#Chapter 99: The Stares

Amelia The day started as a promise. A soft one, made in the quiet between sips of coffee and glances that lingered too long. Richard had reached across the breakfast table, brushing his fingers against mine with a warmth that settled something deep in my chest. “Let’s go for a walk,” he said, already reaching for his jacket. “Someplace with good coffee. Maybe a bookstore. You deserve a day that feels like yours.” I raised an eyebrow, lips curling. “A bookstore? That sounds suspiciously like a date.” His mouth twitched into a grin. “Maybe it is.” The suggestion wasn’t grand. It wasn’t a spectacle. It was the kind of simple, ordinary offer that had become a rare luxury in our lives. Just a day to breathe. A moment of softness in a world that had grown louder with every headline. And I had wanted that. God, I had wanted that so badly it ached. I wanted to pretend for a little while that we were just a couple, that our lives weren’t the stuff of political scandal and whispered