Chapter 24

Stefan had brought home the doughs and batters that Zuri had packed. He had also handed over the keys to me and was now talking to Dad in the den. 

The keys were still lying on the dining table. I refused to look at them or touch them. They made everything seem more real somehow. 

"Ira, you look really pale, you should go and rest," said Elisha, "you can bake all this later."

I had been baking since the past two hours. I did feel like I was exerting myself beyond the limits that I could handle. But I needed to do this. If I allowed myself any time to relax or think then I would not be able to stop myself from being completely swallowed up by grief. 

"You haven't even eaten anything since yesterday," said Mom. 

"I'm not hungry—" I started to say but my words trailed off as a wave of absolute fatigue washed over me. 

The muffin liners slipped from my hold, and I began to lose control of my hands and feet. My vision blurred and then grew darker and darker. 

Distant voices called my name until they sounded like a muffled mumble. 

My eyelids grew heavy, and I felt myself falling. Then everything blacked out. 

***

I sat by the window in my room. 

Time was passing by faster than I could fathom. It was already Sunday afternoon. 

Yesterday, I had lost consciousness and given everybody a scare. I could barely remember what had happened after that. 

I was told that our family doctor had come home and examined me. He had informed everyone that I had fainted because of not eating anything and being under severe stress. 

Apparently, I had regained consciousness after the doctor had left. Mom had fed me some fruit and I had fallen asleep immediately after that. And then I had woken up only this morning. 

I sighed. 

Everything was over now. 

I had lost the war with Sierra without a fight. She had chosen the perfect weapon to render me helpless even before the fight had begun. 

How quickly life had changed, even quicker than the snap of a finger. I could still remember sitting at the dining table and sipping my coffee, carefree and happy, when Dad had walked in with the court's notice. It all seemed so long ago now, somewhere in the past. But it had just been three days. Or maybe two or four? I was not sure.

A knock on the door made me turn away from the window. 

Jace stood at my door, a nervous smile on his lips. 

Who had let him come up? Why? 

This person was the driving force behind Sierra destroying my life. He had ruined me. He had come back into my life only to knock me off my feet. And right now, I hated him just as much as I hated Sierra. 

"Hi," he said, taking a step forward, "how are you?" 

I got off the window sill and faced him. "I am drowning in my own blood; my bones are shaking from their very core. Yet here you are, asking me how well I'm faring. For your knowledge, I'm doing really well, all thanks to you."

"Ira, I'm sorry… for everything," he said, "I never thought that she would do something like this." 

I scoffed. "Convenient to say, right? I mean, you both dated, you both broke up, and yet, I am the one paying the price here. Sounds brilliant, doesn't it?" 

"Look, I know I'm at fault. I shouldn't have ever met you after I came back. But I swear that my intentions were never wrong. I could never hurt you, Ira," he said, regret clouding all over his face. 

"Yeah, right." I blinked back tears. "This is your revenge of some sorts, isn't it? But why? What have I done to you that demands a revenge?"

"Ira, what are you saying? Do you really believe your words?" he asked, horror flashing across his face. "I've come here to help you. I have an idea to save your cafe." 

"I think I do believe them," I said, wiping away my tears and ignoring the hurt that flashed across his face. 

He was quiet for a moment, then he said, "I have a proposal. And it is your best bet to save the cafe." 

I met his eyes. "What is it?" 

He took in a deep breath. "I will pay the money. All of it." 

I opened my mouth to tell him to get lost but he spoke again before I could utter a word. 

"Just here me out, okay? I will pay Sierra whatever the estimated amount for fifty percent of the property share is. This way, we can save the cafe. In return, I want you to make me a co-owner of the cafe. We will both have a fifty percent share each in the cafe," he said, "this will help both you and me. This money that I'm willing to pay is the amount that I've saved up for my post-graduation university fund and also all my savings from the jobs that I've worked."

I was dumbfounded. It took me a lot of time to process what he was saying. 

"I had told you, right? That I want to move back to Emberhill. But I'm not able to find a decent job suiting my degree here. If I am able to earn from the cafe, then I could peacefully settle down here again." His eyes looked hopeful. "And, Ira, this had always been our dream, right? To own a cafe together?" 

"How c-could you?" I whispered. "You want me to lose even the last bit of self-respect that I have?" 

"Huh?" He frowned. "What do you mean?" 

"What do you think of yourself? Who do you think you are? First you mess up the very foundation of my life and then you want to play the hero and show everyone how great you are?" I cried. 

Jace let out a frustrated sigh. "Don't let your ego control your mind, Ira. I'm trying to help both of us. Take some time and think about it. You don't have to decide anything immediately." 

"No, thank you." I shook my head, clenching my jaw. "I don't need any of your help. You can leave now."

"Don't do this, Ira. Your anger is not letting you think rationally," he said, a desperation in his voice. "Why does it have to be like this between us? Why can't we try and be friends like before?" 

I laughed out bitterly. He really had the audacity to say that?

I opened my mouth to talk but instead I choked on my own words. His words had freed all the suppressed tears that I had been carrying within me. He had no idea how much I had suffered because of him, did he? Everything was so easy for him. 

I swallowed the lump in my throat and decided to confront him once and for all. 

I looked up at him with tears running down my cheeks. "The first time that you broke my heart, I did not blame you. I had the clarity to understand that it was your choice to either reciprocate my feelings or not. You had the right to reject me and no obligation or compulsion to love me."

"I mean, it happens all the time, right? One-sided love is more common than we give it credit for." I scoffed. 

"I accepted your decision, Jace. I could not immediately stop loving you. Love does not work that way. But I genuinely wished good for you. I wished for our friendship to return back to normal, despite the awkwardness that it guaranteed to carry with itself. I was willing to face that embarrassment because our bond mattered to me more than I could ever express." My eyes never left his. I was not going to let him look away. Today, he had to face me fairly.

"I don't have to tell you how regretful I was owing to my foolish decision, do I?" I asked. 

He was quiet, distress washing over his face. 

"But now, Jace, this is the second time that you have broken me. This time, you have not only broken my heart, but you have stabbed my soul. This time, you had no right to tear my life apart. You had no right to wreak havoc in my life. You had no right to take away all that I ever cared about. You had no right to play with my feelings. You had no right to come back into my life with such a spiteful heart." I broke down in sobs. 

He tried to come forward and comfort me, but I moved back. 

"Never in my life had I imagined that at some point in time you would be the most despised person in my life. Never. Especially not you. Not you. How could it be you, Jace? Why is it you?" I asked, sliding to the floor as my knees gave way. 

"This time, there is no apology, Jace, and there is definitely no forgiveness." I covered my face with my hands as I failed to stop the cries. 

"This pity that I see on your face, this hurt that your eyes carry, Jace, use them to bury Ira tonight. The Ira that you knew, the Ira that was once your closest friend, the Ira that once foolishly gave you her heart and did not realize that one day it would become her murder weapon. Bury that Ira tonight, Jace, bury her. Because you have murdered her soul," I said. 

Silence followed. There was only the sound of my hiccups and cries. 

Jace said nothing. 

Minutes passed and, eventually, I heard him walk away. 

And then he was gone.