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Semua Bab When We Fall: Bab 1 - Bab 10

33 Bab

FOUR YEARS LATER

CHAPTER 1 PART 1: “I Saw Him…” “I don’t believe this is how I met Ethan again after so many years.” The words formed in my head before I could stop them. They hovered there, heavy and unreal, like I’d said them out loud to an empty room. Did he see me? Did he not? I still didn’t know the answer, and that scared me more than I cared to admit. Oh sorry. My name is Maya Lancaster. I’m twenty-six years old. I’m the daughter of a billionaire. I’m the CEO of a beauty brand people call fast-rising, unstoppable, visionary. And none of that mattered the moment I saw him again. I stood behind my office desk now, fingers resting lightly on the smooth marble surface, the city stretching endlessly beyond the glass walls. From forty floors up, everything looked small. Cars crawled like insects. People were dots moving with purpose. Power hummed quietly around me this office, this building, this life I built with my own hands after leaving the country. My assistant knocked softly before ent

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FIRST SIGHT

CHAPTER 2 PART 1 “Ethan Cruz… you’re still ruining me.” The words echoed in my chest, folding time in on itself. And suddenly, I wasn’t standing in a glass office anymore. I was eighteen again. Freshman year. The air smelled different back then cleaner somehow, mixed with freshly cut grass and ambition. The kind of air that made you feel like anything was possible, even if you didn’t know what you wanted yet. The university gates rose in front of the car as the driver slowed to a stop. My reflection stared back at me from the tinted window, soft makeup, glossy lips, and hair perfectly styled. I looked exactly like what people expected. A Lancaster. The door opened. “Miss, we’ve arrived.” I stepped out, heels clicking softly against the pavement. Conversations paused around me, not fully, just enough. People always noticed. Expensive cars had a way of announcing themselves before the person inside ever spoke. Behind me, another car pulled in this one carrying my luggage,

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CLOSE ENOUGH

CHAPTER 3 PART 1 walking distance The night air wrapped around them as they moved away from the noise of the courtyard. Music faded behind them, replaced by the softer sounds of campus at night footsteps on pavement, distant laughter, the low hum of streetlights. Ethan didn’t touch her, but he walked close enough that Maya could feel the warmth of him through the thin space between their arms. It was deliberate. She noticed. “So,” she said, breaking the silence easily, “you always escape parties this fast?” “I don’t usually come to them,” he replied. “Yet here you are.” He glanced at her briefly. “You’re observant.” “I like knowing what I’m getting into.” “That makes one of us.” She smiled at that, turning her head slightly to look at him. Up close, his face was sharper than she remembered strong jaw, focused eyes, the kind of calm that felt earned, not practiced. “You’re not what I expected,” she said. “And what did you expect?” She shrugged lightly. “Someone louder.

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LINES WE DON’T CROSS

Chapter 4 PART 1 — Unsaid things By the third week of freshman year, people had started noticing. Not loudly. Not officially. But in the quiet way rumors form through glances held a second too long, through patterns that repeat themselves until they feel intentional. Maya and Ethan. They weren’t a couple. They didn’t hold hands. They didn’t sit pressed together or whisper in corners. But they were always… there. Walking side by side across campus. Sitting across from each other in the café. Leaving lectures at the same time even when they entered separately. Maya noticed the looks before Ethan did. Or maybe he noticed and simply chose not to react. They were walking toward the science building when a group of girls passed them, their laughter soft but deliberate. One of them glanced back, eyes lingering on Ethan, then flicked to Maya with something sharp behind the smile. Maya didn’t slow. But she leaned just slightly closer to Ethan as they walked. He adjusted instantly

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WHERE HE COMES FROM

CHAPTER 5 PART 1 — THE PLACE HE HIDES Maya woke before her alarm. That almost never happened. For a moment, she lay still, staring at the ceiling, the memory of Ethan’s last message hovering just beneath her thoughts. Tomorrow. Come with me. No explanation. No reassurance. Just trust. She rolled onto her side and checked her phone. No new messages. The silence didn’t make her anxious it made her curious. By late afternoon, she was ready. She wore something simple again, comfortable jeans, flat shoes, a light jacket. Nothing that announced who she was, or where she came from. Somehow, she knew that mattered today. She was waiting near the campus gate when she heard the engine. The sound was unmistakable now. She turned just as Ethan pulled up on his motorbike, helmet on, posture easy and familiar. He cut the engine and removed the helmet, meeting her eyes. “You ready?” he asked. She smiled. “You still haven’t told me where we’re going.” He handed her a spare helmet. “I

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THE COST OF WANTING

CHAPTER 6 PART 1 WHEN POWER SHOWS ITS TEETH Maya knew something was wrong the moment she stepped out of her morning lecture. It wasn’t obvious. Nothing dramatic. No shouting. No confrontation. Just the air. Too still. Too aware. Her phone vibrated in her hand. Unknown Number: Stop seeing him. Her fingers froze. She read it again. Once. Twice. Her chest tightened not with fear, but recognition. She didn’t reply. Another message came almost instantly. Unknown Number: You are embarrassing your family. Her jaw clenched. Then the third message arrived, slower. Deliberate. Unknown Number: He will pay for your stubbornness. That one made her stop walking. The noise of campus faded as blood rushed in her ears. Students passed her, laughing, talking, living in a world untouched by the thing pressing down on her lungs. She typed back with controlled hands. Maya: Who is this? The reply came after a pause. Unknown Number: Someone who can en

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THE HOUSE THAT TAUGHT HER SILENCE

CHAPTER 7 PART 1 BLOOD IS NOT ALWAYS WARM The gates closed behind Maya with a sound that echoed too loudly in her chest. The Lancaster estate looked the same as it always had wide driveway, manicured hedges, lights glowing softly behind tall glass windows but the familiarity didn’t comfort her tonight. It suffocated her. She stepped out of the car slowly, smoothing her jacket, steadying her breath. Her driver avoided her eyes, hands tight on the steering wheel. “Good night, Miss,” he said carefully. Maya nodded and walked toward the house alone. The front door opened before she reached it. Her mother stood there. Elegant. Controlled. Furious. “You came home late,” her mother said. Maya stepped inside without answering. The door shut behind her with a final click. “I asked you a question,” her mother said sharply. “I heard you,” Maya replied. “I don’t owe you an explanation.” The slap came without warning. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just sharp enough to turn Maya’s hea

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THINGS THAT MOVE IN THE DARK

CHAPTER 8 PART 1 THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE Ethan learned quickly that threats didn’t always come as words. Sometimes they came as absences. The delivery request that never arrived. The part-time job interview that was suddenly “filled.” The bank notification that flagged his account for review without explanation. Nothing that screamed danger. Everything that whispered it. He noticed it all. He just didn’t tell Maya. That morning, he stood outside the supermarket with his father, watching the delivery truck pull away. “They cut our supply again,” his father said, rubbing his hands together slowly. “Third time this month.” Ethan nodded. “I’ll talk to the distributor.” His father looked at him carefully. “You don’t have enemies, do you?” Ethan didn’t hesitate. “No.” That was the first lie of the day. Maya had fashion theory at ten, but she couldn’t focus. Her pencil hovered above the page as the professor spoke about structure and intention, but her thoughts kept drifting

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THE SPACE BETWEEN WORDS

CHAPTER 9 PART 1 WHEN LOVE ASKS QUESTIONSMaya realized something was wrong the moment Ethan didn’t answer her call.It was a small thing. Insignificant, really. He’d missed calls before during class, during shifts, during moments when life simply pulled him elsewhere.But this time felt different.She stood by the window in her dorm room, phone pressed to her ear long after it had stopped ringing. Outside, the campus hummed with its usual noise, laughter, footsteps, music drifting faintly from somewhere but inside her chest, everything felt muted.She checked the time.6:47 p.m.She tried again.Straight to voicemail.Her stomach tightened.Maya, don’t overthink, she told herself.You promised yourself you wouldn’t do that.Still, she grabbed her jacket and headed out.Ethan sat in his car two blocks away, engine off, phone face down on the passenger seat.He could see the glow of her dorm windows from here if he leaned forward slightly.He didn’t.The man’s voice echoed in his head

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WHAT THEY CHOOSE

CHAPTER PART 1 WHEN RUNNING STOPS Ethan didn’t drive home. He turned the car around. The city lights blurred past his windshield, neon and white streaking together as if the world itself couldn’t keep still. His hands were steady on the wheel, but his chest felt tight, compressed by something heavier than fear. He had spent too long reacting. Too long to absorb. For too long believing endurance was the same as strength. Maya’s face rose in his mind not crying, not afraid, but standing in front of him, eyes clear, voice steady, refusing to be protected into silence. That’s what they don’t understand, he thought. She doesn’t break. She confronts. He pulled up outside her dorm and parked crookedly, not caring. This time, he didn’t hesitate. Maya was sitting on her bed when the knock came. She wasn’t surprised. She stood slowly, heart hammering, and opened the door. Ethan stood there, breathing slightly harder than usual, hair mussed, jacket half-zipped like he’d forgotte

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