Chapter 14
The accusations burled at Xavion were like needles pricking his heart, leaving him in unbearable torment
Seeing him remain silent, Zara only grew more curaged. She was determined to get answers right there and then.
er saw her as my stand–in but as
“Does your silence mean you’re admitting it? Are you saying Camryn is more important to you than I am? That you never saw your girlfriend? That you’ve fallen for her? Xavion, tell me the truth!”
Xarion’s fragile composure teetered on the edge of collapse when he was bombarded with the questioning of someone he had once deeply loved.
He knew that tonight, many truths he’d been avoiding would come to light, and a resolution was inevitable.
But as Zara—the woman he had been thinking about for a decade–stood before him, he couldn’t bring himself to deny what she said. He couldn’t say no.
He couldn’t deny that Camryn had been his girlfriend
A thousand days and nights spent together–holding hands, sharing losses, embracing each other…
Without realizing it, Camryn had quietly seeped into his life like a gentle rain soaking the earth.
But she had been so quiet. Whether hurt or happy, she rarely made a sound, so much so that he had overlooked her presence and the fact that he had fallen for her.
It was only after losing her completely that he finally came to realize
When Camryn first entered his life, she might have been there as Zara’s stand–in. But by the time she left, she had become wholly and uniquely herself, shedding every label that had once defined her.
What Navion had lost wasn’t a stand–in. It was his girlfriend–a girlfriend who, like Zara, had spent three years by his side
No matter how many questions the crowd around him asked, Xavion remained silent
To Zara, his silence was as good as confirmation.
She had never imagined that the person she believed she held firmly in her grasp could be stolen away by someone she deemed a lowly imitation because of a moment of neglect.
Unable to just let this go and with no way to find Camryn, Zara unleashed all her fury onto Xavion
“Say something! Why won’t you speal? is it so hard to say she was just a fling? Haven’t you told countless people that she’s nothing but a stand–in? “Have you forgotten how you promised me you’d wait for me your whole life when we broke up? How could you go back on your word? It’s only been three years, and you’ve fallen for someone else! Is this what you call
Il true love?
“What does she have over me? From head to toe, she reeks of mediocrity. She’s someone completely unworthy of standing in the spotlight! Don’t you understand? For you to fall for a woman like her is an insult to me!”
Xavion had never seen Zara lose control like this.
In their relationship, Zara was always the untouchable and aloof one. She could effortlessly pull the strings with just a few words.
It was that air of detachment that had made him believe she didn’t care as deeply as he did.
But now, for the first time, he saw her raw emotions, unguarded and exposed–panic, unease, and pain.
These emotions should have been enough to soothe his wavering heart
But to Xavion, who was caught in his own turmoil, her outburst was like all poured on an already raging fire, only amplifying the torment in his chest.
He couldn’t understand why Zara could leave him behind for seven years if she cared so much about him and their relationship
Xavion clenched his fists tightly, his reddened eyes locked onto Zara as he finally asked the questions he had held back for so long
“And what about you? Why did you break up with me and leave the country just when I was in so deep? Why disappear for seven years? You never truly let good me, did you?”
“I just wanted to see if you meant what you said about loving me, and only me, for your whole life! Did you? No, you didn’t! You tell for Camryn! You broke your promise!”
Zara, who had completely lost her composure, spoke without any thought.
Upon hearing such an absurd reason, Xavion froze. He never imagined that the seven years he had lost were merely to test the sincerity of his heart. When they were together, he had almost given her everything, to the point of offering his very life. After they broke up, he had fallen apart for three whole years before he could finally pull himself together.
And yet, Zara believed that Xavion’s love was false, his sincerity a lie.
In that instant, everything that had sustained him for the past ten years–the trust, the resolve, and the devotion–collapsed and shattered into pieces.
Looking at the person standing before him, whose features were so familiar they were etched into his memory, he now found her utterly unfamiliar – the last shred of longing and unfulfilled desire dissolved completely at that moment
Xavion looked down and uttered quietly as though drained of all strength, “Yes, I broke my promise. Let’s end it here”
