I stood there, the juice running down my back, but my focus was on Lola. Her wide, startled eyes darted from the HR manager to , confused and shaken.
The manager’s face twisted in frustration. "Kiara, what are you doing? That was ant for her."
I turned slowly, eting the manager’s gaze with a calmness I didn’t quite feel. "If you’re trying to humiliate soone, you can co at . But I won’t stand by and watch you treat her like this."
There was a tense silence. The cafeteria had gone quiet again, everyone staring. Jessica and Gabriel were watching too, their expressions unreadable, but I could feel their unease.
The manager sneered. "You think you’re so kind of hero now?"
I didn’t answer. Instead, I looked back at Lola, who seed frozen in her seat, her mouth slightly open in shock. I gave her a small nod before walking past the manager.
Lola stood abruptly, knocking her chair over in her rush to follow . "Kiara, wait!" she called out, her voice trembling.
I stopped but didn’t turn around. "You don’t have to stay here, Lola," I said softly. "You deserve better than this."
She hesitated, her breath shaky. "I...I don’t know where else to go."
Finally, I looked back at her, offering a faint smile. "You can figure that out. I’ll help you if you want. But you don’t owe these people anything."
The manager scoffed behind us, but I didn’t give them the satisfaction of looking back. Without another word, I walked out of the cafeteria, knowing Lola was right behind .
As the door swung shut behind us, I felt the weight of the stares lift. For the first ti in a long ti, I wasn’t the one being targeted.
We walked down the hallway in silence for a few monts before Lola spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why did you do that? You don’t even know ."
I glanced at her, wiping so juice off my arm with a paper towel I’d grabbed on the way out. "I didn’t need to know you. I’ve been where you are. No one should have to face that alone."
She bit her lip, her eyes still brimming with unshed tears. "Thank you."
As I walked toward the bathroom, I could feel Lola’s eyes on my back, her mind no doubt racing with a thousand questions. Could what happened to really be happening to her too? Was she being betrayed by those closest to her, just as I had been?
I gave her a reassuring smile before slipping through the bathroom door. Once inside, I let out a long, shaky sigh, leaning against the sink for support.
What just happened?
The cold juice on my skin clung to , sticky and uncomfortable, but my thoughts were far more tangled than that. It wasn’t just the confrontation, or standing up for Lola—it was sothing deeper. That mont in the cafeteria felt like a strange twist of fate, like I was watching my own past play out in front of .
Could it be possible? Could soone else be forced to endure the sa nightmare I did?
I turned on the faucet, letting the water run cool over my hands as I stared into the mirror. My reflection seed distant, as though I were looking at soone else entirely. But no, this was —Kiara, reborn into this life, carrying mories that still haunted . The betrayal, the sha, the anger. And now... it was like seeing it happen all over again, but through Lola.
My mind churned. Had she been drugged, too? Betrayed by her best friend and boyfriend, just like I had been? Jessica and Gabriel seed capable of anything. What if this wasn’t a coincidence? What if they’d set Lola up, the sa way they did to ?
I gripped the edge of the sink, my knuckles turning white.
The pieces were coming together too cleanly to ignore.
As I stood at the sink, lost in my thoughts, the bathroom door creaked open. Jessica walked in, her face carefully arranged into a mask of sympathy. She approached slowly, her eyes scanning as if I were so wounded animal.
"Kiara," she began softly, "why did you do that? Lola’s a ss, and everyone knows it. She’s been ostracized for a reason. Why would you stand up for her?" She grabbed a handful of tissues and began dabbing at the juice stains on my shirt. "You’re going to need to get this changed. It’s ruined."
I watched her for a mont, her hands moving with calculated care. She was pretending to care, but I knew better now. Sothing inside snapped, and I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. I turned to her, eting her gaze, my voice low but steady.
"That day... at the hotel," I said slowly, watching her reaction closely. "You never reached out to afterward. Not even a word. But that’s not all. Where did you and Gabriel go? I woke up alone. You were both gone."
Her hand froze mid-air, the tissue hovering just above my shirt. For a brief second, I saw it—the flash of sothing in her eyes. Panic? Guilt? It was gone as quickly as it appeared, and then she forced a laugh, light and dismissive, like I’d asked her sothing absurd.
"What? Kiara, we didn’t go anywhere. In fact, you were the one who disappeared. We stayed for a while, tried looking for you, but you were just... gone."
Her words were smooth, practiced, but I knew better. The more she spoke, the more the pieces of that night clicked together in my mind. She was lying. She had always been lying.
I forced a smile, letting out a soft, almost amused chuckle. "Oh, really?" I said, my voice light, as if I believed every word she was saying. I tilted my head slightly, keeping my tone casual, though my thoughts were anything but.
Jessica’s eyes flickered, gauging my reaction, trying to see if her story had convinced . She nodded, her expression neutral but her body tense. "Yeah, of course. We were worried, Kiara. You vanished, and we couldn’t find you. Gabriel and I even thought about calling the police, but then you just... showed up again."
I nodded slowly, pretending to take it in. "That must’ve been tough for you two. All that worry," I added, still keeping my voice calm, almost sympathetic.
Jessica smiled, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly as if she thought the conversation was over. She handed another tissue, her fake concern still plastered on her face. "It’s all in the past now. You’re fine, right? That’s what matters."
I kept up the act, taking the tissue from her hand and dabbing at my shirt. "Yeah," I said softly. "I’m fine, but I do have one more question?"
Jessica gulped, "And that is?"
"Why didn’t you call the police at the end? And where did you and Gabriel or better still what did you and Gabriel do...after I disappeared."
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