{"id":23891,"date":"2026-01-28T07:17:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/the-paper-trail-of-our-failures-novel-chapter-2\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T07:20:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:20:06","slug":"the-paper-trail-of-our-failures-novel-chapter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/the-paper-trail-of-our-failures-novel-chapter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Paper Trail of Our Failures Novel Chapter 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chapter 2<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Not surprisingly, after Carolina returned, Orlando didn\u2019t reach out to me once.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the past, after each divorce, I\u2019d have been tracking his every move\u2014staking out his usual spots, acting as if I were possessed. But not this time. Instead, I was living it up with my best friend, Kristen Murray\u2014days filled with pizza and craft beer, nights with burgers and wings.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Soon, there were only twenty days left before I\u2019d leave the country.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One afternoon, while waiting for our food at a restaurant with Kristen, I spotted Orlando and Carolina.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He had his arm wrapped around her waist as they walked in, chatting and smiling, looking like they were made for each other.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cGretchen?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Orlando\u2019s eyes locked on me immediately.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Carolina looped her arms around his neck and flashed a sweet smile.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cHey, Gretch. What a coincidence.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Noticing my gaze on her, Orlando instinctively stepped in front of her, shielding her.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I knew what he was thinking\u2014he was afraid I\u2019d lose it and hit her, as I had before.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But I didn\u2019t lose my cool. I even held Kristen back when she furiously moved to stand up for me.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I just smiled faintly.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cYeah. What a surprise.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Sensing my concession, Carolina smiled even more brazenly.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Gretch. Orly said he\u2019d booked the entire restaurant so we could have the place to ourselves. You might have to eat somewhere else.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She shook Orlando\u2019s arm, saying coquettishly, \u201cIsn\u2019t that right, Orly? Say something, or Gretch might think I\u2019m targeting her.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Meeting my indifferent gaze, Orlando hesitated for a moment. But in the end, he gave a short nod.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He didn\u2019t say a word, but his silence spoke louder than anything.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Furious, Kristen rolled up her sleeves, but I gently pressed her arm.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fine. We can go somewhere else.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019d go somewhere without Orlando.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
With my move abroad just around the corner, I didn\u2019t want to waste another second arguing with my ex.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After all, like they said\u2014an ex should be dead to you.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The restaurant manager, sensing the situation, stepped forward to flatter Orlando and Carolina. \u201cYou two look so deeply in love. It\u2019s truly admirable.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hearing that, Orlando turned to look at me, his expression complicated\u2014as if he was wary of what I might say, or maybe curious.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
To his surprise, I just took Kristen\u2019s hand, stood up, and walked out without a word\u2014as if I hadn\u2019t heard any of it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He couldn\u2019t help but stare at my retreating figure, lost in thought.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It wasn\u2019t until Carolina called his name several times\u2014her tone growing impatient\u2014that he finally, reluctantly, looked away.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 2 Not surprisingly, after Carolina returned, Orlando didn\u2019t reach out to me once. In the past, after each divorce, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-paper-trail-of-our-failures-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23900,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23891\/revisions\/23900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}