LOGINThe whole crowd whispered in laughter and mockery as tears blurred my vision. This was not what I wanted for Danny, I never wanted to humiliate him…but here I am, damaging his reputation.
The way he is looking at me in fury and anger, I knew that even if he wanted to accept me…he would never do that now that his name is on the mud. I felt like it was going to be the end of the world when out of nowhere, someone stepped in beside me and pulled me closer to himself. I looked up and my eyes widened in shock and disbelief, it was Frank his hands were on my shoulders squeezing it gently and he winked at me. What the fuck is he doing!? “Hey, what’s going on? Why is everyone staring at her like that? Why are you bullying her about a story?” His voice was calm, yet authoritative. I looked up at him, stunned. My heart skipped a beat, staring at him, and the whole crowd gasps and murmurs. With a swift movement, he grabbed the novel from Sandra’s hand and that was when the laughter from the crowd died down into whispers and confusion. Danny and Sandra’s faces twisted as well in confusion and Sandra immediately said to him, “well, she wrote an erotic story about her stepbrother….she has a crush on him. That's disgusting!” She said everyone roared in agreement but Frank laughed out suddenly to my surprise and said to her. “A crush? That novel was written about me, clowns! So was this the cause of the whole bully?” When he said that my stomach twisted into knots and the words came like a punch. Is he trying to protect me? Danny’s eyes furrowed and he said, “Wait… why would Mimi write a love story about you?” he asked Frank. Frank’s expression was calm but then with a smug smirk he said, “Oh, you haven’t heard? Let me just brief the whole thing to you…”He said and turned back his gaze at me like he was trying to make a decision and then… “The fact is, Mimi is my girlfriend. We are dating.” My stomach dropped. DATING!? The words echoed in my head like a storm, unbelievable! The chaos and uproar that came after he said made my legs weakened and I staggered back. The voices around me sounded hollow and my vision blurred as I tried to process what had happened. Everything is happening so fast that my mind refuses to keep up. For a moment it felt like the embarrassment, the fear and the heartbreak paused as my eyes were stuck on Frank. The world tilted and I was caught between terror and relief…unsure of which way was up. My hands were still shaking from the shock as my hair dropped with water…the crowd murmured in shock and curiosity were on anyone's eyes as if waiting for the next gist. Somehow, I felt overwhelmed by his actions…I felt protected and cared for. It was obvious he was doing that to protect me, but why will he do that? Even after I slapped and insulted him earlier. Danny’s eyes were still locked in mine and I could see the confusion in them, as well as…something that feels like a glare of jealousy. I couldn’t tell, it was like he wanted to say something but wasn't ready to face it. My throat was dry and if I try to say something right now, it will come out hoarse…even if all of that was happening, I felt a pang of hope in me that at last, it seems like everything is shifting to my favour. Frank’s hands were still tightened around my shoulders, clinging me to himself as if I would break if he let go. Maybe this was a way out of the whole lie and humiliation. Is this love? Or another way to take his revenge on me? Frank’s grip on my shoulders tightened. Then, without warning, he leaned down and whispered against my ear, “Play along… or I tell them everything.” My breath hitched. Because I had no idea what everything meant. Before I could even process what Frank had said, Danny stepped forward. His jaw was clenched, his eyes dark in a way I had never seen before. “If that’s true,” he said coldly, staring straight at Frank, “then why did she beg me not to read that book?” The entire crowd went silent. And my blood ran cold.CHAPTER 68: Mimi’s Pov; I woke up with Frank’s name sitting heavy in my chest. Not the soft version of it. Not the one that made my stomach flutter or my knees feel weak. The other one. The version that felt like a bruise I kept pressing just to remind myself it was real. The room was quiet when I opened my eyes. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that made you feel like something had already happened and you’d missed it. My phone lay face-down on the desk where I’d dropped it last night, untouched since I’d stormed into my room and locked the door like the world was something I could shut out with a key. I lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything. Frank’s voice. His jaw clenched so tight it looked like it hurt. The way he didn’t chase after me this time. That was the part that scared me th
CHAPTER 67:Mimi’s Pov ;I didn’t sleep that night.Not the normal kind of sleepless where you toss and turn and count the cracks in the ceiling. This was the kind where your body was exhausted but your mind refused to shut up, like it was terrified that if it stopped talking, everything would collapse.Frank was asleep beside me.That alone should’ve been comforting. It should’ve anchored me. But instead, it made my chest ache in a strange, tight way, like I was holding my breath without realizing it.I lay there on my side, staring at the wall, listening to the slow rhythm of his breathing. He slept heavy, one arm thrown over my waist like I might disappear if he let go. His fingers twitched every now and then, tightening slightly, as if even in sleep he was making sure I was still there.I wondered what he was dreaming about.I wondered if I was in it.My phone buzzed softly on the nightstand.I froze.
CHAPTER 66:Mimi’s Pov;I didn’t sleep.I just lay there with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling like it had answers it was refusing to give me. The room smelled like Frank soap, faint cologne, something warm and dangerous and that alone made my chest hurt in a stupid, tight way.I hated that.Hated that even when he wasn’t here, he still took up space.Hated that my body remembered things my mind was trying to forget.Hated that every time I closed my eyes, I saw his hands. His mouth. The way he looked at me like I was something he wasn’t willing to lose.And maybe worse the way I wanted him to stay.I rolled onto my side and buried my face in my pillow, letting out a breath that came out shaky and ugly. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and my heart jumped like an idiot before I could stop it.Frank.Of course it was him.I didn’t pick it up immediately. I stared at the screen
CHAPTER 65:Mimi’s Pov;I didn’t mean to end up here.That’s the lie I keep telling myself while my fingers curl around the edge of the sink and my reflection stares back at me like it knows everything I’ve been trying to outrun. My eyes look older. Tired in a way sleep doesn’t fix. Like I’ve lived too many versions of myself in one body and none of them got a clean ending.The bathroom light hums. My heart hums louder.I thought choosing Frank would make things clearer. I really did. I thought once I said his name out loud once I let him touch me without pretending it was a performance, everything else would quiet down. The guilt. The noise. The ghost of Danny that still shows up when I’m not looking for him.But life doesn’t work like that. Love doesn’t either.I splash water on my face and let it drip down my wrists. Cold. Sharp. Grounding. Outside the door, I can hear laughter. Someone’s musi
Chapter 64:Mimi’s Pov;By the time I realized I was shaking, I was already standing in the middle of my room with the door closed behind me, my back pressed to it like something was chasing me. Maybe something was. Maybe everything was.My chest felt too tight, like I’d been holding my breath for days without knowing it. I slid down slowly until I was sitting on the floor, knees pulled to my chest, forehead resting against them.The silence in the room was loud. Deafening. It rang in my ears harder than shouting ever could.I kept replaying it.Frank’s voice.The look in his eyes.The way my name sounded when he said it low, careful, like it mattered too much.I hated that it still did things to me.I hated that even now, after everything, my heart didn’t know how to stop reacting to him.This was supposed to be easier by now. I was supposed to be stronger. Smarter. Less… breakable.But the
CHAPTER 63:Mimi’s Pov;I used to think pain had a sound.Like a scream.Or glass breaking.Or someone calling your name too late.But pain doesn’t sound like that.Pain sounds like nothing.It sounds like the quiet after a door closes.After footsteps fade.After you realize you’re alone in a room you swore someone would never leave you in.That was the sound sitting in my chest as I stared at my phone, the screen still lit from Frank’s last message.We need to talk.Four words.No emoji.No teasing nickname.No “glasses.”Just… final.I didn’t reply.I couldn’t.Because my hands were shaking and my throat felt like it had collapsed in on itself, like my body already knew something my heart was still too stupid to admit.I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling, counting the cracks like they might rearrange themselves into answers.This was







