The door swings open with a sharp creak.Isabella steps inside, grocery bags balanced in both handsâbut when she sees my mother sitting on the couch, her expression freezes. The bags fall to the floor with a dull thud, apples rolling across the tiles like dropped marbles.Her eyes lock onto my mom. âWhat are you doing here?âCalmly, my mother stands. âThis is still my house,â she replies, chin slightly lifted. âChristopher and I made it 50/50. So technically, I should be asking you what youâre doing here.âI blink, stunned.That was news to me.All this time, I thought Dad got the house after the divorce. I didnât know they still shared it.But what really gets meâthe part that tightens my chestâis how Isabella knew who Mom was. To my knowledge, they had never met. Not once.Yet here they are, facing each other like bitter rivals whoâve done this before.Isabella doesnât blink. She leaves the door wide open behind her as she steps closer, eyes locked on Mom, not even sparing me a glan
âOliver!â I shout, breath hitching as I break into a run.My bag bounces against my side, my lungs burn, but I donât stop. Not even when Zane calls my name behind meânot angry, not smug, just⌠empty. Like he already knows heâs not part of the scene anymore.But right now, I donât care what he feels.Right now, Iâm chasing the one person I canât afford to lose.Oliverâs steps slow ahead, just enough.I push harder.âOliver, waitâplease!âHe doesnât stop. But he lets me reach him.He turns.And when our eyes meet, I feel something crumble.âWhat are you going to say?â he asks, voice quiet but sharp like broken glass. âThat what I saw wasnât what I saw? That he kissed you? That you tripped and fell into his mouth?âI wince. His words hit harder than a punch.âYouâre not going to say anything,â he says, shaking his head. âBecause thereâs nothing to say. The facts are there. Right in front of me. No lies. No accidents. Just truth.âI open my mouth. I really do. I want to explain, to make i
The scent of pine-scrub floor cleaner fills my lungs as I drag the brush along the grout lines. My fingers ache. My knees are bruised from hours on the tiles. My reflection in the polished oven door looks like someone elseâsomeone worn down, scraped hollow, obedient.Perfect.I lean forward, scrubbing harder.And thenâI feel him.A presence behind me, warm and close, and before I can turn, his hand slides over mine, stopping the brush mid-stroke.âAre you planning to die doing this?â Oliver murmurs, his voice low, rough with amusement. âBecause if so, youâre doing a hell of a job.âI donât move. I donât look up.âItâs your call,â I say evenly. âYou can either let me or stop me.âHis fingers tighten just slightly. âYou never ask for help,â he says, mouth closer nowâtoo close. âYou just punish yourself until you bleed. Itâs such a turn-on, itâs honestly rude.âI almost laugh. Almost.But then his thumb brushes the inside of my wristâjust onceâand the air leaves my lungs in a shaky breat
My fatherâs month of punishment couldnât have come at a worse timeâright in the middle of exam season. But I didnât argue. I didnât complain or plead my case. Maybe I was too tired. Maybe I didnât want to hear how much more disappointed he could be. Or maybe⌠maybe silence felt safer than being told, again, how much Iâd let him down.Besides, what would be the point?He wasnât listening anymore.And Isabella? Sheâs watching. Every step I take now is under her microscope.But thatâs fine.If I want to beat her, I canât charge in like I did last time. I need to play the long gameâearn her trust, get close, and wait for her guard to slip. Because I still believe sheâs hiding something. And now, with Oliver still by my side, even after everything, I know I wonât have to do this alone.So I start with the trash.Every bin in the houseâkitchen, bathrooms, laundry room. Itâs disgusting, humbling work. My palms sting from the sharp edge of a broken mug I didnât see, and the garbage bag leaks
The silence that follows my fatherâs words is thicker than the velvet curtain behind him. My lungs strain against it, the weight of my humiliation anchoring me to the polished floor.Isabella won more than a battle tonight.She won credibility.She won my father.She mightâve even won Oliver.And I lostâeverything I gambled, and more.I sit there, surrounded by clinking silverware and the faint hum of jazz, but all I hear is the low thud of my own heartbeat. The shame prickles under my skin like heat rash, crawling from my throat to the tips of my fingers.I have to leave. I canât stay hereânot under her smug gaze, not with Oliver looking at me like he doesnât know who I am anymore.I push my chair back, its wooden legs screeching slightly against the floor.But before I can rise, Dadâs voice cuts through the air.âSit down.âI freeze.Heâs not yelling. That wouldâve been easier to handle. But the calmness in his voiceâmeasured, deliberateâsomehow slices deeper.I obey, like a child c
Alan doesnât smirk when he speaksâhe sneers. Like heâs been waiting for this moment.âSo we graze where the grass is green, huh?â he says. âWhen Zane shines, you're with him. When Oliver shines, you abandon Zane like a shipwreck, left to rot at the bottom of the sea while you hop aboard a brand-new boat. And tomorrow, if Oliver stops shining, who will you choose next? The new captain, perhaps?âA few students nearby pause mid-step, ears twitching, catching the tension like static.But I donât flinch.I meet Alanâs eyes, calm and cutting. âIs that how you live, Alan? Jumping from one spotlight to the next because youâre too scared to stand still in the dark?âHis jaw tightens, but I go on.âYou talk like you know me, like you ever had the right. But hereâs the thingâyou werenât the storm. You were the wreckage. And Iâve already picked who I am, and who Iâm not going back to.âI step closer, voice low and sharp. âSo hereâs your answer: I donât need a captain. Iâm the damn ship.âAlan bl