"Zinnia, are you okay?" Lily asked softly, her hand resting gently on Zinnia's shoulder.
Zinnia didn't answer at first. Her gaze remained fixed on the fading bus, her chest tight, as though the world had suddenly shifted under her feet. She had just seen James—she was sure of it. Yet the man who had stood before her wasn't him. He'd denied it, after all.
"I…" Zinnia's voice was a whisper, barely audible over the quiet sound of the waves crashing in the distance. "I don't know. I don't know anymore."
Lily squeezed her shoulder, offering silent support as Zinnia stood there, lost in the haze of emotions swirling inside her. The man she had loved, the one who had disappeared, had just walked by her like a stranger. And yet, something in her heart told her that this wasn't the end of the story.
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