I slowly lifted myself up, rubbing at my temples, trying to make sense of the fragmented memories of the previous night. My dress was still clinging to me, a little wrinkled, and my heels had been abandoned near the doorway, evidence of my late-night fatigue. Clearly, I had booked the room myself, so I had no one to blame.
Still, the pounding in my head made it impossible to stay idle, so I dragged myself toward a nearby café, craving something warm to soothe the lingering fog in my mind. By the time I arrived, the lunch crowd had filled the tables, the hum of chatter almost oppressive.
A steaming bowl of soup was set before me, the aroma sharp and comforting, and I stirred it slowly, hoping the warmth would revive me. Just as I brought the spoon toward my lips, a familiar voice cut through the din.
“Railey,” it said, low and unreadable, carrying a weight I didn’t want to reckon with. “What are you doing here?”
I snorted, not looking up. “Eating. What else does it look like?”
He ignored the sarcasm, scanning me with an expression I couldn’t read. “You don’t look well. Are you sick?”
“Why do you even care?” I muttered, stirring my soup with deliberate indifference.
Kael sighed and slid into the seat next to me. “Railey, I…”
“Save it,” I interrupted, my tone sharp. “Go back to your colleagues. You don’t have to pretend to care here. Everyone already knows you’re marrying Selara. Don’t waste your fake concern on me.”
His jaw tightened, ready to retort, but the words died in my ears as a wave of dizziness hit me. My vision blurred, my spoon slipped from my fingers, and the last thing I registered before everything went black was the panic etched across his face.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was in a place I knew—the apartment. A cool, damp towel rested against my forehead, carrying the faint scent of Kael’s cologne.
Slowly, I turned my head, only to find him sitting close by, brows knit with worry.
“You’re awake,” he murmured, reaching out to adjust the cloth.
“What…?” I croaked, confused.
“You fainted at the café,” he explained softly. “You had a fever, so I brought you home.”
I frowned, attempting to push myself upright, but his hand pressed gently against my shoulder, stopping me. “Don’t move too much. Just rest, alright?”
I wanted to argue. I should have. But the softness of the blanket around me, the gentleness of his touch, and the exhaustion dragging at my bones made resistance impossible.
He tended to me for hours. He coaxed me to drink warm water, dabbed my forehead with a damp cloth, and tucked the blanket around me whenever I shifted.
And despite my own fury at him, a small, dangerous part of me felt safe again.
He prepared a bowl of porridge quietly, blowing on the spoon before lifting it toward my lips. “Here, eat a little,” he coaxed.
I hesitated, then took a small bite. Relief softened his features, and for a moment, I felt it again—that intoxicating, perilous pull that had kept me bound to him for so long. That lingering sense of being loved, of being wanted.
But which Kael was this? The one who treated me with care, whose gaze held me as though I were everything to him, or the one who had always abandoned me for Selara?
A part of me yearned to believe in the Kael sitting before me, the one I had first fallen in love with, the one I had trusted so completely.
“Railey, you’re burning up,” he murmured, worry thick in his voice.
I shivered on the campus bench, despite the warm afternoon sun. “It’s just a mild cold,” I replied, trying to downplay it.
“Just a mild cold?” he muttered, crouching in front of me. Without hesitation, he shrugged off his hoodie and draped it over my shoulders.
I laughed weakly. “And what about you? Don’t you get cold?”
He smirked. “Do you think I’d ever let my mate freeze while I’m warm?”
Back then, I had been his priority. He would pick me up after class, leaning against his car with a lazy grin, always waiting. We’d wander aimlessly through the city, steal kisses when no one was looking, lose ourselves in cafés for hours, as if the world existed only for us.
I blinked back to the present when he brushed a stray lock of hair from my face.
“You should rest,” he whispered. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
My body surrendered, the exhaustion weighing too heavily to resist. I closed my eyes, unsure whether I was drifting into sleep or slipping back into the dangerous orbit of his gravity.
Morning arrived. I found myself curled against him, his arm somehow having become my pillow. His eyes fluttered open as I stirred, a small gasp escaping him.
“Railey,” he murmured, still thick with sleep. His hand instinctively reached for my forehead, checking for a fever.
Feeling it had broken, he exhaled sharply, then pulled me into a tight embrace. “Thank God,” he whispered into my hair. “You scared me yesterday.”
I searched his eyes, craving the truth in them. Did he still love me? Could I trust him again?
Then, the ringing of his phone shattered the fragile calm. The name on the screen twisted my stomach into knots. Selara.
I clenched my jaw, words slow and deliberate. “Kael… can you stay here with me and ignore her?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Sorry, Railey. I need to answer this. She probably needs me at the hospital.”
Grabbing his jacket, he rushed toward the door, phone to ear, and left me staring at the empty room. There it was. His true nature—unchanged.
I let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “I must have lost my mind yesterday,” I muttered. Then, curling my fingers into the blanket, a small, grim smile spread across my lips. “Well… there’s nothing left to regret about leaving him.”
I reached for my bag, pulled out a sheet of paper, and wrote the final words I would ever speak to him. Placing the letter neatly on the nightstand beside the old bank card he had once given me, I felt a strange weight lift.
That afternoon, I headed to the airport, meeting my mother, freshly returned from her business trip.
“You parked the car?” she asked, checking with her usual carefulness.
“Yes, Mom. Valet,” I replied.
She smiled, reaching out to adjust my coat as though I were still a child off to school. “Take care of yourself. Don’t forget to call me regularly, okay?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, hugging her tightly. For all the years I had been moving, chasing dreams, it had always been her—my mother—who had stayed by my side.
As I stepped back, her eyes glistened with tears, reminiscent of my graduation day. But this time, I didn’t cry. This time, I felt relief.
Because I had finally, irrevocably erased him from my life.
From this moment on, I would chase my own sun, free from the shadow of Kael.
