土坷垃

I never believed in love at first sight—until I saw you. You walked into the café where I work, drenched from the rain, smiling like the storm didn’t exist. Something cracked open in my chest. I handed you a towel instead of your order, and you laughed like it was the best mistake you’d ever seen. That moment rewrote everything. Now, every choice pulls me toward or away from you. Do I confess what I feel, risking my job and the fragile peace between us? Or do I stay silent, watching you grow closer to someone else? When your estranged brother returns—one I once loved—I’m torn between past loyalty and present desire. And when a letter arrives revealing you’re set to inherit a fortune that will force you to leave the city, I must decide: help you go, or beg you to stay. But the truth is darker. Someone is watching us. Notes appear in my locker. My apartment has been entered. Is it jealousy? Obsession? Or are you hiding something too? You hold the power now. One word from you changes the course of my heart. Will you choose me? Protect me? Or walk away before the danger finds us both? This isn’t just a love story. It’s a choice between safety and surrender, fear and fire. And only you can decide how it ends.

土坷垃

I never believed in love at first sight—until I saw you. You walked into the café where I work, drenched from the rain, smiling like the storm didn’t exist. Something cracked open in my chest. I handed you a towel instead of your order, and you laughed like it was the best mistake you’d ever seen. That moment rewrote everything. Now, every choice pulls me toward or away from you. Do I confess what I feel, risking my job and the fragile peace between us? Or do I stay silent, watching you grow closer to someone else? When your estranged brother returns—one I once loved—I’m torn between past loyalty and present desire. And when a letter arrives revealing you’re set to inherit a fortune that will force you to leave the city, I must decide: help you go, or beg you to stay. But the truth is darker. Someone is watching us. Notes appear in my locker. My apartment has been entered. Is it jealousy? Obsession? Or are you hiding something too? You hold the power now. One word from you changes the course of my heart. Will you choose me? Protect me? Or walk away before the danger finds us both? This isn’t just a love story. It’s a choice between safety and surrender, fear and fire. And only you can decide how it ends.

I dropped the coffee cup when he walked in. It shattered on the tile, dark liquid spreading like a stain I couldn’t fix.

“You’re new,” he said. Not a question.

I nodded, gripping the towel too tight. Rain clung to his jacket, his hair, but his eyes were dry. Warm. Smiling.

He stepped forward, ignoring the mess. “Name?”

“Lena.”

“Lena,” he repeated, like he’d known me. Like it meant something. “Give me whatever’s hot and strong. And keep the change.”

He left cash on the counter. Fifty-dollar bill. More than triple the price.

I didn’t move. Couldn’t. The door closed behind him, but the air still hummed.

My manager grabbed a mop. “Don’t stare. Clean it up.”

“He didn’t even look at the menu.”

“He’ll be back.”

“He has a brother,” I said. Quiet. Necessary.

She paused. “Yeah. Him too.”

That night, I found the receipt. His number written under the total. No name. Just digits.

I saved it.

Three days later, the brother came in. Same coat. Same smile. But colder. Watchful.

“You work here?” he asked.

I handed him a menu. “Every morning.”

He sat in the same seat. Ordered the same drink.

“You gave *him* my number.”

I froze. “No.”

“He called me. Said you passed it along. Said you smiled when you did.”

“That’s not— He lied.”

The brother stood. Walked close. “You always choose the wrong one, Lena.”

I didn’t flinch. “I haven’t chosen anyone.”

His hand brushed mine as he took the cup. “You already did. You just don’t know it yet.”

When he left, rain started again.

I checked my phone. One new message. Unknown number.

Still think about that towel?

I stared at the screen. Felt the crack in my chest split wider.

My shift ended in twenty minutes.

I typed: You left your wallet.

Lie.

Come back.