**9 months ago**
Rain drummed against the apartment windows as Harper stood in the middle of the living room, watching Zane shove clothes into his duffel bag.
"What are you doing?" Harper asks.
He doesn't answer.
"Zane."
He zipped the bag closed.
"I'm leaving." He confessed.
Harper let out a confused laugh, not being able to believe the words coming out of his mouth.
"...What?"
"I'm leaving."
"No, I heard what you said." She took a step toward him. "I'm asking why."
He kept his eyes on the floor, refusing to look Harper in the eye.
"I can't do this anymore." Zane murmured.
A knot twisted painfully in Harper's stomach.
"What do you mean you can't do this anymore?"
"This." He gestured between them. "Us."
She stared at him.
"You're breaking up with me?" Silence. "Look at me."
He didn't.
"Zane, look at me!"
His eyes finally met hers.. They were glossy.
"I'm sorry." Zane whispered softly.
Harper blinked at him, shaking her head as if that could change his words.
"No."
"No?"
"No." Tears burned her eyes. "You don't get to say 'I'm sorry' after two years together and just walk away."
He swallowed hard.
"You deserve someone better." Zane said quietly.
"Don't." Her voice cracked. "Don't fucking say that."
"It's true."
"No, it isn't." She stepped closer until only inches separated them. "Tell me what I did."
"You didn't do anything." Zane sighs.
"Then tell me what happened."
"Nothing happened."
"You're lying." Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"I'm not."
"You can't even look at me without looking like you're about to cry!"
Zane's jaw tightened.
"I've made my decision."
Harper searched his face for something.. anger, resentment, anything that would make sense. Instead, all she found was heartbreak.
"You still love me."
His expression flickered.
"...Harper." he said quietly, like saying her name hurt.
"You do."
He looked away.
Harper's voice softened.
"If you still love me... then why are you leaving?"
He closed his eyes.
Because if I stay, they'll kill you.
The words sat heavy on his tongue... But he couldn't say them. Not if it meant putting her in even more danger.
"I just don't feel the same anymore."
She flinched like he'd slapped her.
"If you don't love me anymore..." She swallowed hard. "Why does it feel like you're trying so hard to convince yourself?"
"I'm not."
"You're terrible at lying."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
"I'll get better."
A tear slid down her cheek. "So that's it?" She lets out a whimper.
He nodded once.
"You wake up today and decide you don't want me anymore?"
Zane forces himself to nod again.
Every lie felt like another knife twisting in his chest.
"I kept thinking maybe we'd get married someday." She laughed bitterly.
His breath caught. She wasn't supposed to say that.
Not now. Not when leaving was already the hardest thing he'd ever done.
"You promised," Her voice trembled, like she was trying to convince herself more than him.
"I know."
"You told me you'd never leave."
"I know." Zane's voice was sharp, but the pain underneath it was impossible to miss
"So why?"
He gripped the strap of his bag until his knuckles turned white.
Because they're watching.
Because they know your name.
Because if I choose you...
They'll choose to bury you.
Instead he said the cruelest words he could think of.
"I don't love you enough to stay." Zane forced the words out.
The room went silent.
Harper's face crumpled.
For a second, Zane nearly broke.
He wanted to tell her everything.
To hold her.
To apologize.
To beg her to come with him.
Instead, he walked toward the door.
She didn't stop him.
"Was any of it real?" she asked quietly, tears in her eyes.
He paused with his hand on the doorknob.
Every second he stayed was another second someone could be watching.
"...Yeah." His voice barely rose above a whisper. "It was real."
He opened the door.
"I hope one day," Harper said through tears, "you regret this."
He already did.
He stepped into the rain without looking back.
Only after the apartment door shut behind him did he allow himself to break.
Across the street, a black SUV sat idling. A man inside lowered a pair of binoculars.
"He left her," the man said into his phone.
A voice answered from the other end.
"Good."
The man kept watching Harper's apartment.
"But keep eyes on the girl."
Zane had left to save her. What he didn't know is the danger wouldn't end.. only force Harper to face it alone.
BẠN ĐANG ĐỌC
Collateral Hearts
Lãng mạnZane loved Harper more than anyone, and that was exactly why he had to leave. After discovering that the people hunting him would stop at nothing to get to him, he vanished without a word, believing breaking her heart was the only way to keep her al...
