The next morning, Livia woke up five minutes before her alarm.

That almost never happened.

She stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to remember why she had woken up.

Then her phone lit up.

Ethan: Good morning. Important question.

Livia smiled before she even opened the message.

Livia: What?

Three dots appeared.

Ethan: Coffee or hot chocolate?

Livia laughed.

She typed:

Livia: Coffee.

His reply came instantly.

Ethan: Correct answer.

She shook her head.

Livia: What was the wrong answer?

Ethan: Hot chocolate.

Livia: Then why did you ask?

Ethan: I wanted to know if we could still be friends.

Livia smiled.

Livia: We can.

Ethan: Excellent. Coffee at 10?

She stared at the message.

Her heart beat a little faster.

Livia: Okay.

She didn’t know why a simple coffee suddenly felt like the beginning of something important.

Maybe because it was.

---

At ten minutes past ten, Livia walked into The Blue Sparrow.

Ethan was already there.

He was sitting beside the window with his camera on the table.

When he saw her, his face immediately brightened.

“You came.”

“You invited me.”

“I know. I’m still impressed.”

She sat opposite him.

“You’re strange.”

“I’ve been told.”

A waiter brought her coffee.

Ethan watched her take the first sip.

“Perfect?”

“Perfect.”

“Good.”

“You’re very interested in my coffee.”

“I like knowing what makes people happy.”

Livia looked at him.

“That sounds dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Because you might start remembering everything.”

Ethan smiled.

“Maybe I already am.”

She looked away.

There was something about him.

He never said anything directly romantic.

Yet somehow, every sentence felt like it carried a hidden meaning.

For the next hour, they talked about ordinary things.

Ethan showed her photographs from his camera.

A rainy street.

An old bookstore.

A little girl chasing bubbles.

A couple dancing beneath a streetlight.

A lonely bench beside a lake.

Then he showed her a photograph of the moon.

Livia stared.

“That’s beautiful.”

“I took it last night.”

“Last night?”

“After I left you.”

She looked at him.

“You photographed the moon?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Ethan shrugged.

“It looked different.”

“How?”

He smiled.

“Like it knew someone.”

Livia laughed.

“You’re impossible.”

“Probably.”

He swiped to another photograph.

This one was blurry.

“What happened here?”

“I was running.”

“Why?”

“I saw something.”

“What?”

“A woman standing beneath a red umbrella.”

“And?”

“She disappeared.”

Livia raised an eyebrow.

“Disappeared?”

“Walked around a corner.”

“That isn’t disappearing.”

“It was dramatic at the time.”

She laughed.

Ethan laughed too.

For a while, everything felt easy.

Then his expression changed.

He locked his phone.

Livia noticed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

He smiled.

“You notice too much.”

“Maybe.”

He looked outside.

“My father died when I was seventeen.”

Livia became quiet.

“I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t.”

He smiled faintly.

“I don’t tell people.”

“Why are you telling me?”

He looked at her.

“I don’t know.”

That answer somehow felt more honest than anything else.

Livia reached across the table and touched his hand.

Only for a second.

But Ethan looked down at their hands.

Then at her.

“Thank you.”

She smiled.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“I think I do.”

They stayed quiet for a while.

Sometimes silence between two people wasn’t uncomfortable.

Sometimes it was the most comfortable thing in the world.

---

That afternoon, the rain returned.

Ethan insisted on walking Livia home.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.”

“You’ll get wet.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you coming?”

He opened his umbrella.

“Because I want to.”

They walked side by side beneath the small umbrella.

Their shoulders touched occasionally.

Neither moved away.

At the corner of Livia’s street, she stopped.

“Ethan.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re standing on my side of the umbrella.”

He looked up.

“You’re right.”

“You’re getting soaked.”

“I noticed.”

She smiled.

“You could move.”

“I could.”

He didn’t.

Neither did she.

For a moment, they simply stood there.

Rain falling around them.

Streetlights glowing.

The city becoming quiet.

Ethan looked at her.

“I like this.”

“What?”

“This.”

He gestured toward the rain.

“Walking with you.”

Livia’s cheeks warmed.

“I like it too.”

His smile was gentle.

“Good.”

Then he noticed something behind her.

“What is that?”

Livia turned.

An old blue envelope was lying beside her front door.

Her name was written on it.

LIVIA HART

She picked it up.

“I don’t know.”

Ethan’s expression changed.

“Don’t open it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

She looked at him.

“You look worried.”

“I am.”

Livia opened the envelope.

Inside was a photograph.

Her heart stopped.

It was a picture of her.

Taken that morning.

She was sitting inside The Blue Sparrow.

Across from Ethan.

But there was something strange.

The photograph had been taken from outside the café.

And written on the back were six words:

HE IS NOT WHO YOU THINK.

Livia looked at Ethan.

He stared at the photograph.

His face had gone completely pale.

“Where did you get that?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then who sent it?”

“I don’t know.”

Ethan took the photograph from her.

He studied it.

Then turned it over.

His expression became even more serious.

“You need to stay away from me.”

Livia stared at him.

“What?”

“I mean it.”

“Why?”

He stepped backward.

“Because someone has been watching me.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why should I leave you?”

“Because they might be watching you now.”

Livia felt a chill.

She looked around the empty street.

Nobody was there.

“Ethan…”

He shook his head.

“I should go.”

“Wait.”

But he was already walking away.

“Ethan!”

He stopped.

For a second, Livia thought he would turn around.

Instead, he said quietly:

“I’ll explain everything.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow.”

Then he disappeared into the rain.

Livia stood outside her house, holding the photograph.

She looked at it again.

Her eyes moved to the background.

Behind the café window, barely visible in the reflection, was a person.

A woman.

Watching them.

Livia zoomed in on the photograph.

The woman had long dark hair.

A pale face.

And a small silver necklace.

Livia’s breath caught.

She knew that necklace.

She had seen it before.

In an old photograph.

It belonged to Ethan’s mother.

But Ethan had told her his mother had left the family when he was young.

Livia stared at the picture.

Then her phone vibrated.

An unknown number.

One message.

Don’t trust Ethan.

A second message appeared.

Ask him about the night his father died.

Livia’s heart began racing.

She looked toward the road where Ethan had disappeared.

For the first time since meeting him, she felt afraid.

Not because she believed he was dangerous.

But because she suddenly realized something.

Ethan hadn’t accidentally met her at the station.

Someone had wanted them to meet.

And whoever that person was…

They were still watching.

Livia looked up at the darkening sky.

The moon was hidden behind the clouds.

Her phone vibrated one more time.

Unknown Number:
Tomorrow, he will tell you a lie.

Livia stared at the screen.

Then another message appeared.

Unknown Number:
And you will fall in love with him anyway.