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Chapter20
Chase felt like someone had slammed a sledgehammer into his chest.
He shook his head furiously. “No. I never thought of you as her replacement. And I never used you like that. Don’t believe what other people said.”
Yeah, she and Maddie looked alike. But that wasn’t it.
What he felt for Sierra was different.
Unique.
Real.
Sierra just stared at him in silence.
Chase panicked, grabbing her hand before she could slip away.
“I meant it about our feelings. We were supposed to go public once our college letters came in- remember? That was the plan.”
“But when you didn’t show… it all just kind of faded. Then your sister started coming around, and-
yeah, I ended up announcing it was her.”
“Sierra, please. You have to believe me.
His eyes were wide, pleading–those same eyes that used to make her heart race.
But Sierra didn’t care if he was telling the truth anymore.
“If it was real,” she said flatly, “then why did they post all those disgusting things? Why didn’t you stop them?”
She hadn’t forgotten.
The bloodstained white bedsheet.
Posted in his private group chat with his friends.
Turned her into nothing more than gossip.
She didn’t know whether Chase ever truly loved anyone–but she knew for sure that his love for her, if it ever existed, had never been enough.
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And now this so–called regret?
Probably just guilt.
Because love–real love–was selfish. Devoted. It didn’t like to share.
But back then, Chase had shared himself with Maddie without a second thought.
Faced with her questions, Chase tried to explain everything.
“Sierra… I didn’t even notice the post at first. But when I did, I went off on them. I’ve been trying to find you ever since. For four years!”
“Back then… maybe I didn’t understand the difference between like and love. I made a lot of stupid
choices.”
“But I’ve changed. I really have. Can’t you give me one more chance?”
His voice cracked. Even the corners of his eyes were turning red.
Sierra stared at him, and her chest tightened with a strange ache.
He still didn’t get it.
He didn’t understand why he’d taken something from her she could never get back.
He didn’t understand what it meant to be humiliated–to have your body become a joke.
And she didn’t understand, either–how she’d ever been so naive.
“Chase… every time you publicly chose someone else over me, something inside me broke a little
more.”
“I stood at that metaphorical intersection for so long. The traffic lights changed again and again. And finally, I made up my mind–when it turned green, I walked. I didn’t look back.”
“If I turn around now, I’d be betraying the version of me who finally had the courage to leave.”
She pushed him away.
“A mistake is still a mistake. And everyone has to pay for theirs.”
She had chosen the wrong person–and lost something precious because of it.
Chase had lied to her–and in doing so, lost her forever.
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“Sierra, please, just let me explain-” he started again.
But she was already inside the dorm, disappearing around the corner.
Gone.
Just like that.
Chase stood there, frozen.
A cold wind rushed in, chilling him to the bone.
Something inside him cracked.
He looked up at the dorm windows, eyes searching for a light.
Trying to guess which one belonged to her.
“Sierra… please wait for me.”
“I’ll win you back. I’ll prove it to you.”
He stayed there a long time before finally turning away in defeat.
But the moment he turned-
He saw Rowan standing in the shadows.
Watching.
Silently.
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