Chapter 73: Seventy Three

I ran home, fast as I could. And now, I sat frozen in front of my laptop, the cursor blinking at the end of my hastily typed resignation email.

Dear Professor Klein,

I regret to inform you that due to personal reasons, I must step down from my position as Research Assistant, effective immediately.

I didn’t reread it. Didn’t even think about it. My finger hovered over the “send” button for a fraction of a second before I clicked it.

It was gone.

A hollow, echoing click. That was all it took to throw away months of hard work, every sleepless night I’d spent proving myself, all the hours I’d put in for a job I wanted more than anything. My hands trembled as I closed the laptop.

I got up and started pulling my things from drawers and shelves, every motion frantic, jerky. I crammed my clothes into my suitcase without folding, toiletries swept from the bathroom counter into a tote bag.

I barely heard the knock at the door.

I froze, breath caught in my throat.

Then it came again. Three quick raps at the door in succession.

“Willow?”

Declan.

I swallowed hard, looked around at the half-packed mess of my room. The suitcase gaped open on my bed, messy. My chest constricted painfully.

I forced my voice to sound casual. “Coming!”

The second I opened the door, his face lit up. He was holding a brown paper bag in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other, his usual composed demeanor replaced by something almost boyish. There was an easy smile on his face, his eyes gleaming.

“Hey,” he said, grinning, stepping past me into the apartment. “I thought I’d surprise you. Brought dinner; your favorite Thai, and this.” He held up the wine in front of my face. “Figured we deserved a little celebration.”

I blinked. “Celebration?”

“Yeah.” He set the bag down on the counter and turned to me, eyes bright, his body loose and energetic. “I just got out of a meeting with the dean. I’ve been nominated for the Innovators in Environmental Economics Award. It’s… huge, Willow. I didn’t even know they were considering me. The ceremony’s in a couple of months, but he said I’m a frontrunner. He said its basically a given that I win.”

He laughed, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe it. “I had to tell you first. I knew you’d get it, you know? You’ve seen how much work I’ve put into this project.”

I stood there, every muscle in my body pulled taut, as he talked.

His happiness was so raw, so pure, an expression I’d seen so rarely on his face. He looked… light. Proud.

And I felt like I was crumbling apart piece by piece.

“That’s… that’s amazing, Declan,” I managed, forcing my lips into something that resembled a smile. My voice sounded foreign, too high-pitched.

He crossed the room in two strides, hands settling on my shoulders. “You okay? You look… off. Are you feeling alright?”

I shook my head quickly. “I’m fine. Just… surprised. That’s a big deal.”

“I know,” he said, his grin softening into something warmer, more intimate. “And it’s not just my award. I mean, you’ve been there for all of it. I wanted to celebrate with you first.”

I nodded, but my throat felt like it was closing up.

He doesn’t know, a voice whispered in my head, loud and cold. He doesn’t know his entire world is about to collapse because of you.

He squeezed my shoulders gently. “Come on, sit down. Let me open this wine.”

I stood rooted to the floor. The walls of the apartment felt like they were closing in on me.

Declan was already in my kitchen, sleeves rolled up, unpacking the brown takeout bags with an ease that used to make me melt. “Pad Thai for you, green curry for me. I even got those spring rolls you’re obsessed with. Figured we could open the wine and -”

“Declan.” My voice came out sharp, almost foreign, slicing through the warm moment like a blade. Or a sword.

He turned, brow furrowing. “What is it?”

The sight of him standing there, so happy, so proud, so completely unaware, felt like something was twisting in my chest. Do it, Willow. Make him hate you. Make him walk away before he ever finds out.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

The smile vanished, confusion flickering across his face. “What?”

“This. Us. Whatever this is. It was a mistake.”

He blinked, the words not landing at first. “A mistake?”

“Yes,” I bit out, stepping closer, venom in my tone because it was the only thing keeping the tears at bay. “You used me. You’re my professor, Declan. You took advantage of me from day one. And I was stupid enough to let you.”

His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

I pressed on, relentless. “You’re a coward. You don’t love me, you love having me on a leash. I was just a distraction for you, a pretty little secret to stroke your ego. Don’t pretend it was anything more.”

“Willow…” His voice cracked, ragged and pleading. “You can’t mean that. You know that’s not true. I...God, I love you. You know that..”

A laugh tore from my throat, harsh and cruel. “You don’t love me. You wouldn’t even know what love is if it bit you. You just like having someone who looks at you like you’re the center of their world. Someone young and naive enough not to see the cracks. Well, guess what, Declan? I see them now. I see you for what you are.”

He took a stumbling step toward me, hurt flashing across his face. “Please, just talk to me. Tell me what’s really going on. Did I do something? Did I hurt you?”

“Yes!” I shouted, voice shaking with the force of it. “You hurt me every time you made me believe this was real. Every time you kissed me in your office. Every time you made me think there was a future here, between us. You are the worst mistake I’ve ever made, Declan. I hate that I ever let you touch me.”

“You don’t mean that,” he said quietly, so quietly it almost broke me.

I hardened my voice into something unrecognizable. “I do. I wish I had never met you. I wish I had never been stupid enough to fall for you. I don’t want to see you ever again. Get out.”

He stared at me, a little longer. "I hate you," I ground. "I can't believe I ever thought I loved you. You are a creep and a predator for taking advantage of me." I took a deep breath, then yelled, "Leave!"

Declan stood frozen for a heartbeat, the hurt in his eyes twisting into something hollow and unreadable. Slowly, he reached for his jacket.

“If that’s what you really want,” he said finally, his voice was now clipped.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

He held my gaze for one last, aching second, then turned and left, the door clicking softly behind him.

The silence that followed was deafening.

My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the floor, shaking, the sobs tearing out of me in heaving gasps. I pressed my fists to my mouth, trying to hold back the sound, but it was useless.

You wanted this, I told myself between the waves of grief. You wanted him to hate you. To walk away before he ever found out.

But all I could see was the look on his face when he left, and the sound of my own voice echoing in the empty room, saying words I hadn’t meant, words I could never take back.