Page 86 of Glass Jawed

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Some magical do-over where none of it ever happened?

Lucian’s message is still sitting in my inbox. Mocking.Infuriating.

Every time I reread it, my thumbs twitch.

I’ve typed YES.

Deleted it.

Typed STOP.

Deleted that too.

But today?

Today, I just want it to end. I don’t want the random food deliveries. I don’t want Liam to keep joining me for morning coffees. I don’t want Kashvi to keep wondering when I’ll finally snap.

I want to say what I need to say. And hear whatever rotten perspective he’s carrying.

I take a breath.

Then type:

Me: YES.

Me: Tomorrow. My place. 4PM.

I hit send before I can change my mind.

Then I turn off my phone. Pull my blanket over my head. And try to sleep.

Not to forget.

Just to gather strength.

Because tomorrow, I bury this chapter.

One way or another.

TWENTY-THREE

Lucian

To say I was shocked that Rohi hadn’t blocked me these past few weeks would be an understatement.

But getting areplylast night?

That wasn’t just shock—it was full-body, earth-tilting,holy-shitdisbelief.

I was lying on my bed with my MacBook open, wrapping up some last-minute work when it happened. The notification tone chimed—the one I’d custom-set for Rohi’s contact.

My heart started pounding. Loudly. Like it had risen to my throat and was trying to crawl out.

I waited those five-to-seven excruciating seconds for the message preview to pop up on my synced laptop.

All it said was: YES.

And then—another ping.

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