ZANE'S POV
It started long before she ever knew my name.
Before the club.
Before the night she stumbled into my arms, wearing that black like a secret she didn't know how to keep.
Ava.
She wasn't supposed to be part of this story. She was just a name on a list.
A distraction.
A means to an end.
At least, that's what I told myself.
But from the moment l saw her…the way she smiled like she still believed in love,the way her eyes carried pain she didn't show - I knew she'd ruin me.
And still, I didn't stop.
I had been watching her for months.
Not out of curiosity or out of purpose.
Her boyfriend, Edward,was part of something I needed to destroy.
And she…she was the key to make him break.
He loved her in his own selfish way.
So I made sure to take everything that mattered to him. Starting with her trust.
I paid someone to whisper lies into Hailey's ear.
Made her believe Edward was her escape, that if she got close to him,she could replace Ava.
She played along perfectly…greedy for what she thought was a new life, a better name.
She didn't know she was being used.
None of them did.
Everything,every message,every silence was planted.
I wanted Ava to crumble.
To need someone. To need me.
And it worked.
The night she walked into that club was no coincidence.
The drink in her hand,the song that played,the invitation to dance. I planned all of it.
Even the moment she thought was a chance,was fate.
It was me.
But what l didn't plan…was how she'd look at me that night like l wasn't a monster.
Like l was human.
The first time I kissed her, I thought it was control.
It wasn't.
It was surrender.
She didn't know she was the first person who even made me feel something real, something dangerous.
When she fought me, screamed,cried - I wanted to hate her for making me weak.
But I couldn't.
Because she was the only truth in a world l built on lies.
And now…she's shipping away.
She still doesn't know half of it, Edward's betrayal,her cousin's deceit, even that anonymous message warning her - it all comes from me.
I made her lose everything so l could find her.
But tonight,as l stand outside her apartment again, watching her through the glass, something shifts in me.
She's crying.
Her hands shake as she holds her phone, her body trembling like she's made of shattered glass trying to stay whole.
For the first time,l want to undo everything I've done.
So I stayed in the shadows,just watching.
That was safer. For the both of us.
When she finally left - coat around her like a shield ,l knew where she was going.
Edward's place.
Of course.
She still believed there was something left to save.
Poor Ava.
And poor, stupid Edward.
EDWARD'S POV
Hailey's perfume filled the air before she even knocked.
I didn't know why,but it calmed him,maybe because it wasn't Ava's scent, the one that reminded me of my guilt.
When he opened the door, Hailey smiled,soft and sweet, like she'd been rehearsing.
"Thought I'd check on you",she said, voice of all honey and poison.
I stepped aside. " Come in".
She did and instantly made the place hers.
Shoes off, hair flipped, jacket over the couch.
Her laugh filled the silence that had been eating me alive since Ava left.
"You shouldn't be alone tonight", she whispered, her hand brushing my arm.
I wanted to pull away, but instead,l let her touch linger.
It was easier than facing what I had done.
Easier than missing Ava.
Hailey smiled to herself, sensing my weakness.
She leaned closer, pretending it was comfort.
Pretending she cared.
But her eyes,if l had bothered to look - held calculation.
She didn't love me.
She just loves being the replacement.
The one Ava would never forgive me for.
"You're too good for her", Hailey murmured against my neck. "She didn't deserve you".
I almost laughed.
Too good? I couldn't even look in the mirror without hating what l saw.
But her words,her warmth,her lies, they drowned the truth just enough.
And for the first time in days, I let myself believe it.
ZANE'S POV
I shouldn't have followed her.
But watching Ava walk waiting for Edward's arrival made something ugly crawl up my throat.
He still had her heart after everything.
And l was the one who gave him the chance to break it again.
I was really impressed about my little pawn playing a part too well.
I told her to get close to him, to make Ava see what kind of man he really was.
But l didn't think she'd actually fall for the game.
Now,she looked at Edward like he was her price.
And he…he looked at her like she was a salvation.
Idiots. Both of them.
Ava didn't see.
Ava didn't see me watching,but l saw everything.
Her hesitation when Edward walked towards her.
The pain that washed over her face after Edward walked away.
Just a few meters away, hidden in the shadows, l watched her break. My heart twisted painfully. I had texted her after what l saw " Why did you go there" but this time she wasn't giving in.
Right before my eyes she tossed her phone away and screamed her lungs out.
"What do you want from me and how are you?"
Now, seeing her yell into the night made me realize I'd pushed her too far.
That's when something inside me cracked.
I didn't feel victory.
I felt… empty.
I walked away too. My fist tight, my chest burning. I didn't mean to do any of this to her .
The city lights blurred through my vision as l drove home.
The silence in the car is louder than any scream.
When I reached my apartment, I didn't turn on my lights.
I just sat in the dark, thinking about the girl who still believed in love even after everything around her had turned it into a weapon.
And for the first time, I didn't want to destroy anyone anymore.
Not Edward.
Not Hailey.
Not even myself.
Just her… safe, far away from all of this.
But fate doesn't let people like me want peace.
It only gives us punishment.
LATER THAT NIGHT
Zane stood by his window,phone in hand, staring at Ava's contact name glowing on the screen.
His thumb hovered over the call button.
He wanted to hear her voice, even if it was just to tell him to go to hell.
But instead,he dropped the phone.
Not tonight.
The truth would only break her again.
And this time, he didn't want to be the reason she shattered.
He whispered into the darkness as if she could hear him through the walls, through the city, through the distance.