The day the calendar turned to Friday, Jade felt it.
That subtle shift in the air - not quite dread, not quite hope. Something between static and gravity. The sensation of a clock ticking, even when the room was silent.
She had never believed in omens. But today, even the wind outside her window felt like it was whispering his name.
Dr. Chase Miller.
And he would be in her building in three hours.
Flashback - Two Years Ago
Aegean Sea, Greece
It was the summer before everything fell apart.
Lance had taken her to a remote island - not Mykonos, not Santorini - but a quiet, untouched place with white cliffs and narrow stone steps. The water was almost too blue to be real.
They had just made love in a weathered villa, bodies still wrapped in linen sheets that smelled like salt and orange blossoms.
Lance: [tracing the line of her shoulder] "You believe in fate?"
Jade: [eyes half-closed] "Sometimes."
Lance: "You ever heard of the red string?"
Jade: "Yung Chinese legend?"
Lance: "Mm. The invisible thread tied to the pinky. It can tangle. Stretch. But it never breaks."
Jade: [teasing] "Cheesy. Sounds like a marketing campaign for a jewelry brand."
Lance: "No. It's ancient. Romantic. You know what I think?"
Jade: "Hmm?"
Lance: "Ours is real."
He kissed her pinky finger.
She laughed, but later that night, she tied a red thread around it - just for fun. Or so she told herself.
She never took it off.
Present - Vera Holdings HQ
9:22 AM
Jade stood in front of the 21st floor's tinted-glass conference room, watching her reflection.
Lipstick perfect. Hair in a sleek bun. She wore white today - sharp, almost clinical - offset only by a rose gold watch and the bracelets she never removed.
Inside the conference room, her assistant Elle arranged folders, water, and nameplates. The other executives filtered in, unaware of the storm Jade was holding inside.
She checked her phone.
Nothing.
Then, a soft chime from the elevator.
She didn't turn right away. But she felt the air change.
The way some people say they feel lightning before it strikes.
Elle (softly): "Dr. Miller has arrived."
Jade turned.
And there he was.
Present - 9:26 AM
Dr. Chase Miller.
Tall. Composed. Wearing a charcoal-gray shirt with rolled sleeves, no tie. His medical ID badge hung from a lanyard. There was something strange about him - not his face, which was classically handsome in an effortless way, but the way he carried himself.
YOU ARE READING
The One I Cannot Touch
Romance"How do you love someone who carries the heart of the man you already lost?" Jade Celestine Vera is rich, guarded, and grieving - still haunted by the death of her fiancé five years ago. Dr. Chase Alexander Miller is Manila's top trauma surgeon, sav...
