Chapter 190
I didn’t know how long she’d been there. I only knew she stopped posting. Stopped appearing. Stopped performing.
The invitation to visit came from the clinic director, not Mellan.
That alone told me everything I needed to know.
I sat in the waiting room, sterile and quiet, flipping through a pamphlet I wasn’t reading.
Then the door opened.”
A nurse nodded. “She’s ready for you.“”
I followed her down a short hall, past soft lights and closed doors.”
Mellan was waiting in one of the garden rooms. Wide windows. Worn couch. A tray of untouched tea on the table between
- us.
She didn’t stand when I walked in.
Just looked up. Calm.
Her face was bare. No makeup. No fake lashes. No perfect gloss.
Just her.”
She looked… real.
And I didn’t know if I hated or respected that.
“You came,” she said softly.
“I wasn’t sure I would.“}
She nodded, like she expected that.”
“I’m not going to cry,” she added. “I think I ran out.”
I sat across from her.
We didn’t say anything for a while.
The silence wasn’t tense. It was just full.
Full of everything that didn’t need to be said anymore.
Finally, Mellan broke it.”
“You didn’t beat me,” she said.
I blinked. “What?”
2
She tilted her head. “You became what they said I was. That’s the real win, right?”
liet that sit for a moment.
Then I leaned forward.&
forward.
“No, Mellan. I didn’t become you. I became who I was supposed to be before you tried to erase me.“”
She didn’t react. Not right away.[
Then she said, “They were never going to choose me. Not really.“”
I didn’t argue. That was hers to carry.”
“You know what I used to tell myself?” she continued. “That if I could just take enough from you, I’d feel full.”
I exhaled. “And did you?”
She smiled, tired and hollow. “No. I just ended up with pieces of things I never built.“”
We sat there.
The tea cooled.M
The windows stayed open to the quiet.”
“I didn’t ask you here to apologize,” she said eventually. “Because I don’t think I deserve it. And I know you’re not here for that.”
“You’re right.“”
“I just thought… if you wanted to look me in the eye and know I can’t touch your life anymore, this is that moment.”
I nodded once. Stood.
She didn’t ask for anything else.”
Shapter 19
27
950%
Didn’t say goodbye.
Neither did I.
I walked out.”
I didn’t look back when I left the room.
I walked down the same hallway. Past the soft lights. The same nurse nodded at me as I passed.\
Outside, the sky was pale with early evening.”
And then I saw him
Jaxon.&
Leaning against his car at the edge of the lot. Arms crossed. Eyes tired. Like he hadn’t moved in hours.
He looked up when I stepped into view.
We didn’t say anything for a beat.\
Then I sighed. “You knew she was here?“<
He nodded. “I didn’t want to see her. I just needed to know… she was alive. That someone was keeping her from burning all the way down.“}
I stood there for a second, watching him.
“You still care about her,” I said.
You
always did,” he admitted. “I came to see how far gone she was. That’s all.”
“And?”
“She’s not gone,” he said. “She’s just never coming back as the person I thought she was.“}
I’stood across from him, quiet. Watching him like a stranger I used to know.
He shifted his weight. “Do you remember that time in Paris?”
i blinked. “Of course I do.”
“You got food poisoning,” he said. “And instead of canceling dinner with the investors, you got dressed and walked into that room like you weren’t dying.“<
“You laughed at me when I collapsed after,” I said.
1
“I carried you back to the hotel,” he murmured. “That night, I thought, ‘God, I love this woman.“}
I looked away.
“I was going to tell you,” he added. “But I didn’t. I don’t even know why.”
1
“Because you were still in love with someone else,” I said. “Even if you didn’t want to be.”
He didn’t deny it.
Γ
T
“You said something once,” I said, after a pause. “After one of Jane’s charity events. Remember? We were in the car. You were driving.”K
He nodded slowly. “I said you made everything feel… manageable.”
“And i said, ‘I’m not supposed to be a sedative, Jaxon. I’m supposed to be a partner.”
He winced.[
“You never answered,” I added.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t know how. You were the only thing in my life that wasn’t built on strategy. And I didn’t know how to treat that.”
“And you let them make me part of the plan anyway.“”
“Yeah,” he said. “I did.”
Silence again.
Not heavy. Not hostile.
Just real.
“I thought we had time,” he said finally. “Time to figure it out. To unchoose the things we picked wrong.“”
“We did have time,” I said. “You just spent it trying to love the wrong sister.”
He didn’t fight it.
Didn’t speak.
Until-
“You ever think about what would’ve happened if I had chosen right the first time?”
