Chapter 4

After her birthday, Faye—the girl who used to keep to the sidelines—was suddenly welcomed by the whole class.

Of course, it was because of Jace.

And thanks to my "generosity," he stopped even pretending to hide it.

Dresses. Bags. Shoes.

Food. Drinks. Whatever she needed.

Anything he bought for me, she got a matching version.

A couple of my close friends couldn't take it anymore.

"How can Jace do this? He's never been close to another girl."

"And now he's glued to Faye. Do you know what his friends call her? Jace's new girl."

Every word hit.

I was about to tell them to drop it when Jace stormed into the classroom with a camera in his hand. Faye hurried in after him, trying to stop him.

He'd clearly heard enough.

"Nadia," he said coldly, "so it really was you."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He slammed the camera down on the desk.

The bang sent more students crowding the hallway windows.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace stood off to the side, sneering.

"I knew it. You pretending not to care? Total fake. You just wanted to screw her over when no one was looking."

I picked up the camera and opened the gallery.

Photo after photo.

Faye changing during swim class.

Her pale shoulders. Her narrow waist. And then—

A completely bare back.

Jace let out a humorless laugh.

He pulled up the school forum and shoved the phone toward my face.

"This camera—I brought it back for you from Paris. Your name's engraved on it. And now it's full of Faye's private photos. They're already online. People are calling her a side chick. Nadia Nielsen, explain yourself."

I hadn't expected that after just a few days, the boy who once loved me like that would use my full name.

I let out a quiet, cold laugh. "There's nothing to explain."

The classroom exploded.

My closest friends panicked.

"Why aren't you telling him the camera was lost? There was only one swim class! You were on your period that day—you weren't even there!"

"There's no point."

I let the camera drop to the floor and looked straight at Jace, like I was ready to take whatever came next.

And then—

He apologized to Faye.

In front of everyone.

"I'm sorry. This is Nadia's fault. I'll make it up to you for her."

Faye rushed to him, eyes red, and the two of them walked out without looking back.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace left me with one last look—nothing but contempt.

***

For the next few days, I didn't see teenage Jace once.

Instead, people kept shoving Faye's social media in my face.

Under a sky full of stars, inside a softly lit tent, there was a photo of two silhouettes, their arms brushing.

Faye captioned it:

[I was just dust, but someone told me I'm the brightest star in his eyes.]

I stared at that line.

My phone buzzed twice in my pocket.

A message from Jace popped up.

[Nadia, Faye agreed not to make this a big deal. I'll come back tonight and stay with you.]

I let out a quiet laugh and shook my head.

Then I blocked him on everything and walked out of school alone.

I took one last look at the Blackwell estate—the place I'd lived for over ten years.

I was about to drag my suitcase toward the car when the front gates were kicked open.

"Nadia! Where did you hide Faye? Hand her over right now, you psycho!"

The older Jace and the younger Jace stood in front of me, the same rage in both their eyes.

My voice shook. "I don't know."

"Who else would do this besides you?"

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace lunged at me. Teenage Jace grabbed him, stopped him, then forced himself to calm down.

"Nadia. Just tell me. Where is Faye? She already said she'd let this go. But tonight, right after she got home, she called me. She said someone was harassing her. She was crying."

Crying.

That word again.

In my last life, when my mom died after being hit by Faye, he used that same excuse to make me forgive her.

I glared at him.

"I said I don't know! I don't know! What does her crying have to do with me?"

Smack.

The sound cracked through the air as Jace's hand hit my face.

Even the bodyguards who had just run in froze.

"Sir—M-Ms. Whitmore's been found. It was those guys from the lounge..."

The hand he'd used to slap me started shaking.

The sting burned across my cheek.

When he saw the mark on my face, regret flickered in his eyes.

"Nadia, I'm so—"

Twenty-eight-year-old Jace cut him off. "What are you apologizing for? Go save Faye."

He dragged his younger self away.

Even though Jace kept looking back at me, standing there stunned, he didn't stay.

From that moment on—

The Jace of my past, my present, and my future were all gone.

"Good."

I let out a dry laugh, slipped off the couple's ring, and threw it away.

Then I walked into the silent night.

Jace Blackwell—

We'd never see each other again.