I Pretended To Be His Crush For Three Years Chapter 16

I Pretended To Be His Crush For Three Years Chapter 16

She closed the notebook and hugged it tightly to her chest.

Under a streetlamp, a girl crouched on the curb in Milan, crying like a fool.

A passerby stopped, asked in Italian if she was okay, if she needed help.

She shook her head. Wiped her tears away. Stood up.

Reid was right. He could forget her, but she wouldn’t let him stop loving her.

For the next three days, Nora didn’t go to class.

She shut herself in her apartment and read the notebook from beginning to end, three times.

The first time, she read it weeping, word by word, stopping on every page to steady herself.

The second time, she read it coldly, marking up the margins beside every passage-the places he’d

mentioned, the things he’d said, every detail about her that he’d recorded.

The third time, she read it with her eyes closed, tracing the indentations of his handwriting with her

fingertips, deciphering each character one by one.

After the third pass, she made a decision.

She picked up her phone and texted Hailey: “Find out where Nyssa is staying in Milan.”

Hailey replied instantly: “Nora, what are you going to do?”

“Don’t ask. Just find out.”

About ten minutes later, Hailey sent a hotel name and room number, followed by a long string of panicked emojis.

Nora didn’t reply.

She changed her clothes, stuffed the notebook into her bag, and walked out the door.

Nyssa’s hotel was in central Milan, not far from the cathedral.

She arrived just as dusk was settling. The lobby was quiet. She walked to the front desk and, in Italian, said she needed to see Miss Nyssa. The clerk glanced at her-probably thinking it was perfectly normal, one foreign woman looking for another-and dialed the room’s internal line.

“Miss Nyssa, a Ms. Nora is here to see you.”

A few seconds of silence on the other end. Then Nyssa’s voice: “Send her up.”

The elevator rose to the sixth floor. The hallway was long, the lighting dim and yellow. She walked to room

608, took a deep breath, and knocked.

The door opened.

Nyssa wore a white house dress, her hair loose over her shoulders, no makeup on her face. There was still a

small bandage on her arm-where the broken glass had cut her at the cocktail party that night.

“Ms. Nora?” She paused, slightly surprised. “How did you-never mind. Come in.”

Nora stepped inside. The room was tidy. Sheet music spread across the coffee table. A cup of tea beside it,

long gone cold.

“What do you need?” Nyssa sat on the couch, watching her.

Nora stood across the coffee table, gripping the strap of her bag so hard her knuckles had turned white.

“Where is Reid?” she asked.

Nyssa raised an eyebrow. “You came all this way just to ask me that?”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice was calm-she didn’t seem to be lying. “He came to see me yesterday. He left

quickly. He looked…”

She paused.

“He looked terrible… like there were two people fighting inside him. If you have time, you should go see him.

more often.”

Nora tightened her grip on the bag strap.

She thanked Nyssa and turned to leave.

After leaving the hotel, she walked for a long time along the streets.

Milan at night was quiet. The old cobblestone roads glowed faintly under the amber streetlights.

She passed the cathedral. Passed La Scala opera house. Passed the street she knew best-the one in front

of the Brera Art Gallery.

Where would Reid be?

He’d lost his memory. He didn’t know anyone. He probably had his phone on him, his wallet. The system

would give him instructions, telling him he should be “pursuing” Nyssa-but he’d already left her hotel. So

where else could he go?