You Left, I Could Have Fixed Us

Chapter TwoMaya’s POV“You’re pathetic, Maya. Still crying over me?”The words burned across my phone screen like fire. Alvarez’s message stared back at me, and for a second, I thought I could hear his voice, low and cruel, slipping through the walls of my apartment.I gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white. My chest rose and fell fast, my breath sharp and uneven. My hands were shaking, but I refused to drop it. I hated how his words still had the power to rip me apart.“Bastard,” I whispered, tossing the phone onto the couch. I buried my face in my hands, pressing my palms against my eyes, willing the sting of tears to go away.A knock rattled my door, soft at first, then louder. “Maya, open up. I know you’re in there.”It was Leah.I dragged myself across the room, wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve, and pulled the door open. Leah’s eyes darted to my face, catching the redness I couldn’t hide. She sighed, brushing past me without asking for permission.“You’ve been

Chapter Four Alvarez’s POV “Say her name one more time, Diego, and I’ll break your jaw.” The words exploded out of me before I could stop them. They hung in the air between us, hot and sharp. The bar wasn’t crowded, but loud enough that people turned their heads at my voice. Diego froze, cue stick half raised, his eyes narrowing like he wasn’t sure if I was bluffing or dead serious. I wasn’t bluffing. He set the cue down slowly, leaning it against the pool table before crossing his arms over his chest. His stare pinned me the way only family could, with history and blood behind it. “You’re not angry at me, Alvarez. You’re angry at yourself.” I took another swallow of my beer, forcing the burn down my throat. I didn’t answer right away. I hated that he could cut through me like that, hated that the truth sat so close under my skin I couldn’t breathe without feeling it. Diego didn’t let up. “You cheated. You lied. You made her feel like she wasn’t enough. That’s not on her. That’

Chapter six Alvarez’s POV The glass slipped from my hand and shattered against the kitchen floor. I barely noticed. My chest was pounding so hard it felt like the walls were pressing in, and I hated that even now, even when she was gone, my first thought was her name. Maya. I cursed under my breath and leaned against the counter, staring at the shards scattered across the tiles. A part of me wanted to leave them there, let them cut into my feet until I bled, just so the pain would make sense. But another part of me hated the mess, hated how it reminded me of what she said the night she left. “You ruin everything you touch, Alvarez. Even me.” I squeezed my eyes shut, hearing her voice like it was yesterday. I wanted to scream, to tear through the silence of this apartment, but the only sound was the ringing in my head. That was when the knock came. Sharp. Impatient. I thought about ignoring it. But whoever was on the other side kept going, knocking louder until it was a

Chapter Eight Alvarez’s POV The message left my phone faster than my brain could stop it. Fourteen words. Fourteen words that burned through the silence of my apartment and made my chest feel like it was caving in. Guess what, Maya. I fucked her. And you’re no better than me. I dropped the phone onto the couch like it had bitten me. My head fell into my hands, fingers digging into my scalp. What the hell had I just done? I didn’t even sleep with Sofia. I stopped it. I pushed her away. But instead of telling the truth, instead of holding on to the one shred of decency I had left, I sent a message designed to destroy Maya. Because I was angry. Because I was broken. Because somewhere deep down, I wanted her to feel what I felt. Empty. But the second it was sent, regret sank its claws into me. There was no taking it back. The silence of the apartment mocked me. The walls, the bottles on the counter, the faint smell of Sofia’s perfume still clinging to the air—it all remi

Chapter Ten Alvarez’s POV I stared at the empty glass in my hand and wondered when it had turned into a habit. The whiskey sat like fire in my chest, dulling the storm in my head for only a moment before the thoughts came back stronger. Every time I tried to close my eyes, I saw her. Maya, standing in the doorway of my apartment that night, eyes red but still burning with that mixture of anger and love. She had begged me to fight for us. And I had turned away. Now it was all I could think about. The phone on the table lit up with a message from Diego. I ignored it. He had been on my back since everything went down. At first, I thought it was just him trying to meddle, but the more he pressed, the more I realised he was the only one who saw straight through me. I ran a hand over my face and leaned back in the chair. The apartment felt too quiet. Too sterile. Like even the walls missed her laughter. I had always told myself I needed space, needed control. But the truth was, I