𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑲 𝑶𝑭 𝑨 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄. Each second seemed to stretch, hanging in the air like an unspoken thought, a tension that I couldn't escape. The soft hum of muffled traffic outside—the distant whoosh of passing cars—began to blur, drowning out the present, pulling me further into a daze.
It was like I was trapped in the space between moments, neither fully here nor anywhere else. The world continued to move around me, but it felt as if I were watching from a distance, detached, untethered. A sense of looming dread settled in my chest, a cold weight that seemed to press against my ribs, making it hard to breathe. My mind wandered, thoughts flickering like shadows, disconnected and fragmented.
The back seat felt suffocating, the leather beneath me too warm, too close. My body was still, but my mind... my mind raced with half-formed questions, unanswered fears. Everything around me seemed to blur, until all that remained was the soft ticking, the distant hum, and the overwhelming sensation that something was wrong. Something was coming.
"Mr. Rossi?"
Armando's voice cut through the haze of my thoughts, pulling me back to the present. I flinched slightly at the name, my fingers instinctively tightening around the wedding band now resting on my hand. For a moment, I didn't register that he was speaking to me.
"Rowan?" He turned slightly in his seat, his dark eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. "Sir? We've arrived."
I blinked; my mind sluggish as I processed his words. Mr. Rossi. My name now. The weight of it settled over me like an invisible cloak—heavy, unfamiliar, yet undeniably real. I had done it. I had married him. And with that, my entire world had shifted.
I glanced outside. The city flickered against the sleek black glass of the car, distorted by the light drizzle that had begun to fall. We were parked in front of a building—one I should have recognized, but in the moment, everything felt strangely surreal.
Armando was still watching me, waiting patiently.
"Right, you were talking to me..." I mumbled, my voice softer than intended, as if I was still testing the words on my tongue.
