Chapter 3

      Tristan

Sofia’s lips curled into a smirk as her fingers slid over the back of my hand. “You shouldn’t get too cocky with me, you know.”

Agreeing to meet her here was a mistake. I could barely stand looking at her.

I leaned in slightly, voice low, filled with anger.

“Don’t warn me.” A pause. “If I were you, I’d be more worried about yourself.”

I pushed my chair closer.

Good.

That smug expression finally cracked the damn wits outta her.

“Unless you agree to go out with me, darling, I might try to stay away from seren-”

She didn't get to finish her sentence before my fist slammed down beside her.

The table rattled. She flinched.

“Cross the line,” I said quietly, each word deliberate, “and I’ll make sure your life turns into something you won’t survive smiling through.”

I straightened, gaze sharp.

“And don’t call me that hideous thing again.” My voice dropped further. “Unless you’re ready to lose the tongue that said it.”

I sat back down, slowly spinning the ring on my finger- an old habit. One I only slipped into when I was on the edge of losing control.

For a second, there was silence.

Then-

She laughed.

Laughed.

A soft, amused laugh, like I hadn't just thereatened her.

Of course she did. Makes sense she ended up in acting.

“Still the same when it comes to me, huh?” she said, tilting her head. “I wonder how it’d feel to be in Serena’s place.”

And just like that, she stood up and walked away.

I didn’t stop her.

Didn’t care to.

I meant every word.

If she crossed the line, I’d ruin her.

And Serena…

She hasn’t changed.

Except-

She’s not mine anymore. Maybe she never was. But God… I wish she had been. All those years waiting for a reply that never came.

Every birthday message.

Every “good morning.”

Every single one…

Ignored without a single reply.

Life doesn’t warn you when it’s about to rip something away.

One moment, you have someone you’d give everything for-

The next, they’re just… gone.

“I miss you.”

The last message I ever sent her.

The last time I let myself believe she’d come back.

She didn’t.

And now she’s here again-

And I hate how just the sight of her still owns me.

My thoughts. My chest. My entire damn life.

I don’t know what I did wrong. I don’t know why she left. I don’t know why she stopped caring.

But somehow-

I’m still falling for her.

Even now.

Even when she looks at me like I’m nothing.

Even wen she loathes me.

I forced the thoughts away and turned toward the exit.

The elevator doors were closing. I stepped forward, hand stopping them just in time-

And there she was.

Serena.

Everything in me stilled.

The version of me Sofia had just seen...gone.

“…Why are you here?” I asked, quieter than I meant to.

Maybe- just maybe -she’d give me something.

Anything.

“None of your business.”

Four words.

That was all it took.

I looked away, fixing my gaze on the metal doors instead of her face.

“I could report you for coming this late,” I said, my tone flattening. “Even if the guards let you in, you don’t have your ID yet.”

The old Serena would’ve laughed and replied:

Oh really? Try it. I’ll knock that smirk off your face first.

But this...

This version of her felt like a stranger.

“Go ahead,” she said coldly. “Sue me. I don’t care. Just stay out of my life.”

Stay out of my life.

The words didn’t hit...they cut.

Clean. Deep. Final.

If that’s what she wants…

I’ll give it to her.

Even if it kills me to never touch her again.

To never hear her voice.

To never see her smile-

If I’m the reason that smile disappears,

Then I’ll become the one who walks away.

Even if it means disappearing from her world completely.

She walked past me. I didn’t stop her. I couldn’t. By the time I reached my car, I told myself...

This is it. The last time I’d speak to her.

“It’s late,” I called out, opening the door. “Do you need a ride?”

I wouldn’t have asked if I hadn’t seen her shiver.

“No.” She didn’t even look back. “It won’t kill me to walk.”

And just like that, she left again.

There wouldn’t be any cabs this late.

I knew that.

Still, I didn’t follow.

Didn’t call her back.

I got into my car and drove off, but not before calling someone from the agency to send a cab her way.

Even now...

Even after everything...

I couldn’t hate her.

Not her.

Not the girl who once was my entire world.