CHAPTER 15: DARK HALLWAY

CHAPTER 15: DARK HALLWAY
He pulled away.

Then he looked to the side and bit his lip, like he didn’t know what to say...... or didn’t want to say it.

“Tell me,” I said in a quiet voice. “Do you regret being here… with me?”

He didn’t answer.

“I’ll go to sleep,” he said instead. Then he stood up and walked away. 

That was it. He didn’t even look back.

And right there, I felt something inside me fall apart.

Maybe I was never really his choice. Maybe I was just someone people met and wish they hadn’t. Someone easy to leave behind.

I watched him walk down the hallway. I didn’t try to stop him. I didn’t even move. I knew I had no right to hold him back. That was never part of this.

At first, I thought this was just a game. Just something simple, nothing serious. 

We weren’t supposed to be real. But now, here I am—stuck, confused, and hurt. I got attached and fell too deep.

He kept giving me mixed signals. He was warm one moment, cold the next. Saying one thing but doing another. It was all so unclear, and I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

I looked up at the sky. Then my eyes dropped to the bottles by the door. A few were already empty. Some hadn’t been opened yet.

I picked one up. And without even thinking, I didn’t pause. I opened it and took a drink straight from the bottle.

JAKE'S POV

I left.

I didn’t look back because I knew the moment I did, I’d change my mind.

I want her. I badly do. But the truth is... I don’t want her to get involved in the deal my family made. I don’t want her to be dragged into something she doesn’t deserve. I don’t want her to end up broken again.

I already made that mistake once.
I already hurt her once.

I was the reason she had to go through something as cruel as a lobotomy. And even now, that truth still burns inside me. I knew it was wrong... but I let it happen.

I don’t want that kind of fate to repeat. That’s why I’m walking away now. 

But I didn’t really leave her alone. 

I stayed on the stairs. Hiding in the shadows where she couldn’t see me.

I watched her.

When I saw her reach for the bottle, something inside me snapped. My body moved on its own. I took a step forward.

But I stopped myself.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing my feet to stay in place. I had to fight every urge to run to her.

I shouldn’t let her be close to me again. I need to mess this up. I need to make her hate me. It’s the only way to keep her safe.

“No. Control yourself, Jake,” I whispered, jaw tight, fists clenched hard at my sides.

What I did… was wrong. It was wrong to let my feelings take over. It was worse to ask her to try again. Even worse to make up with her.

“I have to fail,” I whispered again.

Then I sat down on one of the steps. And all I could do… was stay there. Alone. Fighting myself.

REINA'S POV

He really left.
Just like that.

"Fuck you, Margaux!" I shouted, still crying. My chest hurt, but I didn’t care anymore.

I didn’t care if he heard me or not. If he did, good for him. If he didn’t, then still—fuck him.

"He freaking kissed me!" I screamed again while laughing like I’d lost my mind. "And then left?"

I laughed harder, even as tears poured down my face.

"I'm so stupid," I said quietly, brushing my hair away from my face. It was messy and getting in the way.

I reached for another bottle and drank. One after another. I didn’t care if I passed out here.

Why should I? He didn’t care anyway.

I woke up in my bed.

New clothes. A blanket covers me. Aircon running. Curtains shut. And a small plate of crackers, bread, and a banana on the bedside table.

I already knew who did it. Jake.

"No coffee?" I said with a pout.

I grabbed the plate and ate everything. While chewing, I smiled to myself, being delusional that maybe he even kissed me while I was asleep.

After eating, I stood up, looked in the mirror, brushed my hair, and then headed downstairs to check on my honeybunch.

Kidding.

He wasn’t anywhere in the house.

“He didn’t even leave a note,” I muttered, frowning like a child.

Then I saw something pinned on the refrigerator. A small note. 

I walked closer, my eyebrows pulling together as I read it.

“I know you’ll come looking for me so I left this.
If you're wondering why I gave you snacks instead of coffee, it’s because coffee isn’t good for drunk people like you who drink even when they can’t handle it.
It would just dehydrate you more. The snacks are better for you. I’ll be back at 5 in the afternoon. Behave and don’t leave the house.”

I smiled and shook my head. He really knew what he was doing.

I walked into the library and started picking books. My eyes landed on one of the books he gave me.

I sat at my usual table and flipped through the pages, marking some things I thought were important.

I want him to be proud of me. I know he will be, if he finds out I’m studying even when he’s gone.

While reading, something fell from the book. A small piece of paper.

I bent down and looked for it, but it wasn’t anywhere under the table.

“Maybe it fell under the desk,” I said.

I reached for it, but the bottom of the desk was narrow and the table itself was too heavy to lift. I tried to peek further but it was too dark underneath.

“We’ll just get it later when he comes home,” I told myself with a shrug.

I went back to reading, but then I heard a loud thud. It came from the other hallway. The dark one that led to Mom and Dad’s old file room.

I froze.

No. 
Not that place. 
Not that hallway.

I stared at the pages in front of me, pretending I didn’t hear it. But the noise came again. Then again.

“No, Reina. It’s dark over there,” I whispered.

But the sound kept going so I stood up. Slowly. Step by step.

“I’ll just take a quick look,” I whispered. Just a peek. That’s all.

I reached the corner and leaned forward to check. And then someone grabbed me by the arm.