Chapter 110 110
The next day unfolded in an almost unnatural silence.
Jacqueline didn’t look at him. Didn’t speak to him. Didn’t so much as breathe in his direction. She behaved as though Damien Ruiz had dissolved into thin air. If he noticed, he gave no sign. And that was precisely what she wanted to make him believe she had finally surrendered and left him alone.
She sat in the cafeteria with her friends, pushing fries around her tray while Thérèse brought Damien up for what felt like the millionth time.
“Oh my God, are we still talking about him?” Jacqueline groaned.
“I heard something interesting,” Gilles cut in, lowering his voice slightly as if delivering classified information. “Coach mentioned Damien’s joining us for the practice match tomorrow. Player selection for the finals.”
That made Jacqueline look up.
“Seriously? I didn’t even know he played,” Thérèse said, her tone laced with a shameless double meaning that made Gilles roll his eyes dramatically. Fanny continued eating with quiet elegance, unfazed as always, while Laurent simply observed the chaos with mild amusement.
“Thirteen days left, babe,” Thérèse reminded Jacqueline pointedly.
Jacqueline sighed. “I’m aware,” she muttered.
That was when she noticed him.
Damien walked into the cafeteria, calm as ever, and headed straight to his usual table. Alone. He sat down without acknowledging anyone, without even glancing around.
The rest of the day passed without incident.
The following morning, Jacqueline left home earlier than usual. Sleep had evaded her all night. The house had felt suffocating, her thoughts too loud. She needed air. Sugar. Something.
So she went to her favorite café.
The warm scent of coffee and chocolate wrapped around her the moment she stepped inside. She stood in line, ordered her usual chocolate waffles and hot chocolate coffee. Her love for chocolate bordered on obsession; it was the one indulgence she never denied herself.
She carried her tray to her favorite seat by the window and settled in, watching the world pass by outside as she ate.
Life was strange. Fate even stranger. It could give you everything and then rip it all away without warning. Sometimes, no matter how hard she tried, Jacqueline couldn’t stop blaming herself for her mother’s death. The guilt lingered like a shadow that stretched longer the more she tried to outrun it.
She lifted her cup, sipping slowly.
And then she saw him.
Across the road, seated at an outdoor café, was Damien Ruiz.
He was eating pancakes, his gaze fixed on the passing cars as though they carried secrets only he could understand.
She narrowed her eyes.
He wasn’t that far. Close enough for her to make out the sharp lines of his face. Close enough to see his eyes.
Those olive eyes.
They looked… distant. Sad.
His expression was composed, unreadable, but his eyes betrayed something deeper. Something heavy.
She was just beginning to study him more carefully when his gaze snapped directly toward her window.
The speed of it made her gasp aloud, jerking back in her seat.
Her hand flew to her chest as her heart began racing wildly. She looked down at her plate, pretending she hadn’t been staring.
Calm down.
She risked another glance.
He was still looking.
Her jaw tightened in frustration. Why was he staring as if she were committing a felony? It wasn’t illegal to look across a street.
She focused on the café’s interior instead, sipping her drink quietly. But she could feel it. That gaze. It was as tangible as heat against her skin.
And then
It vanished.
She sensed it before confirming it. Slowly, she turned her head toward the outdoor café.
The chair was empty.
A breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding slipped from her lips.
She finished her breakfast and stepped outside only to freeze mid-step when she caught her reflection in the window.
Her mouth fell open.
From the outside, the glass was darkly tinted. Black.
Meaning outsiders couldn’t see in.
Only the person inside could see out.
Her stomach dropped.
Then what had just happened?
She had felt him looking at her. Not imagined felt. The intensity. The precision with which his gaze had locked onto her window.
As if he knew she was there.
“Creepy…” she muttered under her breath, shaking off the thought as best she could.
She hailed a cab and headed to the university, arriving just in time.
Mr. Loïc had been reluctant to let her leave without the car and driver. She had practically begged for a little independence that morning. After much persuasion, he had agreed but only on the condition that he would personally pick her up after classes.
She hadn’t argued.
Her first class, thankfully, wasn’t with Mr. Frosty. It went by smoothly. Afterward, she stopped by her locker to swap books.
And nearly died.
A shrill whistle blasted right beside her ear.
She shrieked, dropping her books onto the floor.
“Idiot!” she snapped, crouching down to gather them while Gilles doubled over laughing, clutching his stomach.
“You should’ve seen your face!” he wheezed.
She grumbled under her breath as she picked up the last book and that’s when her eyes drifted to his shoes.
A slow, wicked smile curved her lips.
She stood, shut her locker, and walked away without a word, completely ignoring him.
“Hey!” Gilles called, already moving to follow her.
He didn’t make it far.
A loud thud echoed through the hallway, followed by an impressive string of curses.
Jacqueline turned around just in time to see Gilles sprawled on the floor.
She burst into uncontrollable laughter.
He glared at her from his seated position, then looked down at his shoelaces which had been expertly tied together.
He untangled them with murderous focus and stood, smoke practically rising from his ears.
Uh oh.
She bolted.
“You’re so dead!” Gilles roared, charging after her like an enraged bull.
She took a sharp right turn at full speed
and slammed straight into something solid.
She staggered backward, about to fall, when Gilles crashed into her from behind. The impact shoved her forward again, making her collide once more into the same unyielding surface.
Except it wasn’t a wall.
It was a chest.
Firm. Warm. Immovable.
Jacqueline slowly tilted her head upward.
Mr. Damien Ruiz.