STRINGS BETWEEN US

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: OF RANKINGS, RUINS, AND THE BOY WHO

And the boy who shattered me.

He wasn't just standing there. He was walking right into the chaos, eyes locked on me like I was the only thing in the world.

My whole body froze. The crowd didn't even breathe.

This wasn't just a plot twist.

Forget the photo.

Xythe was the plot twist.

I couldn't move.

He saw me—and the moment our eyes met, he ran.

"Elle!"

I froze.

But before he could reach me, KD moved. Without hesitation.

He stepped right between us. Calm. Sharp. Unmoving. And that's when it hit. This wasn't just a school scandal anymore.

This was war.

KD'S POV

I knew it. The second I saw Xythe's face, I knew exactly where this was headed. He wasn't here by accident. He wouldn't come this close unless he was desperate.

And I wasn't about to let him take another step.

I moved.

Steady. Calm. Precise.

I blocked him cold, right in front of her.

The crowd lost it. But none of that mattered. Because in that moment, there was only one thing that mattered, Riyee.

His voice came sharp, strained, almost pleading.

"Let's talk, Elle."

Elle.

I saw how her entire body tensed at that word.

Her stare? Brutal. Cold enough to burn.

She didn't even need to speak.

Her glare said everything.

And Xythe, for all his arrogance, for all that desperate act, he flinched.

I almost smirked. But before I could say anything, another force cut through.

THWACK.

The punch came hard. Clean. Brutal.

Saichel Levesque wearing Celestine Ardent uniform.

Of course it was him. Riyee's bestfriend. I didn't even move to stop it. I just watched. Because unlike the rest of the crowd, I wasn't surprised.  Saichel wasn't the type to throw punches without reason.

He hit hard but his words hit harder.

"I told you not to look for her."

His tone wasn't loud, but it carried. Sharp. Icy. Heavy with something else.

The entire hall froze, their gasps louder than the punch. Xythe glared murderously, blood staining his lip.

"Move, Saichel," he growled, low and dark.

But Saichel, just let out this soft, dangerous laugh. His next words dropped like a guillotine.

"Oh, it's about me now."

His voice was steady, but I caught it. That slight edge underneath. The weight of something personal. Saichel wasn't just defending a friend. This was something else.

"You think you can just barge in here?" His voice sliced through the air, thick with disgust.
"After what you did?"

I didn't miss how the crowd held its breath. Xythe's glare sharpened, but Saichel wasn't done.

His next words cracked through the silence.

"You broke up with her, Xythe!!"

Boom.

That was it.

Gasps exploded–louder than anything that came before. Phones whipped out, screens flashed. The crowd wasn't going to let this go.

And neither was Saichel. Xythe's face twisted in fury.

"Saichel, shut the hell up."

But Saichel didn't even flinch. He smiled. Sharp. Dangerous.

"Gladly."

Then another brutal punch–this time straight to Xythe's jaw. I didn't stop it. I watched it land. Because some things needed to break before they could heal.

The hall erupted again–screams, chaos, the frenzied snapping of photos.

But I stayed where I was. Cold. Steady. Until I knew it was time to end it.

I stepped forward. Just once.

And spoke–Quiet. Sharp. Lethal.

"Enough."

Silence dropped instantly. Because when I spoke like that, people listened.

They always listened. I locked eyes with Xythe, my voice dropping lower-calm but sharp enough to cut.

"You're causing a scene at the Sovereign Court. We don't tolerate personal drama here."

My words hung heavy in the air. But I wasn't done. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't need to.

I let the next words fall like a blade-slow, deliberate, meant to leave no doubt.

"She doesn't want to talk to you."

That was it. The final blow.

I watched Xythe freeze-not from the punches, but from those words. And this time? Even Saichel fell silent, his fury cooling into something sharper. The crowd? Still too stunned to even breathe. They were all watching me now. But I wasn't looking at them. I only looked at her.

Riyee.

Still shaking. Still terrified. But not alone. Not anymore. Because I wasn't moving away.

For the first time in this entire mess, she wasn't standing alone. And whether the rest of them realized it or not? This wasn't over. Not even close. They could gossip. They could spread it like wildfire.

Let them. Because in the end, it didn't matter what storm they stirred up next. I'd already decided. No one was taking her away from me. Not him. Not anyone.