Best Mistake ︱Pedri González

62

Luciana's POV

I was deep in sleep, the kind where your body feels heavy and warm under the covers, completely lost in the comfort of it. But the loud banging on my door snapped me awake, jolting me upright in bed. I rubbed my eyes, still groggy, and blinked at the clock on my nightstand. It was barely 7 a.m.

The knocking came again—harder, more insistent. My heart raced, wondering who could possibly be pounding on my door this early. I threw on the nearest shirt and rushed to the door, my hair a mess, still half-asleep.

When I opened it, my breath caught in my throat.

Pedri stood there, his face clouded with anger, his jaw tight, eyes flashing with a mixture of frustration and something else...something that sent a shiver of dread down my spine.

"Pedri?" I asked, my voice hoarse from just waking up. "What's are you doing here?"

He didn't answer right away, just stepped inside, pacing as if he didn't know where to begin. His movements were sharp, almost frantic, which wasn't like him at all.

"You saw it, didn't you?" he finally said, his tone colder than I'd ever heard it before.

"Saw what?" I asked, confused and still trying to shake off the fog of sleep. "What are you talking about?"

He glared at me, and I could feel the weight of his frustration pressing down on me. "Dante's live, Luciana. The one where he basically told the entire world that you cheated on him."

My heart sank. Of course. I should've known this was coming, but I had foolishly hoped it would blow over, that maybe the damage wasn't as bad as it seemed. "Yeah, I saw it," I said quietly. "But Mikky and Valeria—"

"It's all over TikTok, Lu," he cut me off, his voice sharp. "Screen-recorded, shared, re-posted. Everyone's talking about it. And now..." He hesitated, running a hand through his hair, clearly distressed. "Now people are saying I cheated."

I swallowed hard, a wave of guilt washing over me. "I know, but we can explain. We can tell people the truth—"

"No, we can't, the truth is that I cheated Luciana!" he interrupted, shaking his head. "This isn't just about rumors. If people know I cheated on Esther with you, my career could be over. Do you understand that? Sponsors, the club... they won't stand for it."

I felt like the ground was slipping out from under me. This couldn't be happening. We had just started to rebuild things between us, to mend the broken pieces of what we had. He promised we'd face everything together.

"But Pedri," I pleaded, stepping closer to him, "you said... you promised we'd handle whatever came our way. That we'd stick together no matter what."

He looked down, avoiding my gaze. "I thought we could. But this... this is different. If they find out I cheated, it's over for me."

I reached out, grabbing his arm, desperate to make him understand. "Please, don't do this. We're finally back on good terms. You can't just walk away now because of some stupid thing Dante started. We can clear this up."

But his face remained set, his eyes filled with regret as he gently pulled away from my grip. "No, Lu, we can't. This is bigger than us now. I can't risk it."

My heart cracked, a sharp pain shooting through me. "You said we were in this together," I whispered, my voice trembling. "You said you wouldn't leave. Please dont leave me now"

Pedri looked away, his jaw tight, the lines of stress evident in his face. "I can't risk it, Luciana. If people find out we cheated, it's over for me. They'll blacklist me. My career, everything I've worked for... it'll be gone."

His words sliced through me like a knife. "You're just going to walk away? After everything? After all we've been through?"

He didn't answer immediately, but when he finally spoke, his voice was cold and distant. "We shouldn't have started this. We made a mistake. And now... now we have to deal with the consequences."

Tears stung at my eyes. This wasn't happening. Not again. Not after all the progress we'd made, after we'd started to rebuild. "You said we'd face this together. You promised me that!" I was pleading now, desperation seeping into my voice. "We didn't mean for it to happen like this. It wasn't planned, but we've been trying to make it right. Please, don't walk away. We can still fix this."

Pedri's expression softened for a brief moment, and I thought, maybe for just a second, that I'd gotten through to him. But then he shook his head, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's too late. We crossed a line we never should have, and now everyone knows. I can't risk everything for this."

I grabbed his arm, refusing to let go. "Pedri, please. You said you still have feelings. You can't just throw that away because of some stupid thing Dante said."

He looked down at my hand on his arm, and when he met my eyes again, they were filled with regret. "I do have feelings, hell I still love you, Lu. But this... this is bigger than us. If people think I left Esther for you, if they believe I cheated... I could lose everything."

The tears finally spilled over, and I didn't even bother wiping them away. "So, what? You're just going to end it?"

He reached out, cupping my face with one hand, his thumb brushing away a tear. His touch was gentle, but his words were final. "I'm sorry. I wish things were different, but I can't do this."

My heart shattered. "Don't leave me," I begged, my voice breaking. "Please, Pedri. You promised."

He leaned in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to my forehead, his breath warm against my skin. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I really am."

Then, before I could say anything else, he kissed me. It was tender, filled with the pain of a goodbye we hadn't planned for. When he pulled away, I could see the struggle in his eyes, but the decision had already been made.

Without another word, Pedri turned and walked out of the apartment, the door closing softly behind him. And with that, he was gone.

I stood there in the silence, the weight of his absence pressing down on me like a physical force. My knees buckled, and I sank to the floor, sobbing into my hands as the reality of it all set in.

He was gone. And this time, it was my fault.