Page 68 of Fated Love with You


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A shrill, metallic ringing drills into my ears like a siren that won’t stop.

I try to lift my head, but the world spins.

Smoke curls in front of me, thick and chemical, already burning my throat.

I roll onto my side, blinking against the haze. Gunfire rattles—short bursts, close. People shouting. Tires screeching.

My limbs won’t move fast enough. My thoughts won’t come.

But one echo cuts through the noise:

“I’ll see you again at your funeral.”

Kylie’s voice pierces through the panic, louder than the blast.

She said it with anger, but I hear it now like a prophecy.

A pair of arms close around me, lifting me off the asphalt like I weigh nothing.

I’m pulled into someone’s chest, then shoved into the backseat of a car.

“Down,” a voice barks. “Stay down!”

The door slams shut. Tires peel out, screeching against the asphalt as the car launches into motion.

I taste smoke in the back of my throat, sharp and acrid. I press a hand to my chest, trying to calm the thundering in my ears.

But it’s no use.

I can still feel him—the weight of his hands on my hips, the heat of his mouth at my throat, the pull of him in every hallway shadow we ever slipped into. There haven’t been enough kisses yet, not enough nights tangled in his sheets, not enough stolen moments where his voice dipped low and promised nothing but desire. I try to breathe through the smoke, through the ringing, through the panic, but all I can think about is how easily I could’ve died without ever knowing what it means to be fully his.

And how that’s a huge fucking problem…

I thought I could handle this, that all the layers of protection made it bearable.

I believed that Ryder—his world, his rules, his presence—was something I could survive.

But this isn’t just about danger anymore…

And no matter how much I want to believe there’s a version of him that can keep me safe, there’s no version of me that can keep living like this.

End of Episode 22

How You Say It

EPISODE 23

Autumn

It takes two full days for my ears to recover from the ringing, but it only took two minutes after being assessed by Ryder’s doctor at the estate to finally see that I can no longer be a part of this game.

It’s time for me to take my pieces off the board and walk away without any chance of winning.

I’ve lost, and I’ll never know what the outcome could’ve been if I stayed, but… I can’t do this anymore.

Slipping out of the bed, I place the things I managed to get out of my apartment and stuff them into the suitcase I originally brought to the estate.

I tiptoe to Adeline’s room, ready to tell her goodbye, but she’s sleeping, and I don’t have the heart to wake her up just to say that. I walk over to her desk and pen a note. Then I tuck it into her violin case and press a kiss on her forehead.