.
Glapter 18 Diverging
I minimized the Odo website, turning instead to foundation work that demanded attention. Projects that needed reviews, budgets that required approval – the land of carefully structured obligations that didn’t involve complicated emotions or impossible love
Tut the application lingered in my browser, a silent promise of escape from this ache that threatened to consume me. Of futures that didn’t involve maintaiising perfect facades selle my heart shattered behind careful smiles.
Twenty months left of our contrari.
Maybe it was time to start planning for after
