The Comments Begged Me to Believe He Loved Me, His Actions Had Already Convinced Me Otherwise Chapter 07

The Comments Begged Me to Believe He Loved Me, His Actions Had Already Convinced Me Otherwise Chapter 07

I figured Silas wouldn’t come after me. That was who he was — cold on the outside, expecting me to make the first move. Even after the breakup. Even after what happened in that private suite.

The comments called him a tortured genius who needed his little ray of sunshine to save him. Nobody ever asked whether the sunshine had already burned out.

Even if Silas loved me, I was never first. His art came first. His pride came first. Everything about being a genius came first.

But after that night, people started talking. No one had seen Silas in two weeks. Not at home. Not in his studio. His professor was losing his mind trying to find him.

Every evening after work, an iced latte showed up at my door. No name. No note. Always right on time. I’d stare at it and think too long.

[He’s STILL ordering her latte every single day — fighting, broken up, doesn’t matter. This man is an angel disguised as a disaster.]

[Meanwhile he’s hiding somewhere crying alone and I am NOT COPING.]

[Honestly, the FL is kind of sick for doing this to him when she KNOWS he has severe abandonment issues. The coldness is armor. She’s supposed to see through it, not weaponize it.]

My breath caught.

The old me would have caved. Would have dropped everything and torn the city apart looking for him. But if I folded now, I’d be betraying the version of myself I’d only just started to become.

The standoff dragged on for another two weeks. My departure date for Apex Point Station was closing in.

That’s when Chloe stormed into my office.

“Where is he, Elena? What did you do with him?”

“The National Fine Arts Cup is only weeks away — do you understand how big that is? He doesn’t have time for this. Whatever game you’re playing, end it. Get him back in the studio.”

I smoothed out the papers she’d crumpled on my desk and stared at her. Helpless. Almost amused.

Somehow, everyone had agreed — without ever asking me — that my only job was to be whatever Silas needed. My own feelings were an inconvenience. Even my breakup needed his permission.

“Why would I know?”

“I’m not his keeper. We broke up. Silas isn’t my responsibility anymore.”

“And what exactly gives you the right to come in here and lecture me?” The smile I gave her had teeth. “His soulmate?”

“You — you’re unbelievable!” Chloe’s face went scarlet. She sputtered, jaw working, but nothing came out.

She left. And came back with reinforcements.

The professor — a man well into his fifties who’d spent his whole career in the art world — sat across from me at a coffee shop and folded his hands.

“Elena, I’ve known Silas since he was a boy. A talent like his comes around once in a lifetime. It would be a crime to let it go to waste.”

“I’ve watched the two of you for years. You’ll work it out — couples always do. Just talk him into coming back to the studio, and whatever he did wrong, I’ll set him straight. You have my word.”

I stirred my latte and said nothing.

[The FL literally has a professor BEGGING her and she’s still being stubborn?? Girl, read the room.]

[You don’t throw away seven years just like that. If she’d just swallow her pride and go to him, he’d give her the WORLD. This is so frustrating to watch.]

There it was again. Everyone was so sure I mattered to Silas. That I was essential. The old me had believed it too.

But that wasn’t how it worked. If Silas loved me, he wouldn’t hide behind his coldness every single time. He wouldn’t let his pride choke out every apology before it reached his mouth.

Maybe a man at war with himself does need someone who won’t leave. But nobody can keep shouting into silence and calling it love. Every door between us — Silas was the one who’d locked them.

I met the professor’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I genuinely don’t know where he is.”

“Silas doesn’t need me to be Silas.” I tapped the rim of the cup. “He’s the coffee. I was just the sugar. You can leave it out, and it’s still coffee.”