All Chapters of Fragile Ties Of Love: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The worst part about knowing you’re about to ruin someone’s world is realizing how much you’ve come to love living in it. That thought echoed in my head as I watched Zara laugh with Kaylee from across the dance floor. Her smile was effortless tonight, her guard down for the first time since I met her. She wasn’t scanning the room for threats. She wasn’t watching her back. She was just… happy. Because of me. Because she trusted me. And I was about to destroy that. “I’ll be back,” I said, leaning toward her and pressing a soft kiss to her temple. “I’m going to say hi to a few of the guys.” She nodded, still laughing at something Kaylee said, and squeezed my hand before letting go. That small, unconscious gesture made my chest tighten. I walked off without looking back — because if I looked again, I wouldn’t be able to do this. I found the guys — Matteo, Lucas, Levi and Mason — standing by the back exit near the gym’s side hallway. They looked hyped up, already grinning

ZARA The cool night air wraps around me like a blanket I didn’t ask for. I sit alone on the concrete steps outside the venue, away from the golden lights and sparkling gowns, away from the music that still floats in the air like everything isn’t falling apart. I hug my arms around myself. I haven’t cried — not yet. My eyes burn, but the tears haven’t fallen. Maybe I’m still in shock. Maybe I’m just too numb to let them fall. How could I have been so stupid? I lean forward, pressing my palms into my knees, staring down at my heels. The same heels I hesitated to wear. The same ones Kaylee picked out for me during our shopping trip. I suddenly feel ridiculous in them. Ridiculous in this dress. Ridiculous for ever thinking I belonged beside someone like Liam. A soft shuffle behind me breaks my thoughts. I don’t have to look up to know who it is. “Kaylee,” I murmur, exhaling slowly. She walks quietly, and then I see her sit down beside me. Neither of us says anything for a se

ZARA I didn’t remember the ride home. I didn’t remember the soft rumble of the car engine, the hum of streetlights passing overhead, or the feel of my heels slipping off my aching feet as I stumbled through the door. All I remembered was the heaviness. The kind that sits in your bones. The kind that wraps around your chest and doesn’t let go. The kind that makes each breath feel like an act of defiance. The moment my bedroom door shut behind me, I broke. Like glass—silent at first, then suddenly too loud. Too sharp. Too shattered. I didn’t even make it to my bed. I collapsed just a few steps in, sinking to the floor, my emerald dress pooling around me like the final cruel reminder of what tonight was supposed to be. Of who I was supposed to be. Beautiful. Loved. Chosen. Instead, I’d been a joke. A carefully executed punchline in someone else’s game. And it hurt. God, it hurt. I curled in on myself as sobs wracked through me. It was like my body had been waiti

I’m still in the dress. The emerald green velvet that shimmered under the lights at prom now clings to me like a cruel reminder. It’s wrinkled, stained with tears and makeup, the corset tighter than I remember, like it’s trying to suffocate the pain right out of me. My heels are gone—I think I left them on the driveway when I stumbled inside. But the pain? That followed me up the stairs, into my room, and straight into my bed like an uninvited guest. And now I’m lying here, my face pressed into my pillow, mascara streaking across the cotton, sobbing like a child who just learned the world isn’t as kind as they believed. My body shakes with every breath. I try to hold it in, try to convince myself I’ve cried enough. That I should stop. That I should pull myself together. But the tears won’t stop. They just… won’t. “Why did it hurt this much?” I whisper into the empty dark. “Why him?” He knew. He knew how broken I already was. How hard it was for me to trust anyone. And I

LIAM The hospital room is silent, except for the soft beep of the heart monitor and the occasional shuffle of nurses’ shoes in the hallway. My head is throbbing with dull pain, and my face feels like it’s been run over by a truck—twice. The gauze under my nose is stiff with dried blood, and my right eye is almost swollen shut. But none of that hurts as much as what’s tearing me up inside. Zara’s face. The way it crumbled. The way her eyes begged for a truth I couldn’t give her. The way she froze when I delivered the final blow. “Don’t be silly. You’ll never be my type.” God, what the hell is wrong with me? I close my eyes, but I see her again—twirling for me in her emerald prom dress, cheeks flushed, eyes hopeful. I saw it all in her eyes: trust. Love. She really believed I was hers. And I crushed her. I don’t know how long I’ve been lying here, but the silence becomes unbearable. My fingers twitch, restless. I need a distraction. I reach for my phone, trying not to