Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Six
The break came quietly.
No announcements. No celebrations. Just a strange pause in the rhythm of school that left everyone restless and unsure of what to do with themselves. Bags were packed. Hostels slowly emptied. Goodbyes came in hurried hugs and voice notes.
For Felicity, the silence of it all felt louder than noise.
Derin had yanked her out of bed that morning with exaggerated cheer and noisy laughter, refusing to give Felicity enough time to reconsider. By noon, they were already on a bus out of campus, the long road unspooling ahead of them.
The bus vibrated beneath their feet, warm and uneven. Every seat was occupied — students sleeping, whispering in pairs, lost in their screens.
Derin grew restless within minutes.
She unlocked her phone and scrolled through Snapchat lazily.
“Everybody is soft-launching their lives,” she said. “Vacations, soft life, engagements…”
Felicity rested her head against the window, eyes on the blur of trees rushing past. She barely heard her.
Then Derin suddenly gasped.
“Oh! I like what Charity has on.”
She turned her phone toward Felicity without thinking.
Felicity’s breath caught.
The picture filled the screen—Charity standing in a bright, polished living room, dressed effortlessly elegant, sunlight catching on every curve. The caption read: Home days.
Her chest tightened.
“I think I recognize that place,” Felicity said quietly before she could stop herself.
Derin blinked. Then her mouth curved into a knowing smile.
“Of course you do,” she said. “It’s Leon’s place. She’s been posting there for days now. He even appeared in one of the snaps yesterday. Maybe they actually still care about each other. Maybe it’s not just a plot after all.”
She laughed lightly.
“At least now you don’t have to feel guilty.”
Felicity turned slowly. “Guilty about what?”
Derin’s eyes glinted—playful, but sharp. “Taking Charity’s man.”
The words landed like a slap.
Felicity straightened immediately. “I didn’t take anyone’s man.”
Derin shrugged lazily, lips curling. “Well…”
Felicity looked away.
She changed the topic so fast it was obvious. “Have you checked if the school projects for next semester has been approved?”
Derin laughed and followed along easily, letting the moment slip like it had never mattered.
But Felicity’s chest burned.
In her mind, the words replayed again and again.
Taking Charity’s man.
The audacity of it made something inside her harden. She stared out of the window, jaw tight, her heart shifting in ways she didn’t like.
She pulled out her phone quietly and opened the group chat with Victoria and Gwen.
Felicity:
You won’t believe what Derin just said to me.
Victoria:
Try us.
Gwen:
What did that one do now?
Felicity hesitated, then typed.
Felicity:
She said I was guilty for “taking Charity’s man.”
There was a pause.
Then the messages exploded.
Gwen:
EXCUSE ME??
Who does she think she is?
Victoria:
That girl is actually mad. Like clinically.
Gwen:
So now Leon is Charity’s personal property that nobody can exist around? Interesting logic.
Felicity swallowed the lump in her throat.
Felicity:
It just caught me off guard. I didn’t expect it.
Victoria:
You need to keep that girl at arm’s length. That wasn’t a joke. That was shade wrapped in a smile.
Gwen:
Exactly. Watch her. People that joke like that mean it.
Felicity stared at the screen, her earlier confusion settling into quiet awareness.
Maybe she had been trying too hard to believe Derin meant well.
She locked her phone and leaned back into her seat again, the road blurring past as something shifted quietly inside her.
Back in Leon’s apartment, the air felt close.
Charity moved like she owned every inch of the place now. One of Leon’s old hoodies hung off her frame, sleeves swallowing her hands, the collar slipping lazily off one shoulder.
She stepped into the game room with a plate of tacos. Leon was still slumped on the couch, controller in hand, eyes locked on the screen.
“I brought food,” she announced casually.
Leon didn’t look at her right away. “Leave it on the table.”
She did, watching him for a moment before sitting beside him. “We should talk about the wedding preparations.”
His hands stiffened on the controller.
“And your ring,” she added casually. “I think we should upgrade the wedding band to match it.”
At that, he finally turned to her.
“Do you even hear yourself?” he asked quietly.
Charity blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You spent a quarter of a million dollars on an engagement ring,” he said, voice rising slowly. “On my card. Without telling me.”
Her smile vanished instantly.
“Do you even care about this marriage?” he continued. “Or are you just in it for the spoils?”
The plate slipped from her hands.
Tacos scattered across the floor. The sound echoed too loudly in the room.
Charity froze.
Then her eyes filled with fire.
“So that’s what you think of me?” she snapped. “That I’m some gold digger?”
Leon stood, stress radiating off him. “You didn’t even ask me.”
She laughed sharply, tears threatening at the edges. “So that’s why you think I’d keep the baby, right? To trap you? To manipulate you?”
His mouth opened—but no words came.
“How dare you,” she whispered, shaking. “How dare you accuse me of carrying a child for material reasons?”
Then she turned and stormed upstairs.
Leon remained standing in the middle of the room, the tacos crushed beneath his feet.
The game time-out screen blinked silently on the television.
After a long moment, he dropped the controller.
Charity locked herself into the guest room, chest heaving. Her reflection in the mirror didn’t look victorious anymore. It looked cracked.
Behind her anger, something colder stirred.
Control.
On the bus, Derin finally dozed off against the window, headphones half-on. Felicity remained awake, arms folded tight across her chest, thoughts tangled and restless.
Charity’s Snap replayed in her mind.
Leon’s mention.
Derin’s words.
And the way guilt had been tossed at her like it was a stain she couldn’t wash off.
Her phone vibrated again.
A new message from Gwen.
Gwen:
You did NOTHING wrong. Don’t let anybody rewrite your story for you.
Felicity’s lips pressed together.
She typed one word.
Felicity:
Okay.
But deep down, she knew this break had only paused the war—not ended it.
And somewhere across the city, Leon sat in silence under the weight of everything he had shattered.