Five Years of Fiction — Episode 1

During the day, I called Luca my brother. Until half a month ago, outside the Moretti Club, I overheard his conversation with his Luca, what are you going to do about the little girl Grace brought in? Weren't you supposed to play with her and dump her?

How has this gone on for five years? You got with her to get back at your stepmother, right? Grace ditched you back then and ended up becoming your stepmom instead. Don't tell me you're not looking to settle that score now, huh?

Then Luca's cold, cruel voice slipped through the crack in the door. Love her? Come on. I just haven't decided how to end it yet. Maybe I'll let her stand alone in the church on our engagement day. That could be I stood outside the door, my hands and feet turning ice cold.

So my five years of love were just his pastime. A knife meant to cut my mother. I ran from the club in a panic, drove straight into the storm, and died in a pileup on Chicago's South Side.

No. Don't. What's wrong, sweetheart? He pulled back, looking genuinely hurt. I didn't answer.

I grabbed my phone off the desk and stared at the screen. 2026, the year before anyone knew about me and Luca, before everything fell apart. It's nothing. I just remembered something urgent.

Then I turned and walked away without looking back.