“What?” I whispered. “Are you serious?”
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t soften. Just kept going like he’d memorized the lines.
“It was fun. But I’m over it.”
I laughed—sharp, bitter. “Fun? That’s all this was to you?”
He shrugged like he didn’t care. “I don’t do serious, Jade. You knew that.”
“No,” I said, stepping in, grabbing his arm and spinning him to face me. “No, you don’t get to do that. Not after everything. After my aunt. The cliffs. The?—”
“Don’t make this dramatic,” he snapped. “We kissed. We hung out. You caught feelings. I didn’t.”
That broke something.
That shattered me in places I didn’t know I was still fragile.
“You’re lying,” I breathed. “Look at me and say that again.”
His eyes met mine. Stone cold. Empty. And for a second—just a second—I thought I saw pain flicker behind the mask.
But then it was gone.
He stepped back. “It’s over, Jade. Don’t make it worse.”
The sound hit before the silence did—phones clicking on. Screens recording. Whispers multiplying like wildfire.
#RoyalBreakup
#PrinceDumpsHisPrincess
#ScholarshipScandalUnfolding
And just like that, it was all happening again.
Just like how we started—fire, whispers, stares.
Only this time... I was the one left in the flames.
I didn’t cry.
I didn’t scream.
I just stoodthere as Leo Holt—King of Royal Oaks—walked away without a backward glance.
And somehow… that hurt the most.
By Friday morning, I’d lost count of how many people had looked me in the eye and then turned to whisper.
The halls felt narrower now. The silence louder. Every laugh felt like it might be about me. Probably was.
Once, I had the spotlight. Now, I was just the cautionary tale.
The girl who dared to love a prince and got dragged through the moat when he was done.
I walked into school with my head held high, but my spine was screaming. Each step echoed with invisible fingers pointing.
"Guess she wasn’t worth the chase."
