The Man She Left, The Love She Found

Ryan’s voice crackled through the phone, filled with urgency and panic.

"Where are you? Do you even know what happened to Cassidy? How could you just leave like this?! She—she tried to kill herself! Do you get it?!"

Landon’s face drained of color. His eyes flickered with guilt and hesitation as he glanced at Zara, clearly caught between duty and desire, unsure of how to navigate this mess.

“I’ve got something to take care of today,” he muttered, his voice strained. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Zara barely reacted. Her voice was flat, almost indifferent. “Oh.”

Then, with a calmness that even she hadn’t expected, she added, “If it’s too much for her, she can stay at our house.”

Landon’s head snapped up, his face showed shock and disbelief. “What did you just say?!”

“I said,” Zara repeated, her tone unwavering, “she can stay at our house.”

Landon’s jaw tightened. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to check on her. I’ll be back soon. I won’t let her stay at our house.”

“You’re my fiancé,” Zara said, her voice sharp.

“I’ll be right back,” he muttered, almost too quickly, before turning and walking away, practically fleeing like a man running from his own conscience.

...

By the time Zara wrapped up dinner with her friends, it was well past midnight. Fatigue settled deep in her bones as she hailed a cab home, her body still weak from the miscarriage.

Her phone buzzed incessantly. The screen lit up with a string of incoming messages.

[Do you know what he’s doing right now? He’s blow-drying my hair.]

[Look, these are the love letters he wrote me. Want to see them?]

Zara remained silent.

Every single message and every picture revolved around Landon.

The images, taken in what was obviously a hotel room, showed Cassidy draped in nothing but the dim glow of the bedside lamp. Bruises and kiss marks traced her skin in places that needed no explanation.

Cassidy had always been arrogant.

But this? This was just her being excessive.

Zara exhaled slowly, the weight of her exhaustion pressing down on her. She didn’t feel anger—not even heartbreak. Just an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

Her fingers moved swiftly across the screen as she typed back:

[Then keep your dog on a leash and quit letting him run around biting people.]

...

The next morning, as Landon busied himself in the kitchen, another message from Cassidy popped up.

[Come to Starlight Tower tomorrow.]

Zara’s jaw tightened. 'How ridiculous.'

Without a second thought, she closed the message and turned away.

That day, she gathered her things.

Every love letter. Every diary entry she had ever written for Landon.

One by one, they went into the trash.

The carefully folded paper stars. The protective charm she had once prayed over at Everlight Sanctuary. The scarf she had bought but never had the chance to give him. The bag of White Rabbit candies she had intended to share with him.

All of it went up in flames.

Seven years of memories—of pain, of hope—burned away in seconds.

That night, she couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned, her mind looping through thoughts of Cassidy, of Landon, of every single lie she had swallowed whole.

When she finally managed to drift off, the sharp buzz of her phone jolted her awake.

A message from Landon:

[Be good and stay home. I’ll come see you this afternoon.]

Almost immediately after, another message.

This time, from Cassidy:

[I know you want to go back to Westfield. If you don’t come to Starlight Tower, I’ll tell him about your plans to leave.]

Zara’s fingers tightened around her phone.

'So this was the game now? Threats?' she thought

Zara, then, took a slow breath, forcing her emotions down.

Then, she typed back one word:

[Fine.]

...

Starlight Tower was a historical landmark, steeped in legend. People whispered that it had been built by an ancient emperor for his true love.

They said if lovers prayed there, their souls would be forever connected, bound together in this life—and the next.

Seven years ago, Zara had stood at these very steps, praying for Landon.

She could still hear his voice in her mind—bored, indifferent. “You’re not a kid anymore. If you want something, go by yourself. My time is precious—can you afford to waste it?”

Back then, she had swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing herself to smile, waiting for him to turn around and see her.

Just once. Just for a second.

But he never did.

And that’s when she finally understood.

It wasn’t that Landon couldn’t love her.

He just didn’t love her.

“Well, well,” a familiar voice cooed, pulling Zara out of her thoughts. “So you were waiting here all along.”

Zara turned, finding Cassidy descending the stone steps, her heels clicking against the ancient rock. She looked effortlessly composed, her smirk lazy, her eyes alight with amusement.

But beneath all of that, her cold, calculating malice was unmistakable.

“You actually had the guts to show up here?” Cassidy’s voice dripped with mockery, full of venom. “Aren’t you scared you might not leave alive?”

Zara stood still, letting the weight of Cassidy’s words settle around her. But then, something inside her clicked. She wasn’t afraid of Cassidy. She wasn’t afraid of any of this.

She had nothing left to lose.

With a slow, steady breath, Zara squared her shoulders, meeting Cassidy’s gaze head-on.