I'll be posting chapter 20 of Variation on a Theme, Book 3 tomorrow. You can think of this as a belated anniversary celebration, or as something of an apology for how long the primary story arc has run right now.
When I wrote the story you're reading (or, based on some feedback, suffering through) right now, I was still imagining 4x/week publishing. Even then, it's probably at least a couple of chapters too long. There are some good reasons for that - would it really feel consequential if everything had been hashed out in just a short time? - but it's almost certainly tipped over into 'too long'.
Chapter 20 pretty much settles (without wrapping everything up in a pretty box and putting a bow on things - that's chapter 21) where things are heading in terms of 'relationship drama', and also kicks a few more things into motion. For everyone who's been saying 'wrap it up, already!' this is (mostly) that.
Thank you for your patience. I hope you find you like where things are heading and perhaps understand why it mattered that it took a while to get there. There's a lot of interesting ground to cover in the rest of Book 3 (and beyond!), and - as always - thank you, readers, for going on this journey with me.