Chapter 62 REBUILDING

Chapter 62 REBUILDING


I woke up to the morning sun,weak and tired as usual. I lazily dragged myself out of the bed.

The past weeks had left me broken in ways I didn’t even know could exist.

Betrayal, disappointment, mention all piled on top of me like stones.

But I had made a decision, no one was coming to save me neither was I I waiting for a saviour.

I had to rebuild myself. Piece by piece, skill by skill, I would prove I could stand on my own.

My laptop blinked at me from the desk. Today, like every day since I had started, I would dive into coding.

It wasn’t glamorous, but it was mine. Every loop I debugged or corrected felt like a victory I could hold onto. I was trying.

I tapped the keys, muttering under my breath. “Come on… let’s make you work this time.”

When the program finally ran perfectly, I leaned back, a grin creeping across my face. That small, quiet triumph,my first in weeks,felt like a victory over the chaos I’d been running from.

Coding was more than just lines and loops. It was discipline, patience, observation.

It taught me that I could fix things, not magically, not immediately,but through effort, persistence, and focus. And I could rebuild myself the same way.

After a quick shower, I grabbed my camera and headed to my photography workshop.

It had started as a hobby, a way to distract myself, but it had grown into something more. It reminded me that I could shape my world if I paid attention.

“Aria,” Mr. Ennis greeted me as I stepped into the small studio, “ready to learn today?”

“I am,” I replied, adjusting the lens.

“Good,” he said, “angles, lighting, shadows… notice everything. But don’t force it. Let it feel natural.”

By midday, I was sweating from focus and concentration, but my chest felt lighter.

My hands were steady. My mind was sharper. I had completed a few tricky exercises Mr. Ennis had set for me, and the small nod of approval he gave felt like confirmation: I could do this. I could rebuild myself.

After class, I sat on a bench, camera on my lap, letting the bustle of the city move around me.

I thought of the past,what I had lost, what I had endured,but I didn’t let it weigh me down. Every skill I learned, every small victory I earned, was mine.

I wasn’t waiting for someone to rescue me anymore. I was taking control.

I thought about the future, my goals, and what I needed to do next. I would continue learning, pushing, growing. Music, coding, whatever it took, I would master it. I would become someone unstoppable, someone no one could underestimate.

And though I didn’t realize it yet, this was only the beginning. Strength didn’t come from avoiding chaos,it came from surviving it, from proving to yourself that no matter what tried to break you, you could stand, you could fight, and thrive.

I felt a spark of pride,not from anyone else’s approval, but from my own. This was mine. All mine.

DAMIAN'S POV

I was hospitalized.

The doctors called it burnout. “ You're severely exhaustion,” to be exact. My body just reached a limit before my mind did, and it shut down for a few minutes yesterday.

Enough to scare my mother she flew down to London, enough for the driver to rush me here, and enough for the doctor to insist I stay for “observation.”

As if staring at white walls would fix anything.

I hated the silence. It forced me to think. And every time my thoughts settled, they went in one direction.

Aria.

She hadn’t been here.

She didn’t even know I was here, and I didn’t want her to.

Not when she was finally beginning to rebuild herself. She deserved peace, not another problem. Not me.

I glanced at the small notebook on the side table. The nurse had suggested writing as a way to “declutter the mind.” I didn’t know if it worked, but I opened it anyway, flipping past the scribbles, past the questions, past the guilt.

What was she doing right now?
I knew part.

That's were I was good at.

Spying.

One of my friends told me he saw her in a workshop, saying that maybe she is learning coding.

I could picture it,the determination in her eyes, the way she bit her lip when she concentrated, the quiet strength she didn’t even realize she carried.

I used to think she needed protection, guidance, someone to pull her out whenever she fell.

Now I knew better.
She wasn’t fragile. She was rising.

And I… I felt stuck here, connected to a hospital monitor for no real reason other than doctors being overly cautious.

Fuck sickness.

A soft knock pulled me from my thoughts. Dr. Hall stepped in, flipping through my chart.

“Good news,” he said. “Your vitals are stable. You aren’t ill. You just pushed your body too hard. But you should rest for another day.”

I nodded silently.

He studied my face for a moment. “You’re thinking too much. That’s where half of your exhaustion is coming from. Give yourmind a break too.”

I didn’t respond.
He wasn’t wrong tho.

When he left, I leaned back against the pillow, letting out a slow breath.

I wanted to reach out to Aria.
To see her.
To hear her voice.

But she was finally moving forward, and the last thing I wanted was to interrupt her climb with the mess I hadn’t sorted out.

Maybe… maybe when I left here and got myself together, I could face her properly.
Maybe there's still a percent chance left for me.

For now, all I could do was h
ope she kept rising, kept learning, kept building the future she deserved.

Without me.

I deserved every bit of it.