Chapter 346

Ethan Blackwood knew deep down that Vivian Lockhart couldn't possibly be staying at Blackwood Villa.

Yet a stubborn part of him clung to the irrational hope that maybe, just maybe, she was.

It was almost laughable.

The man who once made decisions with cold precision now found himself hesitating over something so simple.

What had happened to his logic? His control?

Ethan stepped into the bedroom, his fingers trailing over the silk duvet as if tracing the memory of her.

The way her hair spilled over the pillows. The soft curve of her cheek. The warmth of her skin beneath his touch.

Every thought led back to her.

Vivian smiling at him. Vivian furious, her eyes flashing. Vivian yelling, her voice sharp with defiance. Vivian turning away—walking out of his life without a single glance back.

The emptiness inside him was a black hole, devouring everything in its path.

"Damn it."

He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to snap out of it.

His life shouldn’t unravel just because one woman left.

Especially not her.

Not the woman who had played him for a fool.

Gritting his teeth, he turned to leave—to escape this room that reeked of memories.

Then he saw it.

A notebook on the shelf, bound in soft vellum, its cover embossed with delicate patterns.

A small lock secured its secrets.

A diary?

Vivian’s diary?

His pulse quickened.

Without thinking, he grabbed it, fingers working the lock.

Wrong code.

Again.

Still wrong.

Frustration flared.

With a sharp twist, he broke it open.

For a second, guilt flickered.

Diaries were private. Sacred.

But he was past reason.

He flipped it open.

Not a diary.

A manuscript.

Their story.

The one he’d stumbled upon online—the one that vanished before he could finish it.

He’d searched for weeks, never finding it again.

And now here it was, in her handwriting.

Neat. Precise. Unmistakably hers.

He remembered the first chapter—their first meeting.

The second was titled Falling.