Chapter: Something of You Remained

Olivia woke slowly, as if her body knew not to break the moment with haste. The soft morning light filtered through the curtains, and for a second, she didn't feel sadness. Only peace.

She sat up gently, still holding the notebook in her arms, and as she did, she noticed something strange.

On the nightstand, where she usually only left her tea cup, there was a flower.

A gardenia.

Her favorite flower. The same one Tom had given her on their first anniversary, saying its scent reminded him of her: sweet, strong, impossible to forget.

She picked it up with trembling hands. It was fresh. She couldn't explain it. She had no gardenias at home. No one had come in. And yet... there it was.

Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't cry from pain. She cried from gratitude.

"Where there is true love, there is never goodbye."

She remembered those words from the dream and pressed the flower to her chest.

Tom still found ways to show up. Not with noise. Not with explanations.

Only with those details that seemed insignificant... until they shook your soul.

That morning, Olivia didn't write in the notebook. Instead, she placed the gardenia inside, between two pages: the dream and the anniversary letter.

And she knew that every time she returned to read it, he would be there too.