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21. Video Call

September 2026,
Scars Bay, USA

Jayden

"Thank you." I smiled. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course. That was the best dinner we have had in a really long time!" the elderly couple raved on with wide smiles on their faces. "Bless your hands."

"Thank you so much!" I said once again. "I will send out a few tarts - on the house, of course. I'm sure you will love them as well." Their faces lit up. "Now please excuse me, I must get back to the kitchen."

"Of course." They smiled and nodded.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening." I gave them a smile.

My restaurant manager was waiting in the kitchen with a wide grin on his face. "That was the seventh table to compliment your cooking tonight."

"Just doing my job," I told him as I took off my apron and toque.

"Looks like you miss working at the restaurant," he started and I knew what he was hinting at.

"What makes you think so?"

"The fact that your smile hasn't left your face since you stepped into the kitchen earlier this evening," he pointed out. "You should come by more often."

He was right. I had missed this. Cooking has always had a cathartic effect on me. And the hustle-bustle of the kitchen distracted me and gave me a few hours of reprieve from my thoughts. Despite the bleak morning and afternoon, I was in a surprisingly decent mood right now. Who am I kidding? I was even somewhat happy and excited. Happy to have spent some quality fun time with my friends after we finished our... discussions and a good couple of hours behind the stove, and excited to go back home and talk to Alya.

We had a daily call scheduled at 9.30 pm. It was something I had looked forward to all day long for the past week.

"I'll think about it," I told him. "Alright, I gotta go. Take care of the restaurant. See you later, man."

"See you soon." He smiled and tipped his head.

I drove home contemplating today's revelations.

Dimitri Volkov, the Prince of the Soare-Luna Kingdom and Alya's half-brother's brother, was here, in Scars Bay. While he claimed it was a work trip, Kate wasn't entirely sure of the reason for his visit.

Another revelation that I found very difficult to digest was that Alya was taken to a hospital after the accident we thought claimed her life. We had no knowledge of this. The world believed that the car she was driving fell into a river and while she managed to escape, she had drowned.

Not only that but Andrei had come all the way to New York and took Alya back to Soare Luna from the hospital. Why did anybody not know about this? How the hell did they manage to keep this a secret? And how the fuck did they manage to trick everybody into believing that she was dead? That too for five fucking years!

Kate was the most pissed out of all of us for being duped by the Volkovs and the hospital. She had sent Samuelson to New York to further investigate the case which seemed to get more tangled the more we deliberated on it.

The moment I walked into the foyer of my apartment building, my ears met with a familiar, grating voice.

"Jay!"

Maybe I'm hallucinating. Maybe if I ignore it hard enough, it will go away.

I strode straight towards the elevators. But before I even made it halfway across the foyer, the source of the annoying, grating voice planted itself in front of me.

"Jayden!" Stella said in an overly perky, excited voice. "I missed you. I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past two weeks but I suppose you were understandably busy attending Kate's wedding. I'm so sorry about that, by the way -"

"Don't be."

"- I can't even imagine what she must be going through. The -"

"Then don't imagine."

"-poor girl must be hurting and you being the good, generous man and friend that you are had to be by her side and help her through such a tough time in her life."

"I did no such thing."

"Oh, you're so humble, Jay," she smiled, threw her arms around me, and hugged me. "I missed you so much."

My eyes squeezed shut in exasperation. Getting out of her hold, I stepped back. "What are you doing here, Stella?"

"I was actually going to wait upstairs for you in our apart-"

"My apartment."

"-ment but the guys at the concierge refuse to let me go in any further than this. They said that I don't have access anymore! I tried to tell them that they are mistaken and that you're my boyfriend, that we've been dating for the past four years. They know me and they know that I come here regularly. Hell, I practically live here-"

"No, you don't."

"-but they're not budging. I'm sure there's some sort of confusion. You should talk to them and clear it up."

"There's no confusion," I told her. "You don't have access to my apartment or my life. We're done, Stella."

"What?!" She looked shocked as if it was a revelation. I had been trying to break up with her for a while now and had brought it up several times. She had to have seen it coming.

"Don't act so surprised. You knew this was coming." I was so fucking tired of her shit. "There is no point in dragging this charade for any longer than we already have. It's best if we go our separate ways."

"No!" Her eyes teared up. "I can't accept this. I don't agree with you. We're not breaking up! Not after everything we have been through," she shrieked. "You cannot do this to me. I've been nothing but understanding and patient and loving toward you. I've been perfect! Perfect!"

"Do you have any fucking self-respect?" I hissed. "I've been nothing but terrible to you for the past couple of years and I've told you that I want to break up multiple times. How many more times do you need me to tell you that I don't want you until you actually leave me the fuck alone?!"

She flinched. "Jay, I - I love you."

"That sounds like a you-problem so you can leave and deal with it yourself. I'm going to go, I've got things to do." Leaving her there, I walked away, heading toward the elevators.

"Like what?" she snapped. "Talk to dead people?"

I stiffened. I actually had to take a deep breath and remind myself that Alya was alive and well. And that I was going to go upstairs and talk to her.

"That is none of your business." I pressed the button for the elevator and the doors opened.

I stepped in and pressed the button for my floor.

"I don't accept this breakup," Stella said, looking me in the eyes. "We just need some time apart for you to realize that it is me who you truly want."

The elevator doors started closing.

"You're crazy and delusional," I told her.

"I'm in love," she corrected just before the doors closed.

Love, B
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