Chapter 41 Leaving Everything Behind

Chapter 41 Leaving Everything Behind
Jasmine:

His room was way too quiet, but not in a peaceful way. It was the kind of quiet that felt heavy and suffocating, like it was just waiting for something to snap.

I sat on the edge of a chair in Dante’s apartment, with his phone cold in my hands. The screen glowed against my face, the only light in the dim room. My fingers lingered above it for a moment, completely still. This was it. There was no going back after this. 

My chest tightened as I finally started typing.

“Tasha,”

I stared at the words for a second before continuing.

“By the time you read this, I’ll be long gone. Please don’t try to find me. I’m okay, I promise, but I need to leave. There are things I should have told you, things I wish I could explain, but I can’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

My vision blurred slightly, but I blinked it away and kept going.

“Tell Kelvin I’m sorry for disappearing on him. Tell him I didn’t mean to just vanish like this. And David… tell him thank you. For everything. For believing in me, for pushing me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.”

My fingers paused again.

David. The thought of his name made a small ache form in my chest. Things had been messy with him, complicated, but he didn’t deserve how I treated him. None of them did. And yet, that was exactly what I was giving them.

“You were the best friend I could have ever asked for. I mean that. Take care of yourself, okay? And don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

That was a lie. But a necessary one.

“Goodbye, Tasha.”

I stared at the message for a long time. My thumb hovered over the send button, trembling slightly. 

Once I pressed it… that was it. No more New York, no more life I had built. No more… Nikolai.

My throat tightened.

I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief second and then pressed send. The message disappeared into the void. Gone, just like I was about to be.

A shaky breath left my lips as I lowered the phone slowly. For a moment, I just sat there, staring at nothing. Then, I stood up and smashed the phone against the floor, without hesitation. The sound echoed sharply through the apartment as it shattered into pieces. Dante then glanced over from where he stood near the desk, unfazed.

He was already prepared, bag slung over his shoulder, expression set, and focused.

“Done?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. I simply reached for the keys on the desk and tossed them to him, and he caught them easily.

“Let’s go.”

Through the hallway, we moved quickly, neither of us speaking as we stepped out into the night. The city was quieter now. 

New York. I glanced around as we walked toward the car. This city had given me everything. Freedom, a new name, a new life, a chance to be someone else, someone better.

And now… I was leaving it all behind. Just like that.

Dante unlocked the car, and we both got in. He started the car, the engine roaring to life. And just like that, we were heading to the airport.

I leaned on the window watching the streets blurred past outside. 

“New York really was the city for you, wasn’t it?” Dante managed to ask.

I leaned my head against the seat, still staring outside. I didn’t say anything, and neither did Dante again.

I was grateful for the silence. Because if I spoke, if I let even a single thought escape, I wasn’t sure I would be able to carry on with Dante.

My gaze stayed fixed outside, watching the city I had come to love slowly slip away.

Every street reminded me of something. Tasha’s laughter, Kelvin’s terrible jokes. Nikolai and I shopping sprees.

My chest tightened painfully. I could still feel him. His touch, his voice. The way he looked at me like I was his peace, like I meant something.

“I love you, Jasmine.”

I shut my eyes briefly. That was the cruelest part. Because he chose to love me over avenging his family.

But it didn’t change the truth. If he had known who I really was from the beginning, he would have killed me. He wouldn’t have hesitated. He wouldn’t have any second thoughts. Because that was who he was. And that was who I was too.

Enemies. Bound by blood, and doomed from the start.

“Don’t,” Dante’s voice cut in suddenly.

I opened my eyes.

“Don’t what?”

“Think about him.”

I let out a quiet, humourless laugh.

“A little late for that, don’t you think?”

Dante didn’t respond. But I could feel his disapproval. His tension.

“You’re making the right choice,” he said after a moment.

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

I turned my head slightly, looking at him.

“Running away always feels right?”

“It’s not running,” he said firmly. “It’s survival.”

I looked away again. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was the only way. But it didn’t feel like survival. It felt like losing everything.

By the time we reached the airport, the sky was beginning to lighten.

It was early morning where night hadn’t fully let go, but day hadn’t quite arrived.

Dante parked the car and got out. I followed slowly.

We walked into the airport without speaking. People moved around us, travellers, workers, strangers living their own lives, unaware that mine was quietly falling apart.

Dante handled everything while I just stood there, watching, numb.

“Two tickets,” I heard him say. “To Italy.”

Italy. Home.

A place I had spent years trying to escape. A place filled with cold walls, colder people, and expectations I had never wanted.

My father. The man who didn’t think I was fit enough to take over the family’s organisation because of my gender.

My stepmother and stepbrother. Unpredictable and damaging in their own way.

That world, that life that I had fought so hard to leave behind. And now, I was walking straight back into it, not as Jasmine, but as who I really was.

Dante handed me my ticket.

“Boarding starts soon.”

I nodded with my fingers tightening around the paper.

This was it. No turning back, no second chances. I took one last look around the airport, at the people, at the life continuing without me.

And for a brief moment, I thought about him again. Nikolai. What he would be doing right now. If he had noticed I was gone, if he cared, if he was angry. Or worse… if he wasn’t.

My chest ached. But I forced it down. There was no space for that anymore. No room for love.

“Let’s go,” Dante said.

I followed him. Step by step, further away from everything I had known. And closer to the life I had tried to forget.

Italy awaited. Elena Vorn was coming home. And I dreaded every second of it.