Chapter 16
My phone buzzed just as I was pouring tea by the window. The sunlight that had felt warm a minute ago now seemed to fade the moment I saw his name flash across the screen.N
Brent.N
I stared at the message for a second, unsure if I wanted to scream, laugh, or throw the phone across the room.
“Layla… I came back only because Celeste tried to take her life. I’ll stay one week–just to make sure she’s stable. After that, I’ll return to you. I still love you. I always have. Please believe that.“}}
I scoffed, the sound bitter in my own throat.N
“Love?” I muttered. “He says he loves me… after running back to her again.”
I blocked his number without hesitation.
It wasn’t the first time. It probably wouldn’t be the last. But somehow, every time he wormed his way back into my inbox, it reopened everything I’d worked so hard to seal shut.
How dare he say those words to me–after everything? After choosing Celeste, again and again. After letting me bleed emotionally while he comforted the girl who’d done nothing but manipulate and scheme.
I placed the phone down and tried to gather myself, but the weight in my chest was suffocating.
Still, I didn’t want to fall apart.
Not again.
I had promised myself that I was moving on. That he no longer had the right to ruin me.
And then, as if summoned by fate or mercy, Zack walked in through the garden path.
He held a bag of pastries in one hand, sunglasses pushed up into his dark curls. “Good morning,” he greeted with a warm smile. “I brought the ones with raspberry filling–you know, your favorite.”
I forced a smile. “You remembered.“N
He studied me for a second, then his eyes softened. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said, far too quickly.}]
“Layla.”
I looked away. “Just a message. From someone who should’ve stopped messaging me a long time ago.”
Zack’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t push further. Instead, he held out a hand. “Come with me.”
I hesitated. But something about the calm steadiness in his eyes felt grounding. Safe.
“Okay,” I whispered.
The hours that followed were filled with nothing extravagant. Just… peace.
He took me to a quiet lakeside not far from the villa, where the water shimmered in the afternoon light and the only sounds were birds and wind rustling through the trees. We laid a blanket on the grass, shared pastries and silly stories, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I laughed. Like, really laughed.
Zack pulled a leaf from my hair and tucked it behind my ear, his gaze lingering longer than it needed to.!!
We walked along the shoreline, toes sinking into the soft sand. When I stumbled slightly, he caught my hand and didn’t let go after that. His fingers were warm, secure, and they made me feel something I hadn’t dared let myself feel in a long time.
Safe.
Wanted.
Whole.
As the sun dipped into golden hour, we sat side by side on a bench carved from weathered wood, watching the sky turn shades of orange and pink. Zack shifted closer, our shoulders brushing.
“I’ve wanted to tell you something for a while now,” he said quietly.!
I turred to him, surprised by the weight in his voice.
“I’ve loved you, Layla. For a long time.” His voice cracked.}}
“Even before all this. Back when you were still laughing freely… before he ever came into the picture. I stayed quiet because you were happy, or so I thought. But now that I see how broken he left you… I can’t keep pretending.”
I swallowed hard. “Zack…”
“I’m not trying to rush you,” he added quickly. “But I need you to know this–because every day I didn’t say it felt like I was letting you slip further away.”
I exhaled slowly, my chest tightening. “I’m scared, Zack. I don’t want to end up in the same mess I just escaped. I don’t want to be lied to or left behind again.”
“I won’t lie to you,” he said. “And I won’t leave. I’m not him, Layla. I never will be.”
His hand cupped my cheek gently, thumb brushing a tear I didn’t know had fallen. “Let me show you what love’s supposed to be.”” And then he kissed me.
Soft. Patient. Like a promise whispered against my lips.
Subandon My Husband who Only loves His Stepsister
It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t desperate. It was grounding–like I was finally being pulled back to earth after drifting in chaos too long. One kiss turned into another. And another.”
We didn’t speak after that. We didn’t need to.N
He brought me back to the villa as night fell. But I didn’t want the evening to end. I didn’t want the calm to vanish. So I stayed. In his arms. In his bed.
Wrapped in warmth and silence and something that felt almost like healing.”
We made love like two people who had waited for years–slow, unhurried, with every touch deliberate and worshipful. There was no pain, no ghosts hovering above us. Just present hearts. Real emotions.”
8 3 3 2 3 2 2 2
When I woke the next morning, sunlight streamed through sheer curtains, and I felt… light.”
Zack was beside me, one arm draped protectively over my waist, breathing even and steady. His warmth seeped into my skin, and for the first time in forever, I didn’t feel haunted.
I felt wanted.
I smiled to myself, pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder.“]
Whatever came next… at least I knew what love was supposed to feel like now.
