Strangers To Lovers

Chapter Twenty-Five

An unexpected shaking of the door to my bedroom was accompanied by a loud scream. Despite the fact that I heard someone yelling, the door did not move from its position. Even though Dylan was the one who knocked on the door, it remained unmoved.

“Ella?” Dylan’s voice was low but insistent. He kept knocking, his frustration barely concealed. It is likely that Luke had given up. His pounding on my door had lasted longer than I noticed. All I could think of was the image of his gold watch on his right wrist, flashing in my mind over and over.

I took a few deep breaths to calm the tightening in my chest. My pulse quickened, and the thought of facing Luke made my heart pound even harder. I didn’t want to speak to anyone right now—not Dylan, not Donna, and certainly not Luke. What would I even say?

“Ella?” Dylan’s voice called out once more, cutting through the silence.

I bit my lip and clenched my fists, trying to steady my breath. Was I overreacting? Or was this all too much to handle? The knot in my stomach tightened with every knock. I knew that sooner or later, I would have to face him, but right now, the weight of it was suffocating.

Do you remember seeing Luke on the screen? Did you get the impression that it was Luke? The weight of the thought crashed down on me again, and I couldn’t shake it.

I buried my face into my pillow, squeezing my eyes shut. My mind kept racing, drawing connections I wasn’t even sure were real. How could Luke be tied to this? But the nagging voice in my head kept asking, What if he is? I couldn’t trust my own thoughts.

“Ella, come on, open the door.” Dylan’s voice had softened now.

I couldn’t handle it anymore. “Only Donna,” I finally croaked, my voice barely audible. I barely opened the door to let her small figure slip through, quickly shutting it behind her. My heart pounded, louder than the noise outside.

Donna stepped in, her eyes filled with concern. “What happened with Luke?” she asked, immediately sensing my tension. “Ella, let’s talk. You’re scaring me.”

I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. “You remember when I thought I saw someone familiar?”

Donna’s eyes widened. “Yeah, but what does that have to do with Luke?”

I took a shaky breath. “When I saw him… I saw Luke, or at least, I thought I did,” I muttered. “The man had two gold watches on his wrist, just like Luke.”

Donna gasped. “Wait—are you saying Luke—?”

I shook my head, gripping her wrist tightly as she tried to approach me. “I don’t know, Donna. I don’t know anything anymore. But I swear it could’ve been him. Or maybe it wasn’t.” My voice faltered, trailing off in uncertainty.

Donna’s frown deepened. “Ella, I’m sure it wasn’t him. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

She pulled me into a hug, but her words barely soothed me. My mind raced with possibilities. What if I was wrong? What if Luke was involved?

“We’ll figure it out,” Donna said gently, pulling away. “We

'll go back to Lang’s and check the video again. Maybe we missed something, Ella. We can’t jump to conclusions.”

I nodded, though the weight of uncertainty still pressed heavily on my chest. "But... what if it really was him, Donna? What if I’ve been blind this whole time? I don’t know if I can handle finding out that everything between us is based on a lie."

Donna took my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “Ella, you’ve been through enough to know that things aren’t always as they seem. But we have to see it for ourselves first, okay? No guessing.”