Page 50 of Only When We Fall

Emmie

Zara breaks out behind me, the door crashing back against the wall.

“Are you okay?” she asks, breathless.

“Is Kai?” My voice cracks as I sink onto the low stone step outside the venue, burying my face in my hands. “I can’t believe that just happened.”

Zara drops down beside me. “What even was that?”

I lift my head slowly, eyes stinging. “Messages that Kai sent to me in confidence. Landon must’ve read them when I was at his. Before I knew what he’d done.”

Realisation flickers across her face. “You think he went through your phone?”

I nod, ashamed, guilty, furious,all of it.“He stood up there and used them to humiliate Kai in front of everyone.”

Zara blinks hard. “That’s messed up.”

“It’s more than messed up.” I breathe out shakily. “He didn’t just violatemytrust. He exposedKai. He stole something vulnerable. Private. And then turned it into a performance.”

Zara places a hand on my arm. “Hey. None of this is on you.”

I shake my head. “But it is. I’m the one who kept those messages. I didn’t delete them. I should have known Landon was capable of something like this.”

“You trusted him. That’s not a crime.”

I don’t say anything, because part of me still feels like itis. The door creaks again behind us. I look up, heart already racing, expecting Kai.

But it’s Seb. His jaw is tight. “Are you okay?” he asks.

I nod. “Where’s Kai?”

“Inside.”

Zara pushes to her feet. “You might want to stop him from doing something stupid.” Seb nods and disappears without another word.

I stay where I am, still stunned, still cold, still trying to process what it means.

Seb reappears, breathless, eyes scanning the street. “He’s gone,” he says. “Slipped out the back door.”

“What?” I jerk to my feet. “Did you see where he went?”

Seb shakes his head. “No one saw. Place is packed. He could be anywhere.”

“Split up?” Zara suggests, already pulling out her phone. “We’ll check around campus and the nearby bars.”

I nod and head off alone, heart hammering, stomach twisted with worry. And I silently pray he hasn’t gone after Landon.

It’s dark now, the streetlamps throwing long shadows across the pavement. I duck down a side alley, thinking he might’ve needed air, somewhere quiet. But instead, I walk straight into someone.

He steadies me with both hands, and bile rises in my throat the second I see who it is.

Landon.

“Oh,” he says with a smirk. “Fancy bumping into you.”

I jerk away. “Don’t touch me.”

He raises his hands mockingly. “Relax. I’m not the villain here.”

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