Her brows pinched together. “So you’re not a student at this university?”
“No,” I snapped. “I’m a hot gynecologist. Any more questions?”
Behind me, Khalifa made a choking sound that might’ve been a laugh if he hadn’t tried so hard to swallow it.
The girl’s gaze slid to him, suspicious now. “Dr. Nassir,” she said carefully, “do you want me to call campus security?”
“Excuse me?” I stepped closer, chin angled, giving the prissy little pipsqueak a proper, scathing once-over. “Racist much? I willliterally—”
“Lillian,” Khalifa cut in calmly.
I clenched my jaw, shot her one last glare, and forced a tight smile. “Fine.” I spun on my heel, shoving past the crowd of youthfully clueless girls and into the hallway.
“Lilly?”
My name landed with a jolt. I turned, startled.
Malik.
He looked exactly the same. Confident in that lazy, self-assured way, as if the world had been built to orbit him. His arm rested casually against the wall, wedding band glinting under the fluorescent lights.
“What are you doing here?”
He smiled, teeth perfectly white, perfectlyslappable. “I could ask you the same thing.”
I adjusted the strap of my bag. “I was just dropping off lunch for Khalifa.”
His brow arched. “‘Khalifa?’” He repeated, mocking the way my tongue had melted around the syllables without meaning to. “I don’t remember you ever bringingmelunch during school.”
My eyes narrowed. “Yeah, actually, I did. Multiple times. And you still managed to lead me on and use me like a jackass.”
“I didn’t use you. We didn’t even do anything.”
“Yeah, becauseIdidn’t want to. You still let me think you wanted to marry me. You made me question myself—my morals, my beliefs—while you had no intention of ever meeting my parents. Do you haveanyidea how humiliating that was for me?” My throat burned, but I kept going. “Of course you don’t. You only ever talked about yourself.” I scoffed. “I feel sorry for your wife.”
I started to move past him, but he shifted in my way, still wearing that careless smirk I used to think was charming. “Don’t feel sorry for her. It’s true—I never felt anything for you. The only good thing about you was your study notes.” He tilted his head, considering whether I was even worth the rest of the breath he was about to waste. Then he sighed, almost bored. “It’s your own fault, you know,” he went on. “Believing for even a second that I was actually going to show up and meet your parents. That I’d ask for your hand in marriage as if you don’t know how you are.”
My chest tightened, but he didn’t stop.
“You’re loud, Lillian, so damnloudall the time. You never stop talking.” He gestured vaguely, like the entire space around me was proof. “It’s suffocating being around someone who doesn’t have an off switch. And this whole thing you’ve got going on—this...Lilly Spectacleyou’re trying to shove down everyone’s throat? You think it’s charming, but it’sannoying. It’s the exact thing that drives people away.” His eyes flicked over me. “I’m not a bad guy for not wanting to sign up for a lifetime of that shit. I mean—you’re too much foranyoneto handle. It’sall an act anyway, right? The confidence, thestrength.” His smirk sharpened. “You’re not confident. Or strong. Or sure of yourself.” He stepped closer, voice dropping. “You’re insecure. You’re weak.”
The words took root slowly, one after the other, like he knew exactly where the seeds of doubt had already been planted.
“Yeah, you’re pretty and you’re smart,” he continued, shrugging, “but that’s not enough.You’renot enough.”
A pause.
Then, softer—nastier for it.
“I’m sure Khalifa will feel that way, too. It’s only a matter of time.”
Too tall, too loud, too much.
“All that stuff you told me about your mom not wanting you?” His eyebrows lifted, mock sympathy curling at the edges of his mouth. “Be honest, Lillian. Whowouldwant you?”
Something inside me churned violently. It wasn’t heartbreak anymore; heartbreak was too searing, too alive. This was the dull ache of an old bruise, one I’d almost forgotten was there—right up until someone swung a sledgehammer into the exact same tender spot. Not enough force to knock the air out of me. Enough to remind me it had never really faded in the first place and probably never would.
I kept my face still, my expression carefully blank. I even managed a small exhale through my nose, like none of it had landed anywhere important. Only my fingers betrayed me, clenching into my palm, nails pressing crescents so deep that the pain in my hand was all I could feel. I opened my mouth to reply when a familiar voice broke through.
