Chapter31
Chase stood frozen, staring at the shattered glass scattered across the floor. His heart clenched painfully.
“Sierra, you…” he began.
She gave a cold, crooked smile. “Does this scene look familiar to you, Chase? Déjà vu?”
That one question sent his thoughts spiraling back four years.
Back then, Sierra had gifted him a jar filled with paper cranes-only for Maddie to smash it right in front of her. And what
had he done?
Nothing.
Worse, he’d comforted Maddie and walked away with her, leaving Sierra behind.
“Sierra, it wasn’t what you think,” Chase stammered. “I was just… worried about your sister.”
His voice grew smaller with each word, his excuse weak and hollow.
But Sierra had no patience for his fake apologies. She tossed him one last line and turned to leave.
“You miss the train, then you miss it all.”
She had barely taken two steps when fireworks exploded above the campus sky.
Boom!
Just like that night four years ago.
Back then, she had stood beneath the same fireworks, heartbroken and forgotten.
–
News of Sierra and Rowan’s research breakthrough spread through the entire campus like wildfire.
Everywhere you turned, people were talking about them.
Some even claimed they were the golden couple-brains, beauty, success, and love all in one.
Chase heard the whispers in the cafeteria, the dorm hallway, the library staircase… they were everywhere.
At first, he thought it was all just gossip.
Until one day, he overheard someone saying-
“Sierra and Rowan are such a power couple. Gorgeous, brilliant, and totally in sync. I heard they’re both getting into the National Science Institute. Talk about couple goals!”
Wait-what?
That night at the celebration, hadn’t Sierra told her advisor she’d “think about it”?
Chapter 31
100.00%
She wouldn’t actually leave with Rowan… would she?
Chase’s head spun with possibilities. The thought made his chest tighten with panic.
In desperation, he waited outside her dorm, hoping to catch her.
When he finally did, he rushed up and blurted, “Sierra, is it true? What they’re all saying? Are you really dating Rowan? Are you two going to the National Science Institute together?”
His voice trembled.
Sierra stepped back and avoided his eyes. “That’s none of your business.”
But Chase suddenly grabbed her wrist, his tone turning sharp with desperation. “You can’t be with him!”
Sierra winced and jerked her hand away. “And who should I be with then? You?”
Chase averted his gaze, guilty.
The truth was, yeah. Deep down, he had always believed that once she cooled off, they would eventually get back together.
He never thought she’d really move on.
“Sierra, I know I messed up. But come on-we were just kids. Everyone makes mistakes, right? Do you have to be this petty?”
“I never even liked Maddie like that, okay? Nothing happened between us. Why can’t you let it go?”
Sierra let out a bitter laugh, eyes dark with disbelief. “Petty? You think I’m being petty?”
She stepped forward, each word cutting like a knife.
“If it was just one mistake, maybe. But where were you when I was being bullied in school?”
“You went out of your way to help Maddie and left your own girlfriend to suffer alone.”
“Do you remember what you told me the night of our graduation party? You said you were Maddie’s knight.”
She gave a humorless smile.
“You think that was immaturity? That’s not being a dumb teenager, Chase. That’s being cruel.”
“I loved you so much I let you walk all over me. But love isn’t supposed to hurt. It’s not supposed to blind you or make you ignore the person who’s always been there for you.”
She brushed past him.
Chase instinctively reached out to stop her, but she shot him a glare that froze him in place.
“Get lost, jerk,” she snapped. “I’ve already decided to be with Rowan. Don’t ever show up in my life again.”
Chase stood there in stunned silence.
Chapter31
100.00%
His face went pale. His hands hung helplessly by his sides.
Sierra was really with someone else.
He had lost her.
Completely.
Forever.
All he could do was watch, as she walked toward Rowan-who stood at the end of the path holding a bouquet of roses.
She smiled softly and took the flowers from his hands.
She had finally chosen to move forward.
She should’ve done it a long time ago.
But she had been trapped in the past, unable to escape.
Looking down, she noticed one of the roses was missing a bloom.
“Why’s there one missing?” she asked with a small laugh.
Rowan laced their fingers together and replied warmly, “That way, I’ll know exactly when it’s time to bring you a new
bouquet.”
They walked off side by side, hand in hand, their shadows stretched out in the golden afternoon light.
“Tomorrow’s the big day,” Sierra said. “We leave for the National Science Institute. You nervous? I heard the whole place is
filled with world-class scientists.”
Rowan gave her hand a squeeze, eyes full of affection. “Not at all. That’s our future waiting for us.”
“I’m not nervous-I’m excited.”
The National Science Institute wasn’t just a place.
It was the door to the life they were about to begin-together.
Chapter 1 The king has come back!
