Chapter 58
Chapter 58
KAT’S POV
The moment Percy and I step onto the jet, I feel my shoulders relax.
The cabin is a bit dark. It feels warm, safe. When we settle onto the wide leather seats, I curl into his side, resting my head on his chest. I feel his warmth inside me instantly. He leans down and kisses my forehead slowly.
For the first time in a long time, I feel wanted. Not used. Not manipulated. Not judged. Just… wanted. I let myself melt into that feeling, even if I don’t think I deserve it.
He strokes my arm absentmindedly while I exhale against his shirt.
“You smell like jet fuel and anxiety,” he teases lightly.
I snort. “I do not.”
“You do,” he insists. “A very specific blend. It’s your signature scent.”
I hit his stomach lightly and he laughs softly. His hand moves up and down my back in slow, lazy circles, and suddenly everything feels easy.
For a few minutes, we don’t talk about anything serious. We talk about stupid, random things that make no sense but feel comforting. I tell him about my childhood fear of ducks, how one chased me at a park when I was six and I’ve hated them ever since. He bursts out laughing, loud enough that I elbow him again.
“Kat,” he wheezes, gripping his chest dramatically, “you could’ve died.”
“It was a duck!” I choke out through laughter.
“A violent duck,” he corrects. “Deadly. A menace to society.”
I laugh so hard my eyes water. Then I ask him about his cooking and he groans immediately.
“Listen.” He raises a hand like he’s about to defend himself in court. “It wasn’t my fault the lasagna caught fire”
“Percy,” I cut in, staring at him with wide eyes, “you burned lasagna?”
“I didn’t know you couldn’t put plastic in the oven!” he cries.
I gasp. “Oh my God.”
“It was one time,” he says, leaning back with shame. “And my mother didn’t speak to me for two days.”
I’m laughing again. It feels good, too good. Everything feels warm and soft. Percy kisses my forehead again, then my cheek, then the corner of my mouth. I turn slightly and kiss him fully. It’s not heated or urgent; it’s gentle, slow, almost lazy.
His hand slips to the back of my neck, holding me close. I smile against his lips.
“You snore,” I whisper against his mouth.
He pulls back, offended. “I do not.”
“You do,” I insist.
“I breathe with passion,” he argues.
I laugh into his chest and he wraps his arms tighter around me. For a moment, it feels like the world has finally stopped spinning. Like maybe I can breathe without everything hurting.
But then Percy speaks again, softly, almost too soft: “Kat… what are you going to do about the media situation?”
My body stiffens instantly. My smile drops. The warmth inside me flickers and dies. I lift my head slowly, trying not to react, but I feel the shift in my chest
“What do you mean?” I ask even though I already know.
Percy watches me carefully “The live. The comments. The narratives spreading online. I’m worried. I’m asking what your plan is.”
I take a deep breath. My jaw clenches before I can stop it. The anger comes back inside me as I think of Melissa.
“She will pay,” I say quietly.
Percy’s whole expression freezes. Like he wasn’t expecting me to say it so plainly. “Kat…”
“She owes me,” I continue. “For betraying me. For humiliating me. For going online and lying. For siding with Matt and ruining my name. She thinks she’s untouchable. She’s not.”
Percy stares at me, stunned. And something in his eyes looks almost… disappointed. “Kat, we talked about this last night. You said you wanted to let go.”
“And I meant it,” I say immediately. “Emotionally, Percy. I meant I wanted to move on with my life. But I’m still getting my revenge.”
He sits up straighter, pulling his arm away from around me. The shift is uncomfortable. “Kat, that’s not letting go. That’s you holding on with both hands.”
I frown. “I can’t let people walk all over me. If I don’t fight back, they’ll keep ruining me.”
He drags a hand through his hair in frustration. “Revenge is ruining you. It’s eating your life, your peace… us. And Kat, my family is involved in this. My name. My reputation. My sister and my nephew. You think all of this only affects you?”
I feel my defenses snap up instantly.
“Don’t do that,” I say sharply. “Don’t make this about you.”
“I’m not,” he says quietly “I’m trying to make it about us.”
I shake my head, raising my voice “You don’t understand what she did.”
He presses his lips together like he’s holding back his own anger. “I do understand betrayal. Don’t pretend I don’t. I know what heartbreak feels like. I know what it’s like to be humiliated by people you trusted.” His voice drops. “I’m not your enemy, Kat.”
But I feel cornered. I feel overwhelmed. Like he’s peeling open a wound I’ve been desperately trying to cover.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m some irrational child,” I snap. “You don’t know what I’ve gone through.”
“That’s what I’m trying to understand!” he says, raising his voice for the first time since I met him. “But you won’t let me in if all you cling to is revenge!”
I shoot to my feet. “Because revenge is all I have left!”
Percy stands too, running his hands through his hair, pacing the aisle of the jet.
“Kat, please,” he says, trying to lower his voice. “Just think before you do something you can’t reverse.”
“I am thinking.”
“No, you’re reacting,” he says. “There’s a difference.”
I fold my arms. “Stop lecturing me.”
He faces me. I can see the hurt expression flashing across his face. “I’m trying to stop you from destroying yourself.”
I look away. My throat feels tight. It feels like I’m burning from the inside. “You always do this,” I whisper. “You always try to fix me.”
Percy rubs his palms over his face. “Because I care about you. I don’t want to watch you burn your life to the ground.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t watch,” I bite out.
He stares at me like I just punched him in the chest.
The argument spirals, and we both know it.
“You’re being unfair,” he says.
“And you’re being controlling,” I fire back.
“I’m trying to protect you—”
“I never asked you to!”
He steps closer, softer this time. “But I want to.”
I look away. “I didn’t ask,” I repeat.
The silence that follows is suffocating. It feels thick and heavy.
We spend the rest of the flight not speaking. I turn away from him completely, staring out the window even though all I can see is darkness. Twice he tries to talk.
“Kat… can we please—”
“No.”
“Kat, look at me.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
Eventually he gives up. I feel him staring at me several times, but I refuse to look back. The distance between us feels so huge.
When the plane lands, the cabin lights brighten. The door opens to the stairs leading down to the runway. I stand and grab my bag. Percy stands beside me, reaching out slowly, desperately.
“Kat…” His voice is soft. “Please. Don’t walk away angry. Let’s talk. Please.”
I pull my hand away before he can touch me. My chest aches like something inside me is tearing. “I need space.”
“Kat—”
I don’t let him finish. I call my driver, walk down the stairs, and slip into the car quickly. I don’t look at Percy’s face. I can’t. If I do, I’ll break apart right there on the runway.
But just as the door closes, I hear his voice crack, literally crack.
“Kat, WAIT-”
The door shuts. The driver pulls off. And the moment the jet disappears behind us, the tears hit so hard I can’t breathe. I fold forward, covering my face with both hands, sobbing quietly so the driver won’t hear.
Everything hurts. My chest. My throat. My eyes. My heart feels twisted and bruised.
I pull my phone out with shaking hands and open social media, because some part of me wants to torture myself. I see Melissa’s live at the top of my feed. It’s gone viral. The whole thing is exploding. The comments scroll so fast I can barely read them, but the ones I do catch punch me straight in the stomach.
“She’s evil.”
“She deserves everything she gets.”
“Poor Melissa, she was crying.”
“Kat is a snake.”
“Cancel her already.”
Every word hits harder than the last. My vision blurs again. My breath stutters.
It feels like the entire world has turned against me… and the one person I wanted beside me just walked away.
The tears don’t stop.