Page 38 of Ava After Midnight

She never finishes.

Because Zoe swings.

The crack of knuckles meeting cheekbone echoes through the chapel. Mia stumbles back, clutching her face, gasping.

“You bitch!” Mia shrieks, voice warping into something raw, ugly.

Zoe shakes out her hand, flexing her fingers like she’s debating whether to swing again. “Oh, I’m just getting started.”

The church erupts. My mother is screeching. Matthew’s family looks horrified. Mia whimpers, mascara streaking as she turns to Matthew for help. And he steps away.

Zoe lets out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Oh, look at that. Big, bad Matthew, suddenly a ghost. Funny how that happens.”

Mia wipes at her face, voice shaking. “Zoe, please?—”

“Please?” Zoe’s nostrils flare as she steps closer, voice dropping into something sharp and lethal. “Please? You stood beside Ava. You held her hand through fittings, helped plan this—” she waves an arm toward the lavish display of perfection crumbling around them. “And the whole damn time, you were screwing her fiancé?”

Mia swallows hard. “It just... happened.”

Jade snorts, arms crossed. "Women like you don’t let things ‘just happen.’ You make them happen and then cry when you get caught.”

Mia’s lips tremble. “I didn’t mean?—”

“Oh, fuck off, Mia.” Zoe shakes her head, a bitter smile on her lips. “I speak for all of us when I say we’re fucking done with you. You’re out. Blocked. Group chat access revoked.”

Mia’s mouth opens, her breath coming in short, frantic gasps before she screams. “He was supposed to be mine!”

The entire chapel stills.

Mia clutches her bruised cheek, eyes blazing, her voice breaking as she points at me. “We were friends first. I introduced them. I had the history. But she—” her lip curls, her carefully crafted mask slipping, revealing something ugly beneath. “She took him. Like she always does. Ava gets everything handed to her! And you all just—just let her!”

Zoe lets out a low, cold laugh. “Oh. Oh. So that’s what this is? Some pick-me bullshit because Matthew didn’t choose you?”

Mia’s chest rises and falls rapidly, hands trembling at her sides. “You don’t get it?—”

“Oh, no. I get it perfectly now.” Zoe’s eyes are sharp as a blade, her voice dripping with disdain. “This was never about love. It was never about loyalty. It was about you wanting to win something Ava didn’t even want in the first place. And nowyou’re standing here, looking stupid, crying over a man who won’t even look at you.”

Mia turns toward Matthew, desperate now. “Tell them! Tell them we have something real!”

Matthew steps back again. “Mia, stop. Just—stop.”

Jade cackles, shaking her head. “Oh, this is embarrassing. I’d almost feel bad if you weren’t a terrible person.”

Mia’s shoulders slump, realization washing over her. She’s lost. She’s truly alone.

Jade sighs, clapping her hands together. “Well, that was cathartic. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need some water.”

Zoe turns to me, chest heaving. “Ava. Donotlet this be your life.”

The side door slams open.

Gasps. A ripple of movement. Heads turning.

And then?—

Him.

Domingo steps through the doorway like he owns the place, draped in a black suit that clings to every broad muscle, the sharp cut of the jacket emphasizing the controlled, lethal way he moves. Power and promise coil in his stance, a dangerous elegance that sucks the air from the room. He’s the opposite of everything in this polished, curated world.

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