Chapter Five: The Marked Page

Noelia was flipping through books at random in a small bookstore tucked away in the alleys of Rome. She had just come out of a therapy session that left her heart all tangled up. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, just wanting to distract herself, as if the words could save her from herself for a little while.

Among the new novels and forgotten tomes, she found one with a soft cover in light tones, with a title that made her stop:

Live for Me

She took it off the shelf, opened it at random, and found a page marked with a dried flower. The gesture was so delicate it almost made her cry. At the top of the page, someone had underlined a phrase:

"If you still don't know how to go on, perhaps these pages can give you a little bit of light."

Noelia sat down on the bench by the window, right where a ray of sunlight was coming in, and began to read. She turned the first few pages without realizing the time passing. She felt Olivia's voice slip into her mind, as though she were speaking directly to her. It wasn't just a book. It was a mirror.

She felt the wound open. But not to hurt, to heal. Olivia's story, her letters to Tom, her pain turned into art... Everything blended with Noelia's own loss. Noelia had also lost someone. Not in the same way, but with the same emptiness.

She closed the book for a few minutes, held it against her chest, and whispered:

"Thank you, Olivia. Even though I don't know you, thank you for staying when you thought you couldn't anymore. Thank you for telling your story."

And in that moment, as if part of a plan that went beyond her, Noelia knew she had to write to her. She searched the last page, where authors sometimes left an address, an email, something. And there it was. Not an exact address, but a way to send a message to the publisher.

"To Olivia, author of Live for Me. From someone who decided to keep breathing because of you."

Olivia's story was starting to travel. And perhaps, somewhere in the world, another person would also find that book... and with it, a new reason to stay just one more day.