~ đź–¤
---
The morning after, Maya woke to silence.
Not peace — just absence.
Elias was gone.
The sheets were still warm, the air still thick with everything they'd done the night before, but the space beside her was cold.
She sat up slowly, bruises blooming across her collarbone like violet confessions.
She touched one, wincing.
But she didn't regret it.
Because for the first time in weeks, she felt nothing but his mark on her.
Not Mira's shadow.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Just Elias.
> "He loves me," she whispered aloud.
> "No," came the voice from the door. "He owns you."
Maya jumped.
Serena stood there, arms folded, eyes dark with something that looked like pity... and fear.
> "What are you doing here?" Maya asked.
> "Looking for you. You didn't come home."
> "I was safe."
> "With Elias? Maya, you call this safe?"
Serena stepped forward and yanked down the edge of Maya's robe, revealing the bruises in full.
> "This isn't love. It's a warzone."
> "Then why does it feel like home?"
Serena blinked, stunned.
> "Because you've never known anything else."
---
Meanwhile, across town, Jax stood in the middle of Mira's old bedroom — untouched since the funeral.
He hadn't been here in months.
But now, he needed answers.
He tore open drawers, scattered perfume bottles, ripped open old journals.
Until he found it.
A USB drive, taped to the underside of Mira's desk.
He plugged it into his laptop with shaking hands.
There was only one file.
A video.
---
The screen flickered, and Mira appeared — wild-eyed, whispering, lit only by the glow of her phone.
> "If you're watching this, I'm probably dead. And maybe it's better that way."
> "This story doesn't end how you think it does."
> "Elias didn't love me. Not really. Not like he looked at Maya. Not like he tried not to look at her."
> "So I made him hate her. And then I made her hate herself."
> "I told Elias I was pregnant. I told Maya she was always second-best. I kissed Jax just to make her jealous."
> "And maybe… maybe I got in that car knowing I wouldn't come back."
The screen went black.
Jax sat frozen, the weight of her words cutting deeper than anything else ever had.
She'd used him.
All of them.
And she'd still taken everything.
---
He picked up the photo of Maya from the gym wall.
The one they used for senior cheerleading.
The one where she was smiling like nothing could touch her.
He held it in his hand… and crushed it.
---
> "They let her die for a lie," he whispered.
"And now they're kissing over her grave."
---
Maya sat at the kitchen table in Elias's house, fingers curled around a mug of untouched tea.
Serena had left hours ago.
But her words clung to the walls.
> "You've never known anything else."
> "This isn't love."
Maya looked down at her phone.
A message from Jax.
Just one line.
> "Come to the gym tonight. I need to show you something."
---
She went.
Because part of her still owed him that.
Because part of her still hoped he could forgive her.
But when she arrived, the lights were off.
And Jax wasn't smiling.
He was sitting on the bleachers in the dark, the laptop open beside him, the screen paused on Mira's last words.
---
> "You knew," she whispered.
> "Not until last night."
> "Why call me here?"
> "So you can see what you've become."
He stood, his shadow long, face unreadable.
> "You let him ruin you."
> "No—"
> "He killed her, Maya."
> "No, Mira—she—"
> "You let her die!"
> "That's not true—"
> "You were driving!"
> "She told me to!"
Jax stepped forward.
> "And now you're sleeping with the man who would've let you burn in that wreck just to keep her alive."
> "You think I don't know that?" Maya screamed. "You think I haven't hated myself for everything?"
> "Then why are you still with him?"
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
> "Because he's the only one who stayed."
---
The gym fell silent.
Until Jax walked up to her.
Close. Too close.
> "What if I told you I still loved you?" he whispered. "Even now. Even after everything?"
> "Jax…"
> "What if I said I would kill for you?"
Her breath caught.
> "Would you run?"
> "Yes."
> "Even if it meant he'd never touch you again?"
> "Yes."
He smiled.
> "Then you don't deserve what's coming next."
---
He left her there.
Alone in the dark.
And Maya finally understood:
Jax didn't want to save her anymore.
He wanted to ruin her too.
---
That night, Maya crawled into Elias's bed and didn't speak.
He pulled her against him, arms like shackles, breath warm on her neck.
> "You're shaking," he whispered.
> "Jax saw the video."
> "What video?"
> "Mira left a recording. She admitted everything."
Elias stiffened.
> "What did it say?"
> "That she lied. That she wanted to die. That she used us."
He was silent for a long time.
Then:
> "She still won."
> "No."
> "Yes," he whispered bitterly. "Because she broke us all. And we're still too dumb to leave each other."
Maya closed her eyes.
> "Maybe that's what love is."
> "No," Elias said, voice sharp. "Love is what we could've had before her."
> "But now?"
He turned her to face him.
> "Now it's just wreckage."
---
đź–¤