Page 167 of Rose
Sarai groaned, already turning. “Duty calls. I’ll be back to boost your ego again in ten.”
Taylor kissed Ahzii’s cheek. “I’m gonna double check the layout with the movers. You got this, Zii. People been waiting for your story.”
As they walked away, Ahzii brought the bouquet to her nose, inhaling the fresh scent of roses.
Then she saw the card. Tucked between the stems, a small folded note.
She pulled it free and opened it.
Her heart stopped.
“Your art show is where our love started. Continue to let Beauty shine, Beautiful.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She stared at the words, her fingers trembling.
That wasn’t from Savior.
That phrase… Onlyoneman ever said that to her. Onlyoneman ever called her that like it was gospel.
William.
The night they met. The night she unknowingly fell in love with a ghost.
And now… He was haunting her again.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she stared at the note, her breath locked in her throat. This wasn’t a hallucination. This wasn’t some trauma-fueled dream.
This wasreal.
She hadn’t seen William’s face in her mind in weeks. Hadn’t heard his voice whispering through the cracks of her grief. She thought she was finally free of the ghost that clung to her memory like smoke. But this wasn’t a trick of the mind.
This was a note. In his words. Inhishandwriting.
“No. He’s dead. It can’t be him.” She whispered the lie to herself, trying to will it true.
But then—
“Can’t be who?”
Savior’s voice behind her made her flinch so hard the note nearly slipped from her fingers. She shoved it deep into her back pocket as she turned around, her heart pounding in her ears.
“Hey, baby,” she said quickly, forcing a smile, willing her voice to even out.
Savior stood there with a bouquet of fresh roses and takeout bags in the one hand, and something hidden behind his back. But his smile faded the moment he really looked at her.
“You good? Who were you talking about?” he asked, eyes shifting toward the roses already on the table. His jaw tightened.
Ahzii rushed to recover. “Oh, no one. Just thinking aloud.”
He didn’t buy it, not at first. His eyes lingered on her like he was reading between her lies. She hated lying to him, but what could she say?Hey, love, the man I buried sent me roses and a ghostwritten memory?He’d think she was losing her mind.
“Who sent those?” he asked, nodding at the roses like they personally offended him.
She laughed lightly to mask the truth. “They didn’t leave a name. Probably Kyre—she mentioned she was sending flowers for the show.”
Savior’s jaw flexed once more before finally relaxing, the tension leaving his shoulders as he nodded.
“Yeah… okay,” he muttered. “Still. Somebody clearly wants to die.”
