That weekend, Kellan originally told me he was planning to relax by playing soccer with his friends. But I called him unexpectedly, asking him to come see me instead.
He was visibly annoyed. "I told you I was going to play soccer! Leaving my friends hanging like this makes me look bad."
I was upset, too, and blurted out everything Nyra had said. His mood soured further when he heard it.
"You called me over for something so trivial? How many times do I have to reassure you that Nyra and I are just friends? Alicia, do you realize how draining it is to date you like this? Should I just report my every move to you from now on? Would that make you happy?"
"Don't you trust me?"
His words hit me hard. Tears welled up in my eyes as I asked him quietly.
Kellan met my gaze and, after a long pause, sighed.
"Look, insecurity is common, I get it. Since you're uncomfortable about Nyra, I'll find a chance to clear things up with her. But please, Alicia, stop driving me up the wall over these little things, okay? My dad's pressure on me is already overwhelming, and I barely get any downtime. Can you just give me a break, please?"
As graduation approached, Donald was pushing him to abandon his dreams of pursuing law and take over the family jewelry business, causing tension between father and son.
Antonio was never a fan of mine, so reasoning with him was pointless. All I could do was give Kellan some space to unwind.
"I'm swamped with graduation stuff lately. Let's just not talk for a bit."
With that, he turned and walked away. Watching him leave, a chill crept into my heart, and for the first time, I wondered if he was truly worth it.
For a long while after that, he didn't reach out to me. Yet, I kept catching glimpses of him and Nyra buried in books at the library together late at night.
I even heard, through Jonah, that he had abandoned law to study jewelry design overseas.
Then, when my graduation project caught the attention of Tiffany & Co., who wanted to sign a deal for mass production, a swarm of journalists suddenly surrounded me, thrusting their cameras into my face.
"Alicia Fisher, we've received allegations that your graduation project is plagiarized from Nyra Garza's. Is that true?"
I was stunned, stepping back as I insisted, "I didn't do it; you're slandering me!"
Nyra appeared then, tears in her eyes, accusing me.
"Alicia, I could overlook you copying my class assignments before, but this time, the 'Thorny Rose' series was something I specifically designed to celebrate Kellan's birthday. He even helped with the revisions. How could you lie about not plagiarizing?"
In an instant, all the cameras shifted to Kellan, waiting for his response. I looked at him too.
Kellan avoided my gaze and spoke into the cameras. "The 'Thorny Rose' was definitely Nyra's creation. I watched her draw the sketches myself when we were working late at night."
I was frozen in place, overwhelmed by the flashing lights. I walked up to him, looked him in the eyes, and asked, "Are you sure I plagiarized?"
