CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: ALMOST CAUGHT, ALMOST HONEST

Elena’s POV

6:07 AM — I Couldn’t Sleep

I watched the sky turn pale behind the curtains and felt like I hadn’t blinked in hours.

My lips still tasted like him.

Every part of me was buzzing with guilt. But there was something else tangled in it — something worse.

Hope.

It was the kind of hope you know is doomed but still feed anyway, like trying to keep a snowflake in your hand.

7:22 AM — The Mirror

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror for too long.

I didn’t recognize the woman staring back.

She looked like someone who had made too many bad decisions in too little time.

She looked like someone who was waiting to get caught.

9:15 AM — Milo’s Visit

I was sipping coffee when Milo walked in.

He didn’t greet me.

He didn’t smile.

He just grabbed a mug and poured.

Then he looked at me with eyes that saw too much.

"You okay?" I asked.

He gave a little laugh — one of those dry, emotionless ones.

"Are you?" he shot back.

I froze.

And that was all he said.

10:47 AM — The Missing Note

I cleaned obsessively for an hour to burn off the nerves.

Then I checked my drawer.

The one where I’d hidden my note — the confession I’d written to myself.

I love him.

I’m terrified I’ll ruin everything.

It was gone.

I tore the drawer apart. I checked under the bed, in my purse, in every book I’d even glanced at.

Nowhere.

Someone found it.

11:22 AM — The Almost Confrontation

I found Aaron outside, pretending to be busy watering plants. He wasn’t even holding the hose correctly.

I walked up behind him and whispered, "Did you take it?"

He turned slowly. Guilty. "Take what?"

"My note."

"What note?"

"Don’t lie, Aaron."

He clenched his jaw. "I didn’t. But... I think someone else did."

I stared at him.

"You think it was Milo," I said.

He didn’t answer.

Which meant: yes.

12:10 PM — The Ticking Clock

We were running out of time.

Secrets are like oxygen masks: they work until they don’t.

And right now, someone knew.

Maybe two people.

And if it was who we thought...

We were already on borrowed time.

2:00 PM — Milo’s Question

Later that day, I was sitting alone in the backyard when Milo came out.

He didn’t sit. Just stood beside the chair like he didn’t trust himself to get comfortable.

Then he said it:

"Do you love him?"

My whole body tensed.

He didn’t blink.

He didn’t smile.

He just stood there like a bomb technician waiting to see if I’d cut the right wire.

I said nothing.

And he nodded.

Like that was my answer.

Then he walked away.

4:42 PM — Waiting to Break

I thought about packing a bag.

About confessing everything.

About running.

But instead, I sat on the bed, hands shaking, wondering which lie would crack first:

The one I told myself?

Or the one I told everyone else?

📘 End of Chapter 21

💬 YOUR TURN!

Do you think Milo is going to keep the secret?

Will Elena finally break?

And what happened to the note?

👇 Leave your theories in the comments — don’t hold back!

❤️ Like if your heart’s pounding after Milo’s question.

🔔 Follow to see Chapter 22... because someone is about to get exposed.