Chapter 78 I Waited

Chapter 78 I Waited
Cassian POV

The moment she walked out, something in me snapped.

Ariyha leaving like that calm, composed and untouchable but it didn’t sit right in my chest. It felt wrong in a way I couldn’t explain, like watching something slip through my fingers that I hadn’t even realized I was still holding onto.

I wasn’t letting her walk away again.

By the time I got outside, my jaw was tight, my pulse uneven and then I saw her standing by the roadside, her phone pressed to her ear, trying to get a taxi like I was just… nothing.

“Ariyha.”

She turned slightly, her expression unreadable, but she didn’t move toward me. “Get in.”

Her brows drew together faintly, and she ended the call before responding. “No thanks,” she said coolly. “I’m married and so are you. I don’t want our partners getting the wrong idea.”

That word sat wrong in my head when it came from her lips..“Ariyha, get the fuck in,” I said, my voice dropping, sharper now. “I don’t care what anyone is saying.”

For a second, I thought she’d refuse.

She looked at me like she was weighing something, her gaze flickering over my face like she was trying to decide if I was worth the trouble.

Then, without another word, she walked around the car and got in and the moment she did, fuck her scent hit me. It wrapped around me instantly, pulling something primal and buried straight to the surface. My grip tightened on the steering wheel as I shut the door and got back into the driver’s seat, trying to steady myself.

Two fucking years, and my body still reacted to her like this, the silence between us was suffocating.

She sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her gaze fixed out the window, like I wasn’t even there.

I started the engine without saying anything and pulled onto the road, my mind racing with too many questions.

Where the hell had she been?

Why did she disappear without a trace?

Why did she leave the company?

And why the hell was she teaching piano now?

Nothing about this made sense.

I drove in silence for a few minutes before pulling into a quiet restaurant just off the road.

I parked the car and turned off the engine but she didn’t move.

“Ariyha....”

“Why didn’t you come that night?”

Her voice cut through mine, quiet but sharp enough to stop me cold and I turned my head slowly, my brows pulling together.

She was still staring straight ahead, but her expression had changed. The calm was still there but underneath it was anger.

“You picked Elena, right?”

The words landed like a punch to the gut and just like that, everything shifted.

I exhaled slowly, leaning back in my seat, my fingers tightening against the steering wheel.

“That’s what you think happened?”

Her lips curved slightly, but there was no humor in it. “Isn’t it?”

I ran a hand through my hair, irritation flickering through me not at her, but at the situation. “No,” I said firmly. “That’s not what happened.”

She finally turned to look at me then and fuck… that was worse because her eyes weren’t soft anymore.

“Then explain,” she said.

I held her gaze for a moment, then let out a quiet breath. “I didn’t pick Elena over you.”

Her brows lifted slightly, like she didn’t believe a word I was saying.

“I was already engaged to her,” I continued, my voice steady but tight. “Elena was pregnant and she was acting crazy, I couldn't just risk causing a scene.”

Then she let out a quiet, almost bitter laugh.

“I waited,” she said, her voice quieter now but that made it worse. “Do you understand that? I waited for you. I thought… maybe something had happened and you couldn’t make it and maybe you’d come the next day.”

“I know I'm been selfish but I had it somewhere in my head that I came first but I was wrong and stupid ”

I swallowed hard, something heavy settling in my chest. “I didn’t even know where you went,” I said, my voice lower now.

“Because I didn’t want you to.”

I stared at her, trying to read her expression, but she had already shut down again.

“My life is ruined already and if Zayn sees us together, it will become worse,” she added.

“I did what I had to,” I said finally and her gaze didn’t waver. “Exactly,” she replied softly. “And I did the same.”

That… shut me up because in the end we both made choices or maybe we were forced into them.nut the result was the same.

Two years of silence. I exhaled slowly, my chest tight. “Why did you leave the company?”

She hesitated. “I needed to,” she said simply.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

I stared at her, frustration building again. “And the teaching? That’s your life now?”

Her chin lifted slightly. “Yes.”

“You had more than that.”

“And I lost it,” she said, her voice cutting through mine. “because I kissed you at your wedxt?”

I went still because I hadn’t forgotten not for a second.

The silence stretched again, heavier this time.

I studied her face, taking in every detail the way she held herself, the distance in her eyes, the strength she had built around herself like armor.

She wasn’t the same woman I had known, she was… harder but beneath all of that, she was still Ariyha.

I could feel it and that was the problem. “Are you happy?” I asked suddenly.

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Her expression flickered but I caught it and that told me everything.

“It’s not your concern,” she said.

“Are you?” she shot back and I held her gaze.

Thought about Elena, my daughter and the life I had built.

“…That’s different.”

A humorless smile touched her lips. “Exactly.”

Silence fell again, then she reached for the door handle. “I shouldn’t be here,” she said quietly.

My chest tightened. “Ariyha....”

“No,” she cut in, shaking her head slightly. “This… whatever this is… it’s a mistake.”

“Maybe,” I said slowly. “But it’s one I’m not done with.”

Her hand paused on the handle. “We’re not doing this again, Cassian,” she said softly. “I won’t survive it a second time.”

And before I could respond, before I could stop her, she opened the door and stepped out.

I sat there, staring ahead, my jaw tight, my chest heavy, my mind spinning with everything she had said… and everything she hadn’t.

Two years and somehow, we were still right here.

I let out a slow breath, leaning back against the seat, dragging a hand down my face.