The whole room went dead silent.
Sebastian jerked his arm away from Isolde, his eyes darting like he was caught in the act.
“Ela… Elara, what are you doing here?”
I pulled the corners of my mouth into something that resembled a smile and repeated myself.
“Sebastian, that disgusting woman you were talking about just now–was it me?”
Instantly, every pair of eyes in the room shifted to Sebastian.
Under the weight of everyone’s stare, his brows creased, panic flickering across his face.
“Elara, I…”
He stammered like a coward.
Isolde’s smile turned sharp as a knife and she cut in for him.
“That’s right. Sebastian thinks you’re disgusting.”
She added with a nasty little smirk.
“And it’s not just him. Everyone here does.”
The disgust in her eyes wasn’t even masked, and I instinctively touched my cheek.
The one with the scar.
It had started to ache again.
Sebastian took a step forward, almost like he wanted to stop me from hurting, but Isolde clung to him like a leech.
He glanced down at her, clinging to his side, then said nothing.
Isolde’s smug little grin widened.
“Elara Sinclair, all these years later and you’re still losing to me.”
“Some things never change, huh?”
I didn’t bother responding.
Instead, I looked Sebastian dead in the eye.
“Sebastian, I want you to say it to my face.”
Chapter 5
“In these five years…. you never cared about me. Not even once.”
The room went quiet.
Even Isolde shut up.
Everyone was waiting for Sebastian’s answer.
In the dim light, I could hear my own heartbeat thudding in my ears.
Sebastian looked down, avoiding my gaze.
“Elara, I…”
He hesitated.
Then glanced at his friends, all of them staring at him like they couldn’t believe this drama was actually happening, and at Isolde, already looking annoyed.
He shut his eyes.
Then said it.
“Elara, in those five years, I never loved you.”
And just like that, something inside me shattered.
Maybe it was the weight of everything tonight.
But weirdly… I felt like I could finally breathe.
Isolde chuckled, voice all sunshine and venom.
“You hear that, Elara? Still dreaming you’d turn from ugly duckling to swan? Get real.”
The others joined in, piling on like a pack of hyenas.
“She really thought Sebastian gave a damn. I can’t!”
“She’s not just ugly, she limps! Who the hell does she think she is?”
“Poor thing probably snapped from the rejection.”
Their laughter echoed like it was high school all over again.
But this time, I didn’t lower my head.
I looked up.
For the first time, I met Isolde’s eyes–unflinching.
Chapter 5
“We’ll see each other again.”
I didn’t spare another glance at Sebastian.
I turned and walked out of that lounge like I was done being their plaything.
Behind me, the laughter kept going.
But we were already living in different worlds now.
When I got home, I started packing right away.
No matter how sweet those five years had been, I wasn’t sticking around to be anyone’s backup plan.
I pulled out the bank card I’d kept safe all these years.
The one holding every penny I’d scraped together.
This was it.
Sebastian Kane. Isolde Thorne.
One day, you’ll both see me again.
And I won’t be the girl you left behind.
