I Pretended To Be His Crush For Three Years Chapter 08

I Pretended To Be His Crush For Three Years Chapter 08

Across the city, Reid stood in the recording studio, staring at Nora’s post. His fingers gripped the phone so

hard they’d turned white.

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

The airport tarmac. Her photo.

Same minute. Same second.

He’d just released his song. Before he could even close the app, her post appeared in his special-follow feed.

She was leaving.

He froze, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Ice flooded his veins.

“Reid? Reid!” The producer pounded on the glass. “What’s wrong? You look terrible.”

He didn’t answer. He grabbed his car keys off the desk and ran.

“Hey! The track isn’t-”

The door slammed shut behind him with a thunderous bang, swallowing the rest of the sentence.

He burst out of the studio. Down the elevator. Into the parking garage.

His hands shook as he started the car.

Not from cold. From fear.

He was afraid he was too late.

The car shot out of the underground garage. Morning rush hour wasn’t quite over yet. Traffic stretched ahead

-car after car after car. Red light after red light.

He laid on the horn. Swerved lanes. Overtook. Ran a yellow light.

On the radio, the host was playing his new song.

“I didn’t mistake you-I mistook the script. But I never mistook the sound of my heart…”

He’d written those lyrics last night, staying up until dawn.

He should have been in the studio properly recording that song.

But at three in the morning, he’d been lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He couldn’t stop

himself-he opened Nora’s social media page.

Then he saw her new follower.

Brera Academy of Fine Arts. Official account.

In that moment, he’d shot upright in bed like a spring.

The first place he wanted to go wasn’t the studio. It was her apartment.

But he’d sat in his car downstairs for an hour, and he never went up.

Because he wasn’t sure he had the right.

He was the one who broke up with her. He was the one who posted the statement. He was the one who said, “Let’s go our separate ways.”

Now he wanted to run back and say, “Don’t leave”?

On what grounds?

So he’d gone back to the studio and poured every last drop of that sleepless night’s emotion into the song.

He wanted her to hear:

I mistook the person, but I didn’t mistake the heart.

You are the one I love. It was always you. From beginning to end.

I thought I was running a mission. But somewhere along the way-I don’t even know which day it was-the mission stopped mattering.

Only you ever mattered.

He was too late.

By the time he reached the airport, the departure screen showed one minute left for boarding for the Milan

flight.

He spun around and sprinted toward security. Hailey blocked his path.

“Mr. Calloway. You’re too late. Nora’s already gone.”

He stood there. Something inside his chest shattered.

He stood frozen for a moment, staring at the security gate as it closed.

“Did she say…” His voice barely worked. “Did she say when she’d be back?”

Hailey was silent.

The silence stretched so long that Reid became afraid of the answer.

“She said she’s not coming back.”

Hailey’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word pierced his eardrum like a needle.

“She got the acceptance from Milan. She applied for long-term residency. She canceled all her exhibitions and collaborations back home.”

“Mr. Calloway, Nora… she wants to leave here for good.”

Reid closed his eyes.

He remembered her voice through the door last night.

“I’ll be okay… You take care too.”

She’d said it so calmly. So gently. So much like a farewell.

He should have heard it then.

That wasn’t a heartbroken person saying angry words in the heat of the moment. That was someone who’d already made up her mind, saying goodbye.

He wanted to say something. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

He stood in the middle of the crowded terminal, like a tree ripped out by the roots.

The roar of a plane taking off jolted him back to his senses. Outside the window, the flight carrying Nora had already shrunk to a silver speck against the edge of the sky.