Consumed by you : Whispers of devotion

Chapter 20: Shifting Dynamics

**Elara's Perspective**

The air between them had grown cold. Elara felt the distance like a blade between her ribs, cutting deeper with each passing day. After Lucas's rejection, something inside her had shifted. She wasn't the same desperate, needy woman she had been. At least, that's what she told herself.

But that didn't mean the fire in her heart for Lucas had died out. No, it had only been smothered under layers of ice. She kept her distance now, no longer rushing to him, no longer seeking his approval. She didn't know if it was out of pride or self-preservation, but it was the only way she could keep herself from breaking completely.

Then Sophie came along.

It had started subtly at first. Sophie had always been around Lucas's bakery, but now she seemed to be around Elara too. Maybe it was because Elara wasn't hovering around Lucas like she used to, or maybe Sophie had always been watching from the sidelines, waiting for her moment to step in. Either way, Sophie was getting closer. Too close.

"Elara," Sophie's voice was gentle as they sat at a café together, something Elara hadn't anticipated, and it threw her off. "You know, I've always admired you. You're so strong, so independent. And you've always been there for Lucas."

Elara gave her a guarded look, stirring her coffee absentmindedly. "What do you mean?"

Sophie smiled softly, but there was a hint of something in her eyes that Elara couldn't quite place—something more than admiration. "I just mean... I see how much you care. You've helped him so much, been a rock for him, and honestly? That kind of loyalty is rare."

There was something in Sophie's tone that made Elara uncomfortable, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Was it jealousy? Was Sophie trying to get closer to her for Lucas's sake? Or was it something else entirely?

The conversation shifted, but Elara noticed how Sophie's gaze lingered on her longer than it should have. She felt the heat of Sophie's eyes on her, and it made her skin prickle. It wasn't the usual kind of attention she was used to, and that realization left her unsettled.

She didn't need this right now. She didn't need more complications, especially not from Sophie of all people.

But as Sophie leaned in, her hand briefly touching Elara's arm in a way that felt too intimate for comfort, Elara's mind raced. What was she doing? Why was Sophie getting so close? And why, despite everything, did it make her feel a strange sense of power over Lucas?

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**Lucas's Perspective**

Lucas had been watching from the sidelines, his usual stoic exterior hiding the chaos that was brewing inside. Elara had become distant—cold, even. It wasn't like her. And he couldn't stand it.

He tried to tell himself it didn't matter, that her obsession had been unhealthy, that he needed space. But the truth was, he missed her. The warmth she had brought to his life, the way she was always there for him, always caring, even if it was suffocating at times.

And now, Sophie was suddenly in the picture, but it wasn't her presence that unsettled him. It was how she was gravitating towards Elara.

At first, it had seemed innocent—Sophie being friendly, trying to bridge the gap between them. But the more he watched, the more it gnawed at him. He saw how Sophie's eyes followed Elara, how she leaned in just a little too closely when they spoke, how she seemed to be getting under Elara's skin.

What disturbed him most was that Elara didn't push Sophie away. She didn't shut her out like she had done to him. That hurt more than he expected.

He stood at the counter in his bakery, hands absently kneading dough as his mind wandered. His eyes flicked toward the table by the window where Sophie and Elara sat together. The sight of them laughing—of Elara actually smiling with someone else—made something dark stir in his chest.

Sophie's gaze lingered on Elara in a way that felt too familiar, too intimate. He didn't like it. He didn't like how close they were becoming. And that realization was unsettling. Wasn't this what he had wanted? For Elara to move on, to let him breathe?

But no. That wasn't what he wanted. Not like this.

His mind raced back to all the times Elara had been there for him. The late-night conversations, her unwavering support when his bakery was struggling, the way she knew what he needed before he even had to ask. She had always been there, a constant presence that he had taken for granted.

Had he been obsessed with her before? Was that why her distance now felt like a gaping hole in his life?

He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts. No. That wasn't it. He couldn't be the one obsessed. He was the rational one, the calm one. Elara had been the one who had spiraled out of control.

But even as he told himself that, a part of him couldn't deny the truth—he missed her. He missed the way she looked at him, like he was the center of her world. And seeing Sophie now, so close to Elara, made something snap inside him.

His hands froze over the dough as he watched Sophie's hand rest on Elara's arm, a gesture that was too familiar, too casual.

He didn't like it.

He didn't like it one bit.

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**Elara's Perspective**

Elara noticed Lucas's gaze on her from across the bakery, and for a moment, she felt a flicker of satisfaction. He was watching. He noticed. Even if she had become distant, even if he had pushed her away, there was still something that tethered him to her. She could see it in his eyes, the way they darkened when he saw her with Sophie.

But what did it matter? She couldn't let herself get sucked back into the whirlwind of emotions that Lucas stirred in her. Not now, not when she was still nursing the wounds from his rejection.

Sophie's hand lingered on her arm again, and Elara glanced down at it, her mind spinning. What was Sophie's game? And why did it feel like Lucas was the one who was being pulled into the mess, even if he didn't realize it yet?

She let Sophie's touch stay for a moment longer, just enough to keep Lucas's attention, before pulling her arm away gently.

Whatever this was, it was dangerous. But in some twisted way, it felt like she had control again.

And that was all she needed to survive.

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