All Chapters of The Man I Was Meant to Hate: Chapter 81 - Chapter 88

Ava's POVThe room they bring me into has no windows.That’s the first thing I notice. Not the guards. Not the cameras tucked into the corners like silent eyes. The lack of windows makes the air feel thicker, like truth has trouble breathing here.The table is metal. But I didn’t move. That was the first thing I noticed about myself.The man across the table had finished speaking. His words still hung between us like smoke. Public silence. Safety. A deal wrapped in calm language. Liam was beside me, tense but quiet, his knee brushing mine under the table like a reminder that I was not alone.But my body refused to react. Because it wasn’t the words that mattered. It was the voice. Low. Careful. Soft at the edges. Polished in that way men learn when they spend their lives behind doors that close quietly. It carried a slight break on certain consonants. A pause before names. A gentleness that pretended to be concern.The same voice I had heard through distorted audio weeks ago. The sam

Ava's POVLiam’s yes still echoed in my chest when everything shifted. Not loudly. Not dramatically. It was the quiet kind of shift. The kind that happens when the ground beneath you decides it was never solid to begin with.Rylan left an hour later, promising updates, promising caution, promising nothing would move without us knowing. I believed he meant it. I also knew belief did not equal safety anymore.Liam made tea again. Strong this time. British, he said, like it was armour. We sat at the small kitchen table, knees brushing, steam curling between us. For a moment, we were just two people breathing in the same space.Then my phone vibrated.Once.I didn’t look at it right away. I knew that was fear. I let it be there, resting under my palm, buzzing again like it was impatient.Liam noticed. He always did.“Do you want me to—” he started.“No,” I said softly. “I’ve got it.”I picked up the phone.It wasn’t a message. It was a secure alert. One I hadn’t seen since the first heari

Ava's POV The studio smells like old coffee and fresh paint. I notice that first because I’m still learning how to calm my body. It looks for small things. Safe things. Ordinary details that tell me I am not in a courtroom, not in a sealed room with men who never blink.Just a studio. Grey walls. One table. Two chairs. And a choice.Liam sits a few feet away, not beside me. That was my decision. If I look at him too much, I might soften. And today is not for soft.The reporter enters gently. No camera crew. No lights yet. Just a notebook and a recorder placed gently on the table, like a question waiting to breathe.Thank you for agreeing to this, she says with her voice calm. Clear. Not hungry.I didn’t agree to everything, I reply. “Only what I choose.”She nods. “Of course.”That matters more than she knows.Then we sit beside each other. She doesn’t start recording right away. Instead, she asks if I want water. Suppose the chair is comfortable for me. If I need a moment.I almost

Ava's POV I don’t sleep. I just lie on the bed and watch the ceiling change colour as the night moves on. Grey to darker grey. The hum of the city never fully stops. Somewhere, a siren rises and fades. Somewhere else, a door slams. Life keeps happening as if nothing has cracked open.Liam sleeps on the chair by the window. Not properly. One arm folded across his chest, head tipped forward, like he’s ready to wake the second I move. He said he’d stay. I didn’t argue.Tomorrow is the hearing. A sealed one. Another room I won’t be allowed into. Another decision was made without me.Ethan’s voice keeps looping in my head. The notebook. The hinge squeaked.I press my palms over my eyes.For years, I told myself he was just someone who passed through my life. Someone helpful. Someone kind. Someone I lost because the world is careless.That lie was easier. The truth is heavier.He was family.Not by blood. By choice. By the quiet way he stayed when everyone else left.I sit up before the th