-Chapter 160-

                                    

                                          

 Luvena's POV
Editing videos had become a rhythm for me, a way to channel the noise in my mind into something productive, something that could reach other people. But tonight, it felt different—harder. My focus kept slipping, and every few minutes, I'd catch myself staring blankly at the screen, my thoughts drifting somewhere far darker.
It had been a month since Claire and I started hanging out regularly. She'd brought an unexpected brightness into my life, something that felt so simple yet so precious. But even with her presence, the weight of the past hadn't lifted. The lingering memories of Oliver, of what he'd done, still haunted me in ways that felt impossible to shake.
I'd filmed a lot with Claire lately, capturing our little adventures around the city, our inside jokes, our shared looks over coffee. Watching the footage now, though, I felt like an outsider looking in—like this happiness I saw on the screen belonged to someone else, someone who wasn't me. 
I hit pause, leaning back and rubbing my temples. The screen froze on a moment where Claire was laughing, her head thrown back, pure joy lighting up her face. I couldn't help but smile a little. She had that effect on people, a magnetic pull that made you want to be around her, to feel a part of her world.
Maybe that's why I'd started to notice feelings for her that went beyond friendship. It scared me a little, the idea of letting someone that close again, but Claire was... different. She didn't push me, didn't demand explanations or try to solve me. She was just there, steady and warm, like a quiet force in the background of my life. 
I snapped back to the moment, realizing I'd been sitting there for nearly ten minutes, just lost in thought. I couldn't afford to waste time. The video needed to be edited, and I had to get it out by tomorrow. So, I forced myself to refocus, scrubbing through the timeline, making cuts, adjusting the audio, adding subtle transitions.
The editing process always had this way of pulling me in, drawing me so deeply into each detail that hours would pass without me noticing. It was like a trance, where everything else—my doubts, my fears, the gnawing anxiety—faded into the background.
But when I finally finished, it was nearly 3 a.m., and exhaustion was beginning to settle in. I uploaded the video to my channel, setting it to publish later that day. Then, with a heavy sigh, I closed my laptop and sank into bed, hoping that sleep would come easily.
But lying in the dark, my mind started spinning again. I kept thinking about Oliver, about how I couldn't seem to shake him even after all this time. There were days I felt like I'd finally broken free, like I could breathe again without that constant shadow following me. But then something—a small reminder, a passing memory—would pull me right back, and I'd feel trapped all over again.
As I drifted between sleep and wakefulness, a sudden thought struck me. What if he was still watching me? Still lurking somewhere in the shadows of my life, waiting for a moment to reappear? It was irrational, but the fear was there, clawing at the edges of my mind.
I shook my head, forcing myself to push it away. Claire had reminded me time and time again that I was stronger than I realized, that I didn't have to let the past control me. And yet, I couldn't help but wonder—would it ever truly let me go?
With that uneasy question lingering, I finally drifted off into a restless sleep, the weight of the day pressing down on me even as I tried to escape it.



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618 words