로그인PRESENTGRAYSON’S POV:Her words hit harder than a blade. Every apology I’d rehearsed over the years suddenly felt useless.“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “There isn’t a word strong enough for what I did to you. For what I cost you.”She put the glass down on the table hard enough to make it rattle.“Your sorry doesn’t change the past, Vexley,” she said. “Doesn’t change the fact that I suffered for years because of you.”I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet her eyes. “I don’t expect forgiveness. I just… I needed you to know I never stopped being sorry.”She shook her head, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. “Your words mean nothing to me, Grayson. It’s too fucking late.”“Sel-”“I loved you.” Her voice broke on the word. “I fucking loved you. Do you even realize that?”I flinched, her words stealing my breath. Because it sounded like resignation, like a past she’d never go back to.“I trusted you,” she went on, voice rising. “Again and again. Even when I knew better. Even when you hadn
PastSELENE'S POV:I ran all the way home.I escaped through the secret passage and then I ran until every breath I took burned its way out of my chest and until the pain in my legs blurred every thought in my head.I stopped in front of the wrought-iron gates, feeling the wet tear tracks on my face for the first time.I doubled over, hands on my knees, my mind already buzzing with what my next distraction could be.Because standing still meant thinking about what had happened. And I would've rather torn through the tendons in my legs running than do that.But as soon I pushed the iron gates open, the thought evaporated my mind, replaced by a sinking feeling in my stomach.Something was very wrong.At this time of the day, Beverly Manor was peacefully quiet. A kind of silence that lulled you in.But right now, there was a restlessness within as I crossed the walkway to the front door.The entire staff seemed to be on their feet, flurrying in and out of the house. Their voices carried
PastGrayson's POV Selene was looking at her phone when I stopped in front of her. She looked up, visibly startled at seeing me. She’d been desperately trying to contact me the entire past week. The uncountable missed calls on my phone were proof enough that she’d lost sleep over me more than she’d done over her admissions.“Grayson-” she whispered, her voice catching in her throat. “What…Are you okay?”She stood up from the edge of the fountain and I took a step back. Distance was everything I had or I would have shattered.She stared at me and it took her barely a second to recognize the look on my face. She’d seen it before. She was acquainted with it all too well.It was the look of destruction and it was all the warning I could afford.I also knew - painfully, aching - that she would not heed it.“You don’t have to do this, Vexley,” she said softly. “You don’t have to do anything he told you to.”“But I do,” I said. My voice sounded flat, unfamiliar. “I want to.”She opened her
PRESENT GRAYSON’S POV: Selene had, to her credit, at least sat in the front seat this time. Still, she made no effort to talk so I’d let the silence stretch, letting her have this small win. “We’re in the middle of nowhere,” she said the moment I parked the car at the outskirt of the forest. “Again.” But I caught the flicker of recognition in her eyes the moment she stepped out of the car. “Where are we?” she asked, voice softer now, curiosity slipping through her composure as the moonlight caught in her hair. “You said last time that I was predictable,” I said, stepping beside her. “So, I thought I’d try something new.” I paused, letting her look around. “Or you know, something old just to rekindle some memories.” She scoffed but held my arm when I offered it to her. I led her through the pathway surrounded by thick trees and the hardness melted off her face like magic. “Oh, god,” she whispered as she gazed at the millions of lanterns littering our path, glowing like gol
Past Selene's Pov I had a plan and even though Maya had warned me that day on the secret stairway that challenging Grayson Vexley would never end well but after what he’d done to my project, I couldn’t care less. Before he could say anything else, the beaker hissed louder. We both turned. The solution inside was foaming, climbing the glass like it wanted to escape. “Shit,” I muttered. “It’s going to overflow.” Grayson was already moving. “It’s reacting too fast. We used too much H₂O₂.” I grabbed the sodium bicarbonate. “We can buffer it - slow the reaction.” “Won’t work. The solution’s too acidic. Look at the color shift.” “It’s not the pH, it’s the rate.” I twisted the cap open. “Bicarb will still neutralize some of the reactive oxygen.” He hesitated, then passed me the stirring rod. I ignored the way his fingers brushed mine - barely a graze, but enough to make my pulse jump in irritation more than anything else. I stirred. The hissing dulled, foam settling.
PAST SELENE’S POV: I adjusted the tiny robot I spent the last three weeks working on, making sure each wire sat just right as I made my way down the hall toward class. I spotted Grayson without even realizing that I was looking for him. It had been seven hours of Grayson Vexley not being the arrogant, sharp-edged version I knew since the first week of school. I remembered the sound of his laugh. I remembered—though hazily—how gently he touched me when he found out I was drugged. More than that, he listened. I didn’t know Grayson was capable of doing that. And for the first time, I saw him as something human. Something more. I shook off the thought before it could stick. Just because he was not an absolute monster doesn’t mean I could put a name to whatever the thing was between us. But when his head lifted and our eyes met across the hallway, the corners of my mouth tugged upward anyway. After last night, things between us felt different. Softer. Still charged, still sharp, but
PRESENTGRAYSON’S POV:“So?” Selene demanded the second she crossed the threshold of my office, arms folded over her chest so tightly like she wanted to weld them there forever.“Take a seat,” I said with every ounce of patience teenage Grayson would’ve burned through in a second.She rolled her ey
PRESENTSELENE’S POV:“Hale!” Grayson’s voice made my skin erupt in goosebumps and I swallowed down the sudden burst of fear that crawled up my throat.The girl I was chatting with stood up straighter, her wide eyes darting towards the door of his office, where Grayson stood, thunder etched into e
PAST SELENE’S POV:Zoey picked up my call on the second ring. My world could be falling apart but I knew I could always count on her to always be meticulously consistent.“Oh, my God, finally!” Zoey exclaimed, her face popping onto my screen. Her dark almond eyes shone with mischief, her dark hair
PASTGRAYSON’S POV:“Dude!” Nate exclaimed from the bed behind me, tossing his controller aside. It bounced twice before landing on the edge of the mattress.I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face as I whirled around in my chair to face him.“You clearly cheated,” Nathan said with a ro







