Chapter 13 – The Taste of Goodbye9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnqqndEL8i
There’s a kind of silence that lingers even after people start talking again.
Janina felt it the moment Cathy entered the kitchen, all smiles and kisses for Ethan, bringing his favorite pastries from a nearby café. Janina stood by the sink, hands clenched around a mug of untouched tea.
Cathy’s voice filled the room. "Ethan, your professor emailed again. You’ve got that seminar this weekend, right?"
Janina didn't look up, but she felt it—the shift in Ethan’s posture, the stiffness in his breath.
"Yeah," he said. “Thanks for reminding me.”
Cathy’s hand found his. “You’ve been distant lately. Is everything okay between us?”
Janina stepped out before she heard the answer.
That night, Ethan came to her room.
She didn’t open the door.
Not right away.
But eventually… she did.
He stood there, looking tired. “We need to talk.”
She stepped aside to let him in, her body aching with every unspoken word.
“Cathy deserves better than this,” she said, staring at the floor. “So do you.”
“And you?” he asked bitterly. “What do you deserve, Janina? Another decade of pretending to be someone's trophy?”
“You think this is easy for me?” she whispered. “I’m married to your father. I gave up my dreams to survive. I don’t get to choose love—I never did.”
“But you want it now.”
That shut her up.
Ethan walked closer. “You kissed me. Don’t deny it. You let me in, even just for a second. That meant something.”
She bit her lip hard. “It meant I was lonely. That’s all.”
He looked at her like she had slapped him.
“You’re good at running away, Janina. From your past. From your desires. From everything that might actually make you feel something again.”
Her voice cracked. “I’m not like you, Ethan. I don’t get to burn everything down just because I’m aching.”
He stepped back like her words physically pushed him.
“Then let’s burn it down together,” he said. “Let’s be selfish. Once.”
She shook her head violently. “No. That’s not who I am.”
His jaw clenched. “Then maybe I’ve been in love with a ghost all this time.”
The silence that followed was heavier than anything they'd ever shared.
He walked out without another word.
And Janina?
She collapsed into bed, the sheets smelling faintly of lavender and regret.
She didn’t cry.
But that night, her dreams tasted like goodbye.
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