Cinda, flushed and disoriented from Jax's aggressive kiss, nevertheless preened under his harsh compliment. Her eyes, wide and victorious, were fixed on me. She had gotten what she wanted: a public display of ownership, a deliberate humiliation.

My stomach churned. The bile rose in my throat. I couldn't breathe in the suffocating atmosphere of their toxic display. Without a word, I turned and stumbled away, pushing through the laughing, oblivious crowd. I needed air. I needed out.

The restroom was a temporary sanctuary, cold and sterile. I splashed water on my face, watching my reflection, a stranger with haunted eyes. The girl who had loved Jax with such ferocious intensity was gone. Replaced by a hollow shell, emptied of emotion.

I couldn' t stay. Not another second. I had to leave. I pushed open the heavy restroom door, ready to make my escape through a side exit. But as I rounded the corner, I heard voices. Jax' s voice. And Jason Weaver' s, his co-founder and best friend. They were hidden partially behind a large potted plant, their conversation muffled but distinct.

"Dude, that was harsh," Jason said, his voice laced with disapproval. "Did you really have to do that to Kylie? You know how much she loved you."

My steps faltered. I froze, hidden behind a pillar, unable to move.

Jax scoffed, a dry, humorless sound. "Loved me? Please. She's just playing games, Jason. Always has been. The fire, the dramatic exit, the silent treatment-it's all a tactic to get my attention. To reel me back in."

My blood ran cold. Games? Tactics? My grief, my pain, my utter devastation at his betrayal-he saw it all as a manipulation.

"But after all this time?" Jason pressed, a note of genuine confusion in his voice. "Don't you think she's actually serious? She looked... broken."

Jax laughed, a chilling, dismissive sound that echoed in the empty corridor. "Broken? Nah. Kylie' s tough. She always comes back. She needs me. She always has. She just needs a little reminder of what she's losing. A little... lesson."

My heart, which I thought had bled itself dry, found a new reservoir of pain. A fresh, icy wave of betrayal washed over me. He wasn't trying to win me back with love or remorse. He was trying to punish me. To teach me a lesson. He saw me as a pawn in his twisted game, a puppet whose strings he still believed he controlled.

"So, the whole Cinda thing is just... to make her jealous?" Jason asked slowly, a dawning realization in his tone.

"Exactly," Jax confirmed, his voice smug. "Cinda's useful. She's new, she's exciting, and she drives Kylie nuts. Once Kylie realizes what she's given up, she'll come crawling back. They always do."

My knees buckled. I leaned against the pillar, the cold stone a shocking contrast to the fire raging within me. He always thought I'd come crawling back. He thought my love was a weakness, a predictable flaw he could exploit. It wasn't about love, not for him. It was about control. About power.

The illusion shattered, completely and irrevocably. He wasn't the man I had loved, the man I had idealized. He was a narcissist, a manipulator, a cruel puppeteer. My sorrow evaporated, replaced by a cold, searing rage. This wasn't grief. This was liberation.

I slipped away, my movements silent, my heart a hollow drum in my chest. The party, the laughter, the music-it all faded into a distant hum. I walked home, the night air biting at my exposed skin, but I felt nothing. My mind replayed his words, each one a hammer blow, flattening the last vestiges of my affection for him.

I remembered his initial charm, the way he would listen to my dreams, his eyes alight with shared ambition. "We'll conquer the world together, Kylie," he used to promise, his hand in mine, "You with your food, me with my tech. A culinary empire, a digital dynasty. We'll be unstoppable."

When did that promise turn into a threat? When did "together" become "under my thumb"? Was it Cinda's arrival that unleashed his true nature, or had it always been there, lurking beneath the surface of his charisma? Cinda was merely the catalyst, the perfect tool for his manipulation. She was the one he pushed into the spotlight, breaking all the rules he once held sacred for me. He broke his own rules for a woman he didn't respect, all to "teach me a lesson."

My pain, my humiliation, my heartbreak. He had seen it all as a performance, a desperate bid for his attention. He had laughed at it. And for that, there was no forgiveness.

I reached my apartment building, the familiar facade a symbol of the life I was now shedding. As I fumbled for my keys, the door to our apartment swung open. Jax stood there, not Cinda, a smug expression on his face. In his hand, he held a stack of envelopes. My envelopes. My university acceptance letters.

Chapter 4

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