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“I’m heading out,” Stanley said after making sure Jeffrey was alright. “If you need anything, just call me or Gregory,”

Jeffrey grunted in response.

Stanley disappeared in a flash.

When Stanley got downstairs, Rebecca had just climbed into Ian’s car.

Jessica was in the front seat, glancing back at Rebecca with concern. “Jeffrey didn’t give you any trouble, right?”

Rebecca shook her head. “No.”

“That’s a relief,” Jessica said, feeling a bit of the worry she’d been carrying finally lift. She’d barely managed to calm down since hearing Rebecca had ended up at the hospital because of Jeffrey. “I was really afraid he’d lose it and hassle you again, like back in the day.”

“If he gives me any trouble, I’ll just turn around and leave,” Rebecca reminded herself to keep her head clear. “We’re not a couple anymore. He can’t force me to stay.”

If we were still married, people would just call it a family spat, and after some mediation, nothing would really get solved.

But now that the divorce is final and feelings are over, any weird behavior from him could straight–up count as a crime.

“How long are you thinking of sticking around?” Ian asked, glancing over with a hint of curiosity.

“We’ll see,” Rebecca said as she slipped her phone into her bag. “If I’ve got a project running here, I’ll probably be popping in and out for about a month.”

Ian and Jessica exchanged glances.

Both of them were thinking the same thing: ‘Did Jeffrey really set up this project just to make Rebecca stay?‘

Rebecca saw right through them. “He won’t stick his nose in my business. This has nothing to do with him.”

For the rest of the ride, the three of them chatted like they always did.

It was like that whole confession had never even happened.

They stopped at a restaurant for dinner, and lan was his usual lively self, cracking jokes about their recent adventures, sharing funny stories from the past. Nobody acted weird or distant; it was seriously like nothing had ever happened between them.

Stanley had snuck over, hoping to catch some spicy gossip, but all he picked up was the usual boring day–to- day chatter. The letdown was real.

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but lame, regular life stuff, Stanley thought, rolling his eyes at how

make any of this

out of the restaurant, someone suddenly jumped out and stood

was dressed super casually, looking beyond exhausted, her eyes full of

been so familiar with her, she

Rebecca–all the wildness and anger from before swapped out for something hopeless and dim. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Please,

to say to you,” Rebecca said coldly, turning on her heel and walking away

hadn’t chosen this path, I could’ve

dealing with abusive parents, and still grinding her way into Capital University–that’s tough, especially for a girl from some remote little town. Rebecca understood

of Jessica–there was something just genuinely kind and easy- going about

Rebecca just respected people who managed to

Andrea just had to go and take

swagger gone. “I don’t have anyone else. You’re all

any attention. She just told Jessica she was leaving, then walked off

her reputation and teamed up with others to make her life miserable, there was no way they could ever be

yelled, her voice full

again, her voice cracking

her, desperate to catch up and stop her

an unbridgeable distance between them. Andrea stumbled forward, pushing herself until she collapsed to the ground–despair

a middle–aged

Andrea standing there, her eyes red and watery, she yanked her hair

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Not picking up calls, not answering texts–are you trying to turn the house upside

Andrea yelled, her

pain now?” The woman looked pissed, her patience clearly running thin. “Did you even think about that when you wouldn’t pick up your phone or answer

snapped, wrenching herself free despite the stabbing pain. “Every time. you call, it’s just endless

Smack!

woman sent a ringing slap across Andrea’s

Andrea’s lip, but she glared back, stubborn and

way to talk to your own mother?” the woman spat, her eyes burning with fury. “I already took the dowry. In a couple

just scoffed,

look off your face,” she sneered. “You blew your chance with Jeffrey, the only guy who could’ve saved you. Can’t

with every word. “You tried screwing with birth control–stabbed holes in condoms

woman exploded, face dark with

her

hell would ever choose to be born

a real, normal