But I didn’t miss them.
I had a job offer waiting for me in the same country I’d flown to.
One of the cafe owners I befriended turned out to be looking for help managing their online business.
I had a place to stay, a quiet rhythm to my life, and for once, no weight on my shoulders.
I changed my number, closed my social media, left a final letter with Alec to give them if they showed up at his place looking for me.
It read, “I was never trying to punish you. I was trying to get free. You only noticed once you realized I wasn’t holding up the roof anymore.
“Maybe next time, treat the foundation like it matters before it walks away.”
Months passed.
Then one rainy afternoon, I got a letter, handwritten, no return address.
It was from Bianca.
She didn’t apologize, but she said she finally understood that when the money stopped, when the doors closed, when people stopped making exceptions for her, she finally got a glimpse of what it felt like to be the one left out.
“I don’t expect forgiveness,” she wrote. “But I do hope that wherever you are, you found something better than what we gave you.
“Because you deserved better, Luca, you always did.”
I folded the letter and tucked it away in the back of my journal, not out of sentimentality, just as a reminder that even the golden child could fall when the lies gave out.
I watched the rain slide down the window, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I owed anyone anything.
I sipped my coffee, opened my laptop, and got back to work.
Not for them.
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Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.