Days passed after that night, and though Lila tried to bury herself in work, something within her had shifted. Ethan no longer felt like a ghost from her past — he was real again, present, and painfully human.
He respected her boundaries. He didn't push, didn't chase. Instead, he showed up — early to meetings, patient during discussions, kind in small, quiet ways that spoke louder than grand gestures ever could.
He carried her sketches when her hands were full.
He brought her coffee the way she liked it — two sugars, no cream.
He listened. Really listened.
At first, she kept her distance. But with each passing day, the ice between them began to melt.
One afternoon, they visited an old art gallery in Verona to finalize details for the campaign's venue. The walls were covered in soft oil paintings — lovers, dreamers, and heartbreakers, frozen in time.
Lila stood before a portrait of a woman staring out a window, her expression wistful.
"She looks like she's waiting for someone," Ethan murmured beside her.
Lila nodded. "Or maybe she's learning to live without him."
He glanced at her, the sadness in his eyes mirrored in hers. "Do you think people can ever really start over?"
"Maybe," she said softly. "If they're brave enough to face what broke them."
He smiled faintly. "Then I'll keep trying to be brave."
That simple exchange left her heart unsteady.
Later, as they walked through the cobbled streets back to the hotel, a light rain began to fall. Lila laughed as she tried to cover her hair with a notebook, but Ethan shrugged off his jacket and held it over her. They ended up running, laughing through the drizzle — two people who had once drowned in silence now finding joy in something as simple as rain.
When they reached the hotel, breathless and soaked, Ethan looked at her and said, "I've missed hearing you laugh like that."
She smiled faintly. "It's been a long time since I had a reason to."
There was no kiss, no grand declaration — just a quiet, lingering warmth that neither could ignore.
That night, alone in her room, Lila stared out the window again. But this time, she didn't feel hollow. The city lights below glimmered like second chances, and for the first time since being abandoned, she allowed herself to hope.
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