?Chapter 143:

“I was trying to protect you,” I whispered, trembling.

He let out a bitterugh. “Protect me? Do you hear yourself? By lying and keeping secrets?” He shook his head, a mixture of anger and disbelief in his eyes. “You don’t protect people you care about by hiding things from them, Jaz. That’s not how this works.”

His words crashed over me, heavy and suffocating. My vision blurred with tears, and I could barely keep my legs steady. I’d lost his trust—if I ever even had it. I’d been so wrong, and now I had no idea how to make it right.

I stood frozen to the spot, my eyes fixed on Ryder as he walked away from me. The sound of his boots shuffled on the floor, leaving me in the heavy silence that filled the air.

“Ryder, please!” I called out, my arms stretched as though I were reaching for him, my voice cracking with thick emotion. I tried to take a step forward, but my legs felt heavy, refusing to move. He stopped, his back stiffening at the sound of my voice.

“You think ‘sorry’ is gonna bring back my ne, Jasmine?” he said, his voiceced with bitterness. “You think it’s gonna erase the fact that you lied to me?” He scoffed. Even though he wasn’t facing me, I could tell how his face looked.

A stinging sensation in my eyes announced a fresh wave of tears. “I was scared, Ryder. I didn’t know what to do.”

With deliberate slowness, he turned to face me, his expression a mixture of anger and hurt. “Scared? You were scared? You think I wasn’t scared when I gave you that ne? When I trusted you with my family’s heirloom?”

His words cut deep, and I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. “I’m sorry, Ryder. I’m so sorry. I swear.”

“Sorry?” Heughed bitterly. “Sorry isn’t gonna cut it, Jasmine. You stabbed me in the back after everything I thought we shared. You didn’t have to lie. If you’d told me the day I met you at theke, things wouldn’t be this way.”

So he was angry because I lied. Shit.

I bit my lip as I took another step forward, my hands hanging awkwardly at my sides. “Ryder, please listen…”

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“No, Jasmine. You listen.” His voice was cold, detached. “I me myself for thinking you’d be different. For thinking you’d appreciate what I’ve done for you. But I was wrong. You’re just like everyone else.” The hurt in his eyes felt like a punch to my gut. My legs were about to give out on me as I tightened my grip on my jacket.

“That’s not true, Ryder. I do appreciate you,” I countered. I knew better than to speak, but I couldn’t bear to ept his usations.

“Appreciate me?” He scoffed. “You have a funny way of showing it. I thought we had something real, Jasmine. But I guess I was wrong.” He paused for a moment, his fists curling and uncurling as he shook his head.

“Stay away from me,” was his final warning before he turned and walked away.

I felt my world crumble around me as he walked away. This time, I didn’t try to stop him; I wasn’t sure I could move. It hurt everywhere and nowhere in particr. My chest felt heavy, and my whole body felt light and weak. I just stood there, tears streaming down my face, and watched as the man I loved disappeared into the distance.

For the first time, Ryder was truly pissed off with me. And I didn’t know how to fix it. I was used to being the victim, the wronged one. Funny how the wheels turned—in the very opposite direction, for that matter.

“Ryder,e back…” I called out, my raspy voice barely above a whisper. But Ryder was gone.

Iy awake through the night, my eyes staring aimlessly at the whitewashed ceiling as the darkness slowly took over the daylight. Ryder still hadn’t returned to our room since our argument, and I couldn’t shake off the feeling of emptiness. I wanted to return to my room, but a tiny fragment of hope held me back. My pride refused to let me reach out to him, but my heart ached with every passing minute of his absence.

“Why should I apologize again?” I muttered to myself for the umpteenth time. “He didn’t tell me how important it was until after… until I messed up.” These were the types of statements I stubbornly repeated tofort my guilty mind.

But deep down, my bloody conscience didn’t fail to remind me that I was making weak excuses. I had hurt Ryder deeply, and I couldn’t deny it.

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