Chapter 103. Distance

Third-Person POV

The days following the dinner at the Garcia mansion passed like a cold, relentless fog for Vanessa—draining her slowly, quietly, milking her of her once-happy memories.

Something inside her had shifted. Like a virus in her mind, doubt began to spread—infecting her thoughts, reshaping her emotions. The girl who used to believe and trust now questioned everything. She couldn’t tell if there was ever a time when happiness had truly existed in her life. Every time it seemed like she was getting what she wished for, things got more twisted. And now, she didn’t feel like holding onto hope at all. She carefully prepared her mind for whatever the outcome of her relationship would be.

But you could never be fully prepared.

She hadn’t spoken much to him since that night—not the way she used to. His messages came, his calls, his gestures, his advances—but she barely responded. And if she did, her replies were clipped, cautious. She stil