A dark bruise was already forming around her neck.
“I’m fine…” Elena pushed him away, putting some distance between them.
“I heard everything,” Nolan said calmly.
Elena froze, a bad feeling creeping in. “Heard… what exactly?”
He gave her a look. “What do you think?”
“I-” She broke into another cough, waving her hand awkwardly. “I-it’s not what you think… I didn’t mean it like that…”
“I’m all ears,” Nolan said as he grabbed a chair and dropped into it, calm as ever.
Looking at his calm, unreadable expression made it even harder to speak. “I just said it without thinking. No one was supposed to take it seriously.”
“Who said you could use me as your cover?”
“…It won’t happen again.” Elena instinctively reached for her neck. Zayden hadn’t held back-his grip had been brutal. Even talking still hurt. She looked at Nolan and hesitated. “Why did you come back?”
Nolan had been the first to leave after school. Now, twenty minutes later, he’d shown up again.
He was one of the students who didn’t live on campus-she was sure of it.
“I forgot my workbook.” Nolan pulled a practice book from his desk.
Elena blinked. Nolan… actually does homework?
Just then, Henry burst into the room, out of breath. “Dude! What was that? You just bolted-what happened?”
Nolan calmly shoved the workbook into his bag and stood. “Came back for my homework.”
Henry blinked. “Homework?” Nolan? Doing homework? That workbook’s probably never even been opened.
…
Elena watched from the window as Nolan and Henry left the building together.
Henry trailed behind him as they headed toward the school gates.
It looks like Henry’s probably the only one in class Nolan’s close with, Elena thought, remembering how the two of them had ended up in her last life.
Just then, Nolan suddenly stopped and glanced up-right at her window.
Their eyes met.
Elena’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively ducked behind the window frame.
Great. He probably thinks I was spying on him.
Down below, Nolan’s lips curled slightly.
Henry stared at him. “Wait… did you just smile?”
Nolan never smiled. Not like that.
“I didn’t.”
“You totally did! What is going on with you today? You ran off in the middle of our game, then came back for a workbook? You haven’t done homework since… ever?”
Henry looked genuinely thrown, like he couldn’t keep up with whatever was going on in Nolan’s head. Homework? No one in their class actually did that.
Nolan tossed a basketball into Henry’s arms. “Shut up and stop talking so much.”
…
That night, Elena walked alone into the dorm.
Westbrook High was one of the top schools in the city, and the dorm facilities weren’t bad.
But most students didn’t stay there.
The wealthy kids had cars and drivers-there was no reason for them to live on campus.
And for everyone else? The dorm fees were too high. Most students just went home.
Elena ended up assigned to an empty room.
It was spacious. Quiet. Compared to the cramped attic she lived in at home, it felt like heaven.
She finished organizing her desk when a flashlight beam flickered across the window. She squinted and walked to the window. Standing below… was Zayden.
He must’ve seen her, because her phone buzzed a moment later.
It was him.
“You need something?” she answered flatly.
Zayden was the perfect student type-he should’ve been long gone by now.
But now? It was already 9 p.m.-and he was still here, outside her dorm.
“Come down.”
“Nope.”
“Then I’m coming up.”
Elena stayed quiet, took a deep breath, and then hung up on Zayden.
Zayden’s words were almost laughable to her. Does he really think that’ll scare me?
Honestly, she still couldn’t understand how she ever fell for him.
A few minutes passed. The flashlight outside her window finally disappeared.
She thought he’d finally left… until she heard heavy footsteps outside her door.
Then-BAM! The door flew open.
Elena froze.
Zayden walked right in without saying a word and dropped himself onto the bed she had just finished making.
“Zayden! That’s my bed!” she snapped, face darkening.
He didn’t move. Didn’t say a word.
“Keep this up, and I’ll call the dorm supervisor.”
Elena figured someone like Zayden-a straight-A, rule-following type-would care about his reputation with the teachers.
But still, he didn’t budge.
Fed up, she walked over and tried to pull him off the bed.
But he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.
Elena gasped, stunned.
His chest was warm-probably from running all the way up here. His breathing was heavy, his grip tighter than she expected.
“Zayden, what the h*ll is wrong with you? Let me go!”
She pushed against him, trying to break free, but he wouldn’t let go.
He held her tightly. His voice was low, almost broken. “Do you really hate me that much?”
The question made her freeze.
Hate him? Not even close. In her previous life, she’d poured every bit of herself into loving Zayden.
The day she chose to marry him, she stood up to her parents for the first time in her life.
It took all the courage she had.
And what did she get in return? Betrayal.
Thinking of how things ended between them, her voice turned cold, detached. “Zayden, I’m saying this one last time. Let me go.”
Maybe he finally heard the distance in her voice, because this time, he let her go.
The silence between them stretched before he finally spoke again. “I told my mom I wanted to call off the engagement. She said no.”
Elena gave a dry laugh.
Of course. He wouldn’t have come to her for no reason. He must’ve lost it after hearing she was with Nolan and went straight to Grace, asking for the engagement to be broken off-only to get shut down.
Otherwise, Zayden wouldn’t be showing up at this hour.
“So what is this? You came here just to vent? Or are you hoping I’ll step in and talk to your mom about breaking off the engagement for you?”
That’s how it always was in her past life. The only person he ever treated gently was Sarah.
Whenever he was upset, he wouldn’t bother Sarah. Instead, he’d wander off alone and vent to the trees behind the school, venting about how Grace always controlled his life.
And back then, she would hide nearby, listening quietly as he let it all out.
Eventually, she learned to read Zayden without him saying a word.
Whenever he seemed upset, she’d quietly head over to those trees, hiding nearby just to listen-like somehow, by being there, she could carry a little of the weight for him.
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