After Linda walked away from the proposal, the dinner continued, but nothing felt the same.

Conversations turned shallow. The laughter was hollow. Even the string quartet played like they were counting the minutes. Eventually, people began to retreat one by one, whispering farewells, clutching half-finished glasses of champagne as if the evening hadn’t cracked in half.

Liam disappeared before most of them.

I didn’t even see when he left, but his absence settled over the terrace like fog. ...