I BEGGED HIM TO STAY

CHAPTER 4: The Girl He Thought He Knew

I walked out of the room without looking back.

If I stayed even one second longer, I knew I would break again.

And I refused to give them that satisfaction.

My hands were still shaking as I grabbed my bag and car keys. My vision blurred as I stepped outside, the cool evening air hitting my face.

For a moment, I just stood there.

Breathing.

Trying to hold myself together.

But the moment I got into my car…

I broke.

A sob tore through my chest, raw and uncontrollable. My hands slammed against the steering wheel as tears poured down my face.

Five years.

Five years of love, trust, loyalty… gone in a single moment.

Replaced like I meant nothing.

“Pull yourself together,” I whispered to myself.

But it wasn’t working.

Nothing was working.

My phone rang.

I ignored it.

Then it rang again.

And again.

Frustrated, I picked it up without looking.

“What?” I snapped.

There was a pause.

Then a calm, unfamiliar male voice spoke.

“Miss… are you alright?”

I frowned slightly, wiping my tears.

“Who is this?”

“You don’t recognize my voice?” he asked.

Something about the way he said it made me pause.

No… it couldn’t be.

“It’s been a while,” he continued. “But I didn’t think you’d forget me that easily.”

My heart skipped.

“…Who is this?” I asked again, more carefully.

A soft chuckle came from the other end.

“Looks like I’ll have to remind you properly.”

My grip tightened on the phone.

“Listen, I’m not in the mood”

“You just got cheated on,” he cut in calmly.

I froze.

“What?”

“You left the venue early. You’re not answering your calls. And judging by your tone… I’d say you just walked into something you weren’t supposed to see.”

My chest tightened.

“How do you know that?” I demanded.

Another pause.

Then…

“Because I’ve been watching.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“Who are you?” I asked again, my voice lower now.

This time, he didn’t avoid it.

“My name is Adrian.”

The name hit me like a distant memory.

Adrian…

No.

It couldn’t be.

“Still don’t remember?” he said.

My heart started racing.

There was only one Adrian I knew.

One person who had disappeared from my life years ago.

“That’s impossible,” I whispered.

“Is it?” he replied calmly. “Or did you just choose to forget?”

Silence stretched between us.

Then he spoke again.

“I’m in the city,” he said. “And I think… you and I need to talk.”

I swallowed hard.

“Why?”

“Because,” he said, his voice turning serious, “you’re about to make the biggest mistake of your life if you go back to him.”

My grip tightened.

“I’m not going back,” I said immediately.

“Good,” he replied. “Then come see me.”

I hesitated.

Every instinct told me to hang up.

To ignore this.

To go home and cry until I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

But something stopped me.

Maybe it was the way he spoke.

Or the fact that, for the first time since everything happened…

I felt something different.

Not pain.

Not heartbreak.

Something else.

“What do you want?” I asked.

There was a pause.

Then he said the words that would change everything:

“I want to help you make them regret it.”