Forbidden obsession ; She’ll be the death of me 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 71 - 챕터 80

ALESSIA’s POV. The first thing I saw was a big, blurry smear of white. It took me a second to realize I was looking at my ceiling, but my eyes just wouldn’t focus. A brutal hangover headache slammed into my brain, a direct punishment for all the alcohol I drank last night. Through the open window, I could hear a soft drizzle tapping against the glass. At least the weather was being quiet.I was pretty much fucking wasted yesterday, but I still remembered how Zane looked at me when he pulled away from me.Fear?No, it was definitely something else. Something I couldn’t name. It was written all over his face. I just had been so caught up in my own tipsy world that I’d failed to point that out.Then his very fucking subtle “I’m sorry” kept ringing in my head, along with the way he’d looked at me after. I tried not to think about it deeper than I wanted to.Only it became worse.I sighed and pushed myself up to take pain relievers from my drawer. The already-packed suitcases on the rugge

ALESSIA’s POV. The last two days were a blur. I couldn’t stop replaying that early morning on the porch—the way Zane had looked me dead in the eye and ended us. It left an ache that refused to quiet. Kendra only knew the surface of it. I still hadn’t told her everything. I wasn’t ready.I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for a long minute before pushing myself up. Half-unpacked boxes sat on the marble floor like accusations. I walked past them and headed for the bathroom.The girl in the mirror looked like a stranger. Weak. Exhausted. Angry at herself for trusting so completely. Dark circles sat beneath my eyes. My hair was a ruffled mess, and my lips were cracked from biting them raw the night before while trying not to make a sound.I gripped the edge of the sink until my knuckles went white.Fuck.Nothing was working. My chest felt hollow, and I felt stupid for every single hope I’d allowed myself to have. I splashed cold water over my face, washed my hair, and went back to the be

ALESSIA’s POV. “An email, girl! From school!” I heard Kendra shout from the sitting room and immediately dried my wet hands on my trousers and rushed to check my laptop. Kendra watched me expectantly, looking like she’d already read the email herself.My eyes widened at the message before me, and my heart gave a sudden leap. “So? What does it say? Are you going or not?” Kendra asked, wiggling her shoulders impatiently. My lips felt numb.Everything came rushing back to me.Zane.Fucking Zane.The breakup. The way my heart still reacted to the mere mention of his name. The way I’d cried almost every night since we’d arrived in California two weeks ago. And, fuck, the way I couldn’t stop rereading our old messages, as if staring at the words long enough would somehow change how everything had ended.I read the email aloud. “Dear Miss Bennett, I hope this email finds you well. As your California showcase assignment approaches its conclusion, we’d like to arrange your return to campus fo

ALESSIA’s POV. The salon smelled like expensive shampoo and hot tools. Soft music played somewhere in the background, low enough that it barely registered over the quiet snip of scissors and the occasional hum of a blow dryer.I sat in the chair with a black cape fastened around my neck, staring at my reflection while the stylist ran her fingers through my hair, assessing its length and condition. Behind me, Kendra had claimed the waiting chair like it was her personal throne, her legs crossed and her phone already out, ready to document every second of this.“I’m just saying,” she said, not looking up from her screen, “if you’re going to do something this drastic, you better not chicken out halfway through.”“I’m not chickening out.” I narrowed my eyes at her reflection.“You said that last time you tried bangs.”“Those were a mistake, and we don’t talk about them.” I pointed a warning finger at her.Kendra grinned, finally lifting her eyes. “This is different. This feels… intention

ZANE’s POV. The night air helped a little. At least out here, I didn’t have to watch Alessia laugh at another man’s jokes or pretend I wasn’t bothered by the way he kept touching her. I shoved my hands into my pockets and leaned against the brick wall, trying to get my head to shut the fuck up. It had been three weeks since I ended things, and somehow, watching her with Caleb West tonight made those three weeks feel like nothing. Like I was right back where I started, wanting a girl I had no business wanting and hating myself for it.I hated that I was even out here thinking about it. Three fucking weeks, and I was still acting like a pathetic idiot over a girl I had personally told to get over me.The worst part was that I couldn’t even blame her. Caleb seemed like a decent guy, from what I’d seen. Good-looking bastard too, which only made things more annoying. He played hockey, knew how to talk to people without looking like he wanted to punch them in the face, and apparently knew