back on campus

Laughter. Footsteps. Voices overlapping in a chaotic hum.

The world around me moved on, unchanged.

But I had changed.

It felt surreal that my father had agreed to let me back on campus. Seeing him like that, though—that would take getting used to.

The university looked the same. Students lounged under shaded trees, others rushed to classes, voices blending into the familiar, chaotic symphony of campus life. It should have felt normal. It should have felt like slipping back into something safe.

But it didn't.

Because I wasn't the same.

The last time I had walked these paths, I had been just Alina. A girl quietly navigating the weight of her father's indifference and her stepmother's cruelty. A girl who had clung to whatever fragments of freedom she could grasp, even if it was just the simple act of going to class.

I was still lost in thought, barely aware of my surroundings, when something—someone—crashed into me.

"Oh my God, oh my God, you're real!"

The impact nearly knocked the breath out of me as arms wrapped around me, gripping tight.

Nina.

She pulled back, hands gripping my shoulders as her wide eyes scanned my face, my body, like she was making sure I hadn't suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"You're not a ghost, right? Because if I start screaming in the middle of campus, you know people will talk."

A breathless laugh escaped me, my first real one in days. "Not a ghost."

She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, then poked my shoulder. "Solid. Okay. You're definitely real." Then, her expression turned exasperated as she smacked my arm lightly. "Why didn't you answer your damn phone?"

I gave her a look. "I did call you."

Nina blinked, then let out a groan, dragging a hand down her face. "Ugh, right. I lost my phone. Haven't replaced it yet." She gave me a sheepish grin. "Which, now that I think about it, was probably not the best timing considering you vanished for days."

I huffed. "It wasn't exactly my choice."

Her playful energy dimmed slightly, and she tugged me toward a nearby bench, lowering her voice. "Yeah, I figured."

Nina was a lot of things—loud, dramatic, sometimes a little too reckless for her own good. But she was also sharp. She didn't always ask questions outright, but she noticed things.

Which was why she had been the only person I had trusted enough to call the moment I got my phone back.

And why her silence on the other end had been more frustrating than I wanted to admit.

She leaned forward, her usual teasing gone. "Okay. Spill. Everything. From the moment you left until right now. And don't even think about skipping the juicy details."

I took a slow breath.

For the first time since arriving, the weight of it all pressed down on me. The wedding. The whispers. The fact that, despite being left behind, I still wasn't free.

I didn't hesitate. There was no reason to. Nina already knew the worst of it—knew that I had been forced into a marriage I didn't want, tied to a man I had never met. What she didn't know was everything that had happened after.

So I told her.

And for the first time since that heavy door had closed behind me, I didn't feel so alone.

Nina listened the way only she could—without judgment, without interruption, letting me pour out the tangled mess of everything that had happened.

I told her about the wedding, how the ceremony had felt like a blur, how I had stood there, saying I do while my mind screamed questions I had no answers to.

I told her about Drey—about how he had been nothing like the rumors, how his presence had stolen my breath in a way I wasn't ready to admit, even to myself.

And I told her about the aftermath. About the silence. About how my new husband had simply... left me behind.

When I finished, Nina was staring at me, her expression somewhere between disbelief and frustration.

"So let me get this straight." She tilted her head. "You married a man no one has ever seen before. A man with the kind of reputation that makes grown men shake in their overpriced shoes. And instead of, I don't know, taking you with him to his haunted castle or underground vampire lair or whatever, he just... dumped you back at home?"

I sighed. "Basically."

Nina let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's cold."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but the truth was, I agreed.

Cold. Distant. Unbothered. That was exactly what Drey Volkov had been when he turned his back on me and walked away.

And yet—

"It doesn't make sense," I muttered.

Nina raised an eyebrow. "What doesn't?"

"All of it." I exhaled sharply, leaning back against the bench. "If he wanted nothing to do with me, why go through with the wedding at all? Why not just refuse?"

"Maybe he didn't have a choice either."

The thought sent an uncomfortable shiver down my spine.

Drey Volkov didn't seem like a man who was forced into anything. He carried himself like someone who controlled the room without trying. But still… I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something beneath the surface, something I wasn't seeing.

And then there was the other thing. The thing I didn't even want to admit to myself.

"I hate that I feel this way," I muttered.

Nina blinked. "Feel what way?"

I clenched my jaw. "I hate that he left me behind. And worse—I hate that part of me cares."

Nina watched me carefully. "You're attracted to him."

I groaned, covering my face. "I didn't say that."

"But you didn't deny it." She smirked. "Honestly, I don't blame you. Mysterious, powerful, and apparently unfairly handsome? Sounds like the setup to every dangerously addictive romance novel."

I shot her a look. "This isn't a romance novel, Nina."

"Could've fooled me." She muttered.

I exhaled, rubbing my temples. "I don't want him. I don't even know him. But…"

"But?"

I hesitated, struggling to put it into words.

"…but I don't understand why he left me behind." I looked at her, frustration leaking into my voice. "And that bothers me more than it should."

"Maybe he wanted to test something. See what would happen if you stayed in your father's house." Nina tapped her fingers on her knee. "And if he's still watching? What happens when he decides you've failed the test?"

A chill ran through me.

Because if that were true, then that meant Drey Volkov was still watching.

Even if I couldn't see him.

Even if he never came for me.

He was still there.

And I had no idea what he was waiting for.