By the time she finally looked at her phone, half an hour had already passed. Aurora blinked in surprise at the two unread messages sitting quietly on her screen.

“When are you coming back?”

“I made your favorite mille-feuille pancake. Don’t be mad—come home and try it?”

The messages were sent twenty-something minutes apart, but the last one had come through thirty minutes ago. Staring at them, Aurora couldn’t quite name the emotion that hit her—just that something deep inside her felt unexpectedly shaken.

She had assumed Lucas would stay cold and distant, that this silent war between them would drag on until he finally gave up and went back to the woman he once loved. In truth, she’d been avoiding him these past few days.

Avoiding the confrontation and reality. She didn’t want to know what Lucas was thinking or doing. Part of her had even been bracing herself for divorce papers to arrive.

But now, seeing these messages, it dawned on her—was he not angry? Had he actually set his pride aside to reach out to her?

Aurora pressed her lips together. Her first instinct was to reject him. But as she began to type in the chat box, her fingers froze. She typed, deleted, typed again, then erased everything. After a few attempts, she didn’t know what to say anymore.

Still, Lucas noticed the little “typing…” indicator beneath her name, and his eyes lit up instantly.

But after waiting a moment, no message came through.

That made him pause. The fact that she was typing meant she’d seen the texts—so why the silence?

He had already waited long enough. Feeling restless now, he stepped out onto the balcony and dialed her number.

Aurora, still wrestling with her thoughts, nearly jumped when her phone lit up with his call.

She hesitated for a moment, eyes fixed on the flashing caller ID, but in the end, she picked up.

Neither of them spoke at first. The line was quiet, and the silence stretched, until Lucas Carter broke it.

“You saw my messages, didn’t you?”

Aurora responded with a slightly embarrassed hum. “Sorry, I was busy earlier. I just saw them.”

“It’s okay.” Lucas, for some reason, suddenly felt nervous. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “So… are you coming home tonight?”

Aurora didn’t know how to answer. She’d been torn. That was why she’d kept typing and deleting her reply—she didn’t know what to say if she did go back.

But hiding forever wasn’t a solution either.

“I’ll come home.”

After thinking it through, Aurora realized this was the best answer she could give.

Hearing her reply, a spark of joy lit up in Lucas’s eyes. “Okay. I’ll come pick you up.”

“No need. I drove today. I’ll be home soon.”

“Then I’ll have dinner ready for you.”

Even after the call ended, the smile tugging at Lucas’ lips didn’t fade. He had been searching for a way to fix things with Aurora. Lately, his mind had been a chaotic mess, tangled in thoughts he couldn’t sort out. In the end, cooking was the only thing he could think of to express how he felt.

He sighed inwardly. Maybe he was already a lost cause. But if he was going to fall, falling for Aurora didn’t feel so bad.

When he walked back in from the balcony, he caught Wendy watching him, eyes filled with curiosity. She had clearly noticed the faint, lingering smile on his lips.