Rylan's pov
She came home just after sunset.
I was sitting on the couch, pretending to read, but my eyes had stayed fixed on the door for over an hour. The second it opened and Ava stepped in, I knew—something inside her had changed.
Her shoulders were rigid. Her eyes red.
She didn't speak. Just walked past me, set her bag down, and sank onto the edge of the bed like all her strength had drained out in the walk from the café to the apartment.
I stood, my heart thudding.
"How did it go?" I asked carefully.
A pause. Then: "I told him it was over."
Relief bloomed in my chest—but it was short-lived.
"Then why do you look like you just lost everything?" I asked.
She looked up at me. "Because I did. Or at least... the part of me that used to love him."
I sat next to her, letting our shoulders touch.
"I don't know what's next," she whispered.
"You don't have to," I said softly. "I'm not going anywhere."
But even as I said it, a dark buzz echoed from my phone on the coffee table. I picked it up absently—until I saw the headline flashing across the screen.
> "Billionaire Heir Damien Blackwell Confirms Long-Term Relationship with Coma Survivor Ava Canter"
Photo: Damien arriving in Virginia / Ava entering a café
Leaked source claims couple kept relationship secret for years
I stared, stunned. Ava's face was in the headline. Damien's name everywhere.
The media had no idea she'd ended it hours ago.
She leaned over to read the screen and froze. Her breath hitched.
"Who… how did this…?" she whispered.
I clenched the phone. "He leaked it."
"No," she whispered again, shaking her head. "He wouldn't—"
But doubt was already creeping into her eyes.
---
Damien
He didn't remember leaving the café.
His feet carried him without direction. Somewhere between the pain in his chest and the ache in his throat, Damien ended up standing on the rooftop of the hotel his father owned—watching the skyline he once dreamed of conquering.
She let him go.
He'd expected anger. Resentment. Maybe even a slap. But not this emptiness.
She had changed. She wasn't the girl who fell in love with his ambition and mystery. She was a woman who survived heartbreak, a coma, and time itself.
And she'd chosen strength over second chances.
His phone buzzed.
Another notification. More headlines.
He didn't even need to open them to know what they said.
> AVA CANTER — THE GIRL WHO WAITED. AND THE BILLIONAIRE WHO CAME BACK FOR HER.
He cursed under his breath. Someone had seen them at the café. Or followed him. Maybe even someone from his father's PR team—eager to spin a comeback story for the forgotten heir.
He scrolled.
Dozens of photos.
Ava's image. Hers and his. Together. Smiling in a moment that didn't belong to anyone but them.
And now the world thought they were back together.
He picked up the phone and called the only person he could.
It rang once.
Twice.
"Ava, it wasn't me," he said the second she picked up. "I didn't leak it. I swear."
She didn't respond at first. Then: "It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does—"
"I already said goodbye, Damien. Headlines don't change that."
Click.
Silence.
---
Later That Night – Ava
My phone wouldn't stop buzzing.
Texts. Emails. Paparazzi outside the apartment building. My face splashed across every gossip site and news outlet.
I was a headline.
Again.
And this time, it wasn't even true.
Rylan stood by the window, his arms crossed, his jaw tight. He'd said nothing for the last half hour.
"I didn't ask for this," I finally said. "I don't even want this."
"I know," he replied quietly.
"But it's like… no matter how far I try to run from Damien, he keeps finding ways to pull me back in."
His eyes met mine. "Then maybe it's time you stop running—and start fighting."
I swallowed hard. "You mean go public? Set the record straight?"
"I mean remind the world who you are, Ava. Not who they think you are. Not who he let them think you were."
I looked down at the screen.
I was tired of being silent.
"Then let's give them the truth."
---