chapter 2 : A Call to Stay Alive

Curled on the cold floor, my breath finally slowed into hiccups — each one a reminder I was still here… even if I didn’t want to be.

I stared at my phone through blurry eyes.

There were so many names I could scroll past.

But only one I trusted enough to see me like this.

Nina.

My older sister.

The one who raised me when Mom and Dad left for money instead of us.

The one who held me when I was bullied.

The one who cheered when I graduated.

My thumb hovered over her name.

I shouldn’t bother her.

She has her own life. Her own family. Her own stress.

But right now, the silence in the apartment threatened to swallow me whole.

I pressed call.

It rang once.

Twice.

“Garven?” Her sleepy voice answered — worried immediately. “Is everything okay?”

My mouth opened… but no sound came. My chest tightened again.

More silence.

“Garv?” Her voice sharpened, maternal instinct kicking in. “What happened? Where are you?”

I tried.

A broken whisper escaped:

“She… she’s gone.”

Her inhale was sharp.

“Do you want me to come get you?”

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t need to.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she said — no hesitation. “Stay right where you are. Don’t go anywhere.”

The call ended.

I stayed curled on the floor, clutching my phone like a lifeline.

Minutes passed like hours.

The door burst open — I hadn’t even realized I had left it unlocked. Nina rushed inside, hair messy, shoes undone. Her eyes landed on me — the crumpled shell of her baby brother.

“Oh, Garv…”

She didn’t ask anything else.

She dropped to her knees and pulled me into her arms. My face pressed into her shoulder, and suddenly my tears flowed all over again — but softer this time.

“This isn’t the end,” she whispered into my hair. “I know it feels like it… but it isn’t.”

I didn’t believe her.

Not yet.

But her heartbeat against my cheek kept me breathing.

“You loved her,” Nina murmured. “And she hurt you. But that doesn’t mean love won’t find you again. Someone will love you the way you deserve — with honesty.”

“I don’t feel like I deserve anything,” I choked.

She leaned back, holding my cheeks gently so I had to look into her eyes.

“You deserve everything,” she said firmly.

“And I’ll stay right here until you remember that.”

My sobs slowed.

The world was still shattered… but I wasn’t alone in the ruins.

For the first time since the door closed,

I felt just a tiny bit less empty.

Kael Rivenhart walked away fast, hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets, teeth grinding. The cold night air slapped at his face, but the heat in his chest wouldn’t leave.

Selene cheated — that was obvious.

But what bothered him wasn’t the cheating.

It was him.

That man in the apartment.

The tears.

The shaking hands still trying to protect those gifts.

The quiet command — “Get out” — soft yet cutting.

Kael stopped walking.

His mind replayed the scene again — but slower this time.

Those eyes.

Dark, deep-set, wet with heartbreak… and somehow beautiful even in pain.

I’ve seen him before.

Where?

He squeezed his temples.

High school?

College?

Some party?

Some gym?

A memory flickered — a younger boy staring at him with a mix of fear and longing.

A boy Kael pushed away without a thought.

No… can’t be.

But the timeline matched.

The desperation in those eyes matched.

Garven.

The name surfaced like a bubble from deep underwater.

Kael clicked his tongue — annoyed.

At himself.

“Damn. Did I really forget a face like that?”

He cursed again as a different realization hit.

The apartment.

Selene had told him it was hers — a small rental unit she managed with her salary.

But that place wasn’t small.

Not cheap.

Everything in that apartment had luxury without showing off — the kind of practicality someone responsible would choose.

Like… a nurse with solid pay.

Not a sheltered wife living off parental allowance.

So she lied.

He wasn’t even surprised.

Their relationship was business. A partnership. A promise between parents long before either of them learned what love should feel like.

He should be angry.

But all he felt was tired.

Selene liked him — genuinely.

He liked her too.

Enough to stay.

Enough to try.

He could forgive the lie.

He could forgive the cheating.

Marriage was give and take.

Even if love wasn’t part of it.

But something else clung stubbornly to his thoughts:

The way Garven looked at Selene — like she was his entire universe.

And the way Garven looked at Kael — like he was the man who destroyed it.

Kael exhaled harshly and leaned against a streetlamp, jaw clenched.

“I don’t got time for this.”

But then…

He looked hella cute crying and whimpering like that.

That unwanted thought crept back.

He shook his head hard — but the image remained, burned into him.

Small.

Vulnerable.

But with a spine that refused to break.

Kael muttered under his breath:

“…Why the hell did you have to cry like that in front of me?”

He kicked at the pavement — irritated, conflicted.

This wasn’t supposed to matter.

Yet…

It did.

More than he wanted to admit.

Kael sat in his parked car, engine off, the city noise muted by the windows. He stared ahead, but his mind kept circling back to the same person.

Garven.

He rubbed his palms against his knees, frustrated that he couldn’t shake the image.

“That… was Garven?” he muttered to himself. “No way.”

The Garven he remembered was different:

A chubby kid.

Pale — but sickly, not beautiful.

Face red and swollen with acne.

Thick glasses that magnified insecurity.

Always hovering behind others, never seen.

That boy worshipped Kael once.

Kael ignored him.

Toyed with him a little.

Got bored.

Left without a backward glance.

But tonight—

That wasn’t the same person.

Kael leaned his head back, eyes narrowing as he replayed every detail:

Garven’s skin — pale like snow, but glowing under the apartment lights like moonlight caught in glass. Smooth, flawless… polished by years of care and pain.

His glasses had slipped down his nose when he cried—

Revealing eyes he didn’t remember.

Deep-set, dark almond eyes, glowing with emotion even as tears clung to the lashes. There was a sharpness to them, a quiet intensity. Eyes that used to look up to Kael…

Now looked at him like a threat.

And his body—

Kael’s jaw tightened at the memory.

No baby fat.

Just lean muscle and delicate lines.

A frame that looked fragile but toned, as if every ounce of softness had been carved away by suffering.

“…What the hell happened to you?” Kael whispered.

It wasn’t just surprise.

It was a punch to the gut.

Because Garven looked…

Sexy.

Not trying.