Page 29 of Fractured Faceoff

"So you're happy with Kash?" My voice shook with anger and something else—desperation, maybe.

"It's complicated," she said after a long pause.

"Complicated?" I scoffed. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," she admitted softly.

"Then how was it supposed to be?" I demanded.

"I don't know," she whispered.

The line went silent for a moment, both of us caught in the web of our own tangled emotions.

"This isn't over," I said finally.

"Yes, it is," she said, her voice resolute. "Jared, I…"

She sighed, the sound filled with weariness and something else—maybe regret.

"Did you love me?" I demanded. "After all this time… Ava, I put my life on hold for you. I was loyal. I was…"

My voice trailed off, the words sticking in my throat like a bitter pill. "I gave up everything for you. You can't tell me it was all for nothing."

There was silence on the other end, the kind that felt heavy and oppressive.

"I have to go," she finally said.

"Maybe I'll tell Kash the truth," I blurted out suddenly, the words escaping before I could stop them.

"You'd ruin him," she said, a note of disbelief creeping into her voice. "You'd really do that to him? To your own brother?"

"Maybe I wouldn't care if it hurt you too," I snapped back, my anger flaringhot and wild.

"Jared," she began, but her voice faltered.

"No, Ava. You don't get to play innocent here. You knew exactly what you were doing," I continued, pacing the room again, each step echoing my frustration.

"I never meant for any of this to happen," she said softly.

"Then what did you mean to happen?" My voice rose with each word. "You kept me hanging on a string while you paraded around with Kash."

"It wasn't like that," she protested weakly.

"Then what was it like? Enlighten me." My tone dripped with sarcasm.

"I cared about you, Jared," she said after a long pause. "But things got complicated."

"You keep saying that word—complicated. It's a cop-out and you know it."

"You think this is easy for me?" Her voice rose now too, anger mingling with frustration. "You think I'm not torn apart by this?"

"I don't care how torn apart you are!" The words exploded out of me before I could think them through. "You made your choice."

"And you need to accept it," she said firmly.

I stood there, breathing heavily, my mind racing with all the things I wanted to say but couldn't find the words for.

"There was no chance for me, was there?"

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