LOGIN“Anthony! Bastian! Stop this madness!” Belle shouted.Anthony let out a harsh scoff. “Stay out of this, Belle!”“You’ve gone too far, Anthony! This doesn’t even make sense anymore!”But Anthony wasn’t listening.The fight between the two former friends began.The sound of heavy breathing and the scrape of feet against the mat filled the gym. Anthony lunged forward, attacking wildly. His punches were rough and unfocused, driven purely by brute force.Bastian, on the other hand, stayed defensive. He blocked and dodged, his eyes searching for an opening behind the storm of his friend’s anger.“Hit me, damn it! Fight me!” Anthony shouted as he threw a wide right hook.Bastian didn’t respond. He noticed Anthony’s shoulders trembling.Anthony wasn’t fighting Bastian.He was fighting himself.When Anthony charged again recklessly, Bastian saw a clear opening.With one swift, precise movement, Bastian drove a punch straight into Anthony’s stomach, followed by a sweep that sent him crashing on
The strong aroma of coffee usually calmed Belle, but today the steam rising from the latte in front of her tasted flat.A gentle tap made her flinch. She turned her head and froze when she saw Eve standing there.Eve looked at her with sympathy. News about Bastian and Renee’s upcoming wedding had already spread across Eastbourne.“I heard everything, Belle,” Eve said as she sat beside her and let out a quiet breath. “About Bastian and Renee.”Belle lowered her gaze, stirring her spoon slowly. “Yeah. There’s no way something like that wouldn’t spread around here.”“You’re right. Eastbourne is small. Especially when it involves Renee and Bastian. Not to mention… their baby.” Eve glanced at her carefully. “I know this must feel like being betrayed twice.”“I’ll get through it,” Belle said softly. “Thanks for still wanting to talk to me.”“I couldn’t stay silent forever, Belle.” Eve opened her arms and pulled her into a hug. “If you want to cry, just let it out.”“I don’t have any tears l
Bastian felt like a prisoner being dragged back to Eastbourne.Whether he wanted to or not, he had to leave the job he had just started building to meet Renee’s demands.At first, Renee had agreed to let him continue working out of town. But after that, everything turned into drama. Renee forced Bastian to quit his job, saying it was for the “sake” of the baby she was carrying.Pressure from Mr. Carlyle left Bastian with no way to refuse.Now he was back to square one. He was trapped in Renee’s grip again.And this time, the hold felt even tighter.Every step Bastian took through Eastbourne Square felt heavy. Beside him, Renee walked with her chin lifted high. Every now and then, she rubbed her still-flat stomach as if showing off her victory to the world.Renee stopped in front of a baby boutique, her eyes lighting up as she looked at the clothes on display. She turned to Bastian excitedly.“Look, Bastian. Those baby clothes are so cute, don’t you think? Which ones should we get? Blu
Anthony drove like a madman toward Renee’s apartment. The entire way there, he kept replaying the memory of that night in his head, even though it was still blurry to him. Still, Anthony knew what had happened between him and Renee.And sometime after that, Bastian had decided to leave the apartment.The timeline was too close.After parking the car, Anthony didn’t get out right away. He stayed inside, hesitating, unsure what he was going to say to Renee.Less than twenty minutes later, he saw Bastian walk out of the building.Bastian looked completely shaken. Devastated, even. He didn’t even notice Anthony’s car parked nearby.Bastian hurried off down the sidewalk.But Anthony was not here for him. Not now. The person he needed to see was Renee.Anthony finally stepped out of the car and approached the security guard in the lobby.“Can I help you?” the guard asked, confused.“Tell Renee Anthony is waiting downstairs. I need to talk to her. It’s important.”The guard nodded and called
Belle covered her face with her hands, still wrapped in boxing hand wraps. Her sobs grew louder, shaking her body violently. What she didn’t realize was that another set of footsteps had entered the gym and stopped not far from her.Anthony stood there, watching her.He watched his little sister slowly falling apart because of Bastian. And Anthony had already predicted something like this would happen.The age gap between Bastian and Belle was too wide—even if age itself wasn’t always the deciding factor. Still, there were too many things that made their relationship unlikely to last. Even though Bastian had already been gone from Eastbourne for the past month.Anthony let out a long breath. Even though he still felt tight with disappointment over his sister’s secret relationship, he couldn’t bear to see her like this. Watching Belle cry like that made his anger flare up again.Not at Belle. But at Bastian.Anthony stepped closer and crouched beside her. He hesitated for a moment befo
Eastbourne had never felt this cold before.Belle ignored every vibration from her phone as she stepped off the bus and walked along the sidewalk at midnight. Bastian’s name kept appearing on her screen, followed by message after message filled with apologies.But Belle couldn’t bring herself to read them.Every time she saw his name, the image of that pregnancy test with two blue lines slammed back into her mind. She stopped at a street intersection with no idea where she was going. She had even lied to Mr. Watson, saying she would be staying at Eve’s place that weekend.In the end, Belle hailed a taxi and went back home. She could come up with a thousand excuses for why she chose to return. Anything was better than listening to another explanation from Bastian.When she arrived home, Mrs. Watson opened the door and looked surprised to see her.“Didn’t you say you were staying at Eve’s this weekend?” her mother asked.In truth, Belle and Eve hadn’t really spent time together lately.
After that last game, Belle didn’t know anything about Bastian anymore. She hadn’t contacted Felix either, even though they went to the same college. Belle just completely shut herself off from everyone and kept to herself.She knew she still hadn’t moved on from Bastian, even if her lips said othe
"Come on, Sparrow." Bastian handed her the helmet."Hey, why aren't you answering me?" Anthony chuckled softly."Let it go, Belle needs to get home. Or do you want to drive her yourself?""Sorry, I've got a ton of work to finish."Belle just gave her brother a slight, wry grin before saying goodby
Feeling someone’s eyes on him, Bastian glanced toward the bar. His body froze when he spotted Belle sitting there. She immediately turned away, talking again to the boy beside her.Who is he? Bastian wondered.A splash of water pulled his attention back to Renee. She giggled and wrapped her arms ar
Anthony walked into the room and sat down next to Bastian. A long breath escaped from Belle’s brother’s nose. He turned toward Bastian. “Opening a pottery gallery, honestly, sounds lame. You’re known as a member of the Blackfist gang, an underground fighter. Your image would totally collapse, Bast







