Chapter 13
Chapter 13
The bedroom door was cracked open, and angry voices from outside drifted through my exhausted haze
Tristan and I had pulled an all–nighter until 3 AM, grinding through experiment deadlines. I was completely dead.
“Tristan…” I shuffled out in slippers, yawning hard. “What time is it? I feel like I just closed my eyes…”
Then I saw him–standing there clutching flowers but radiating pure rage. My words died in my throat.
Lennon? What the fuck was he doing here?
His bloodshot eyes were locked on me like lasers.
“Noa! Who is this guy? You broke up with me for him, didn’t you? You’re… you’re living together!”
He lunged forward, his voice cracking into something desperate and raw:
“You’re fucking sleeping together!”
I looked at this unhinged version of Lennon and felt… nothing. Just cold amusement tugging at my lips:
“Yeah. We’re sleeping together.”
“So what? How is that any of your business?”
He physically staggered like I’d punched him. The roses scattered across the floor.
Faced with my ice–cold tone, his voice went soft and pleading:
“Noa… let’s stop this, okay? Let’s make up… I know you’re mad at me, it’s all my fault…”
He was spiraling, words tumbling out:
“How could you fall for someone else? You must still be angry with me, right? You’re just trying to hurt me back…”
“Mr. Westbrook,” Tristan’s calm yoice cut through the chaos. “Delusion is a medical condition. I’d suggest seeing a psychiatrist.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are!”
Tristan’s mockery lit Lennon’s fuse completely. He swung at Tristan, screaming:
14:48
Done Hiding as Your Backup Plaything I’m Shining Golden as a Queen
Chapter 13
“You predatory piece of shit! Moving in on her when she’s vulnerable!”
“I’ve loved her for ten fucking years! What do you have? What gives you the right?”
Tristan caught Lennon’s wrist effortlessly:
“Ten years of hurting her, disappointing her repeatedly–that’s your credentials?”
“Sounds pretty worthless to me.”
“I never-!”
Hit where it hurt most, Lennon grabbed my arm desperately:
“Noa! Whatever I did wrong, I’ll fix it! Don’t leave me, please… nobody loves you like I do…”
“You promised you’d stay with me forever! We’d never break up! What’s so great about him? You were happiest with me…”
He was shaking, eyes streaming tears that dripped onto my hand. I’d never seen ennon cry before.
Watching him completely shatter, hearing his too–late declarations of love, I felt. stranger have a breakdown.
pty. Like watching a
Too little, too late.
I looked at him steadily:
“With him, I don’t worry about the parade of female ‘friends‘ around him. I don’t force myself into social situations that make me miserable. I don’t have to worry that being quiet makes me a buzzkill.”
“I sleep peacefully. I eat well. He makes me feel safe, relaxed. He lets me focus on being myself.”
“Noa, I can-”
He tried to grab my hand again. I pulled away, my voice flat:
“Lennon, I compromised myself over and over because I loved you. But disappointment piles up, and eventually it buries love completely.”
“I stopped loving you a long time ago. Don’t you get that?”
All the fight drained out of Lennon like someone had pulled a plug. He stood there listening to the girl who used to worship him calmly list another man’s virtues, each word slicing him apart.
He opened his mouth but no sound came. Every possible thing he could say felt pathetic now
14:48
Done Hiding as Your Backup Plaything I’m Shining Golden as a Queen
Chapter 13
He’d lost
Completely, irreversibly lost.
