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  Part- 313:

  With a newfound resolve, she squared her shoulders and strode toward their table, each step heavy with purpose. The sound of their ughter, once a balm to her soul, now felt like a taunt, eg in her ears. As she drew closer, the atmosphere thied with tension, the weight of her emotions swirling around her like a tempest. She was determio front the reality of her feelings, to recim her sense of agency, even as uainty loomed rge in her mind.

  James looked up, surprise flickering across his face as Toya approached, her footsteps eg in the coffee shop’s bustling atmosphere. “What are you doing here?” he asked, fusion g his voice as he gnced from Toya to Mili, his brow furrowing in disbelief. The air around them seemed to thi, charged with unspoken tension, as if the universe had paused, holding its breath.

  Toya crossed her arms, a defensive posture that mirrored the turming within her. Her tone came out sharper thaended, cutting through the cozy ambiance like a khat’s my question.” The words tumbled out, raw and unfiltered, revealing the tempest of emotions swirling in her chest.

  Mili, ever pyful, leaned ba her chair, a teasing glint in her eyes. “What’s the big deal? He doesn’t need your permission to be here,” she chimed in, her voice dripping with mischief as she arched an eyebrow. It was as if she thrived on the chaos unfolding before her, feeding off the drama that electrified the room.

  Toya shot Mili a gre, her frustration bubbling over like a volo ready to erupt. “Of course he should! We’re in a retionship,” she snapped, her heart rag wildly against her ribcage, each beat eg the doubts that swirled in her mind. The decration hung in the air, heavy and fraught with implications, sending ripples of shock through the small gathering.

  The table fell into stunned silehe ughter and chatter around them fading into a muted baili’s eyes widened in surprise, her pyful demeanor faltering as the weight of Toya's words settled like a leaden cloak over the atmosphere. James, too, appeared equally taken aback, his expression shifting from fusion to disbelief as he grappled with the reality of what Toya had just said. It was ohing for Toya to uand the facade of their retionship; it was another for her to shatter the delicate gss of their arra so boldly.

  Mili gnced between them, her mind rag to prehend the implications of Toya’s procmation. Unsure whether to ugh or defuse the brewing storm, she took a moment to gather her thoughts. “You know that’s—” she began, but her words trailed off, swallowed by the tension that crackled betweehree of them.