Semua Bab The Bad Boy’s Regret: Bab 51 - Bab 60

GABRIELShe leaned forward, voice dropping. “He’s obsessed with Monica. And you? You’re getting played.” My hands curled under the water. The pool rippled with the force of it.Yeah, I was pissed. Pissed at her for talking. Pissed at him for making me doubt. Pissed at myself for caring this much.But I was listening. Damn it, I was listening. Zoey noticed and her smile sharpened. “You two keep hurting each other for no reason,” she said. “And guess who benefits? Her.”I glared, but she kept going, her tone dripping with manipulation dressed as sympathy. “She'll choose Damian at the end of the day because he's her first love. It's all already predestined. Unless…” I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to bite. But the poison was already in my bloodstream.“Unless what?” I muttered. Zoey’s eyes gleamed like she’d been waiting for that. “Unless you stop making it easy for them to sneak around.”I stiffened. “What are you talking about?”“I’m saying,” she whispered, leaning even closer, “ma

GABRIEL It was insane but the more I thought about it, the more the pieces lined up like they’d been waiting for me to notice.The mixed signals. The disappearing acts. The sudden sweetness. The way she pulled close then shoved away then pulled close again.She had me wrapped around her finger while she was crawling into the back of my own fucking car with Damian.I felt sick.My reflection in the window looked like I’d aged ten years in ten minutes. Eyes wild, hair a mess, chest rising like I couldn’t get enough air. I laughed once, a short, broken sound that tasted like bitterness.“I’m such an idiot,” I muttered, pressing my forehead against the glass. “A complete idiot.”Maybe I deserved it. Maybe every stupid second I spent thinking she could choose me was just karma making fun of me for believing in something as childish as honesty or loyalty or whatever the hell I thought she had.No wonder she was so nervous around me. No wonder she kept dodging the truth. No wonder she could

GABRIELThe bell rings and I knew the lecture was about to start so Monica would walk in soon. But I swear the moment they walked into class together something inside me just… snapped. Damian came in first and then Monica trailed behind him, cheeks lit up red like she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t. And of course she checked her phone and of course she went even redder which only meant one thing; Damian texted her something that made heat crawl up her neck. I watched the whole thing with this ugly twist in my stomach, something sour sitting under my ribs. I couldn’t breathe right. Couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t sit here and pretend any of this wasn't driving me nuts.So I stood up. Just stood up and walked out even though the professor yelled my name like he expected me to turn around and apologize or whatever. I didn’t. I didn’t owe anyone in that room a damn thing. Least of all myself.The rest of the day I kept doing this stupid cat-and-mouse shit with Monica

MONICAWhen I say nowhere I mean I checked every corner of campus like some deranged stalker and still kept coming up empty. My stomach rolling with this awful mix of nerves and guilt that made me feel like I’d misplaced my whole soul somewhere, and every classroom I peeked into, every hallway I searched just reminded me of how badly I’d messed everything up, how badly I needed to talk to him before things got worse, except it felt like he’d gone extinct or evaporated into thin air.When I finally found him by about to get into his car, my breath snagged because he didn’t even look surprised to see me. More like resigned. Like he already knew why I was there. What I didn't expect though was to be invited to a party. Dominic's birthday party. My heart twisted because he was offering me one night. One night before I tore everything down with the truth. One night before he realized he deserved better than the girl who have him false hope and lead him on just to ride his cousin at the ba

MONICADamian straightened slowly, his gaze never leaving mine, a smile tugging at his mouth that made my skin crawl. “Careful,” he said lightly, throwing a look around, “you don’t know the whole story.”I felt a presence beside me, solid, familiar, and suddenly Gabriel’s arm was there, not around me, but close enough to block, his face calm in a way that scared me more than anger would have.“Let’s go,” he said, not looking at Damian, not looking at Zoey, just at me.I nodded, numb, my legs moving on autopilot as he guided me away, the music swelling again like nothing had happened. I let Gabriel lead me away from them.I didn’t look back.Just as we walked, I saw a familiar figure. I almost missed him because the party kept swallowing people whole, bodies everywhere, loud music slamming into my ribs, cups clinking, someone laughing too hard like it hurt.But then I saw Julian near the kitchen counter with his back pressed to it like he needed something to lean on. His shoulders look