CHAPTER 21: MAKE HER LEAVE OR LEAVE WITH HER

CHAPTER 21: MAKE HER LEAVE OR LEAVE WITH HER
“What is she doing here?” I asked, staring at Jake and waiting for him to answer.

I didn’t say hi to the girl. I didn’t ask who she was. I just wanted him to explain.

Jake’s eyes widened. He looked surprised. He was like he wanted me to keep quiet. But he didn’t say a word. He just stood there, leaving me hanging with my question unanswered.

“What? Aren’t you going to answer?” I raised my voice, with anger building in my chest.

“Can you stop?” Jake said, grabbing my arm as if he wanted to calm me down, but it only made me more furious.

“You.” I turned to the girl. She was smiling like nothing was wrong, like she was enjoying it.

“What are you doing in my house?” I asked again.

“Reina, stop,” Jake said firmly, but I ignored him.

He tried to hold me again but I pushed his hands away. My brows drew together as I glared at him while my heart was pounding hard.

“You let a stranger inside without telling me?”

“You were sleeping, okay?” His voice was calm. But mine was not. A complete opposite of his.

“I. Don’t. Fucking. Care. Mr. Margaux.” I said each word slowly.

“If you want to flirt or make out with another girl, do it in your own apartment, not in my house. Asshole.” I spat the words at him and turned my back.

But I stopped. Letting her stay here would be worse.

I faced the girl again.

“And by the way, can you please leave my house?” I said.

She just smiled. Not a word came out of her mouth.

My anger boiled over. “What? Don’t you have a mouth? Why can’t you talk or leave my house? Bitch!” I yelled right in her face.

Whoever she was, I didn’t care. I just wanted her gone.

“Reina, come here.” Jake grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the gate.

“Let me go!” I struggled against him until he finally let me go when we reached the big tree nearby. My chest was rising and falling fast and anger spilling out of me.

“What was that?” he asked, his voice heavy. He ran a hand through his hair, looking stressed and tired.

“You made out with me last night. May I remind you—if ever your brain got stuck?” I snapped, my words sharper than I intended.

His eyes narrowed. “Is that what you’re mad about? Because I left you in the bed? Why? Wasn’t it enough that I gave you the last time to feed your hunger and possession?”

The words hit me hard. Like poison.

So that was it? He only did it because he pitied me? Because he thought it was the last chance, a favor to quiet my craving?

My chest tightened.

“I told you to behave,” Jake said, his voice colder now. “That’s my visitor. I understand this is your house, Reina. But at least respect someone. Don’t you know that word? Or maybe… You didn’t learn anything at all. Selfish.”

The word selfish sank into me like a knife, deeper than any wound I could imagine.

I froze. My lips parted but no words came out.

And then, without another glance, Jake turned his back on me and walked away… back to the girl.

Even though I was still weak from all the hurtful words he threw at me, I forced myself to stand. My knees felt heavy, my chest ached, but I stepped forward.

I went to where they were.

“Choose.”

They both turned to me. The girl’s smile faded, and Jake’s eyes darkened.

“Make her leave… or leave with her. I don’t care if the two of you end up sleeping on the road tonight.”

For a moment, Jake froze. He didn’t argue, didn’t defend himself, didn’t even explain. Without a word, he turned and walked straight into the house.

I stayed still. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t move.

Minutes passed before he came back, carrying his things. He placed them inside the car, his movements cold, final.

“Get in,” he told the girl.

She obeyed quietly.

Jake didn’t even glance at me. He didn’t say a single word. He just started the engine and drove away.

Just like that.

He left me standing there… alone.

Maybe that was her. His fiancée. The one he once said he couldn’t bear to see in pain.

“Asshole,” I whispered, my voice cracking as I pressed a hand against my chest.

I swallowed hard, locked the gate, and dragged myself back to my room. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. I let the darkness and the cold air of the aircon embrace me.

I let the blanket hold me. I let the pillow take in my tears. And I let the moon and stars above listen to my silent cries.

They all left.

And in the end, I was still the first one everyone could let go of.

I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe that was why I spent the whole night on the internet, searching for someone new. Someone who could replace him. Someone who could hurt him the way he hurt me.

But I searched under the same management as his.

“Gotcha,” I whispered when I found a profile that caught my eye.

The man had brown hair and hazel eyes—like Jake. His name was Gavin Leonardo.

“He looks good though,” I muttered with a shrug.

Scrolling through his profile and social media accounts, one thing stood out—he loved white. White shirts, white sneakers, white walls in every picture.

A small smirk crept on my lips.
“I’m gonna meet you tomorrow, handsome prince. Maybe I can use you to get him back.”

I shut my laptop, satisfied with the plan. I had already requested a new private professor to replace Jake. I wanted to make him jealous. I wanted him to see that he wasn’t the only one I could depend on. That he wasn’t the only choice I had.

If that’s what it takes to get him back, then so be it.

I went to bed, hugging my pillow, already preparing for tomorrow—the start of my little game.

Jake’s POV

I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. I knew that if I did, even for one second, everything would break. One look at her, one word from her, and I’d stop. I’d run back and pull her into my arms.

But I couldn’t.

I hated myself for hurting her. I hated myself for leaving her hanging in the dark. But I had to. For her safety. For her peace.

I wished there was another way. Another choice where I could keep her close without putting her at risk.
I wished there was another universe where what we had could exist without breaking us.

“Why did you do that, Jake?” Trix asked. Her voice was sharp but soft, her eyes fixed on me. She was my cousin, and one of Reina’s biggest fans.

“I had to,” I said flatly, my hands tightening on the wheel. My eyes stayed on the road.

“I know you want to avoid what happened before. You don’t want to repeat it,” she said carefully. “But what about you? What about what you feel?”

Her words cut through me, but I stayed quiet.

“I’m just saying,” she continued. “You’re trying so hard to make her life easy. But are you sure it will be? Without you beside her? Especially when you’re the one who knows her best?”

Her words echoed in my head.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I was still processing every syllable she dropped like little bombs in my chest.

Trix leaned against the car window and closed her eyes. Her silence gave me space, but it didn’t stop the storm inside me.

She was right.

What I was doing didn’t really guarantee her safety. Not in the way I thought.

My hands trembled against the steering wheel.

Should I go back?