Chapter 16. A New Plan

Ally's POV

His eyes hold a depth I've never noticed before. A shiver runs down my spine, not from fear, but from an unsettling realization clawing its way to the surface.

"Elliot," I whisper, the name feeling foreign yet achingly familiar. "What's going on? All this time... the small tokens left at my door, the notes of encouragement when I felt lost and alone... Was it all you?"

He leans against the cold wall, an unreadable expression etched into his rugged features. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unspoken words. My heart beats hard, so hard I fear it can be heard in the room.

"Tell me," I insist, my voice a whisper, but heavy with the weight of my suspicions.

A slow, almost unnoticeable nod confirms my fears. A storm brews within me- relief, confusion, disbelief. How could I have been so blind? The kind gestures I attributed to anonymous well-wishers, moments of solace in my otherwise bleak ex