“Before you met me, there was a part of my life I chose to bury. I told myself it no longer mattered. But the truth has a way of waiting, even when we try to leave it behind.”
My eyes lifted slowly, drawn back to the man sitting across from me.
This time, I really looked at him.
Not just his face, but the details I hadn’t allowed myself to notice before. The shape of his eyes. The line of his jaw. The way he held himself, as if he were trying to remain calm while something inside him threatened to break through.
A quiet, unsettling familiarity.
“No…” I whispered.
His voice was softer now, but it didn’t waver.
“My name is Daniel,” he said. “Daniel Hayes.”
The world seemed to tilt slightly, as if something foundational had shifted without warning. I lowered myself into the booth because my legs no longer felt steady enough to hold me.
He sat across from me, careful, almost hesitant, like he was afraid of what I might do next.
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