Accidental Love With The Wrong Brother

Chapter 13

Elisa's POV

I sat on the bed for a long time after the call with my mother. I didn’t move. I didn’t cry. I just stared at the wall in front of me. My thoughts kept going back and forth in my mind, touching pieces of everything that had happened.

The woman.

Roman.

The dream.

My sister’s wedding.

The family meeting.

The need for a mate.

I felt tired. Not just in my body. In my chest and in my head too.

I leaned back and rested my head against the pillow. My eyes felt heavy, but I didn’t want to close them. I didn’t want another dream. I didn’t want to see Rhys again like that. I didn’t want to feel all that fear again.

I took a slow breath and tried to relax. But another thought slipped in.

The party at Vivian’s hostel.

The laughter.

The music.

The gossip.

And the thing they mentioned.

Their voices came back to me clearly now.

“The hockey coach, our lecturer who’s at risk of resigning.”

Back then, I didn’t think much. It felt like just another rumor. People on campus talked all the time. They liked to whisper about anyone who stood out, especially someone like him.

But now, after tonight… it felt different.

I sat up fast. My heart started beating quickly. I opened my phone and scrolled through my contacts. My hands shook a little. I found Vivian’s name and pressed the call.

The phone rang twice.

“Hello?” she answered. Her voice sounded sleepy, like she had been lying down.

“Vivian,” I said. My voice came out too thin. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah… what’s wrong?” she asked. Her tone changed right away. She knew me well enough to hear when something wasn’t right.

I swallowed. “That thing your friends were talking about earlier… about the hockey captain resigning. How did they know?”

There was silence for a moment.

“Oh,” she said. “That. I thought you didn’t care.”

My throat tightened. “I need to know. Vivian, please.”

She sighed softly. “One of the girls in my hostel has a cousin who works in the coaches' quarters. She said Roman has been under a lot of pressure. The council says he has violated the rules of being a coach. They think he’s too outside their rules. And he’s been getting called in for meetings a lot. And I think he chose to resign himself instead of going.”

My chest felt tight suddenly. I placed my hand over it. “So it’s true?”

“It’s what they said,” she replied. “But you know how rumors are. It could be exaggerated.”

I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “But it sounded real. The way they talked about it.”

Vivian was quiet again. Then she spoke slowly. “Elisa… Why are you asking like this?”

I didn’t answer at first. I didn’t know how to explain the way my heart had reacted. The way panic rose up so fast I could barely breathe. I closed my eyes and tried to steady myself.

“Vivian…” I whispered. “If he resigns from his work, he might also leave the campus. He might stop teaching.”

Vivian breathed in. “I know.”

The words hit me harder than I expected. I felt something twist inside me. My fingers tightened around the phone.

“That means I won’t see him anymore,” I said. The words came out small. “Not in class. Not anywhere.”

Vivian didn’t speak.

My chest felt hot. My throat tightened again. I didn’t try to hold it this time. I felt tears build up and slip down my face.

“I don’t want him to disappear,” I said. My voice broke at the end. “Vivian… I don’t want him to go, it's all my fau…...”

I covered my face with my hand. I tried to breathe, but it came out shaky. The tears kept coming. I pressed my forehead against my knee and held the phone close to my ear. I didn’t care how I sounded.

Vivian’s voice became soft. “Elisa… I know.”

“I don’t want to lose him,” I whispered. “Even if he ignores me. Even if he doesn’t talk to me. I just… I want to see him. Even if it’s from far.”

My shoulders shook. I kept wiping my face but the tears wouldn’t stop.

Vivian spoke slowly, like she was choosing each word carefully.

“The pressure on him is getting worse. Everyone said he has been acting differently. He doesn’t behave like the others. He doesn’t do everything they tell him. They don’t like that. And the rumor of him being intimate with a girl. Maybe… maybe stepping away is the only way he can breathe.”

I listened, but the words hurt because I knew everything was all my fault and now he's the one bearing the consequences alone.

Vivian continued. “If he stays, they will break him. They will push him until he loses himself. Leaving might be the only thing that can save his mind.”

I wiped my nose with my sleeve. “But… I’ll never see him again.”

“Maybe you will,” she said. “Just not where you expect. Maybe later. Maybe differently.”

Her voice stayed gentle.

“But him staying where he is… would only destroy him.”

I closed my eyes. I knew she was right. I knew the things said about him. How he was always being watched after that night. How he looked tired recently each time he walked across campus, like each step took effort.

I let out a shaky breath. “Vivian… what do I do?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” she said. “Just… let yourself feel it. You care about him. That’s not wrong.”

I rubbed the corner of my eye again. The tears had slowed, but my chest still felt tight.

“I don’t know why I care,” I whispered.

“I think you do,” she replied softly. “You just don’t want to say it.”

I didn’t answer.

We stayed quiet for a while. I could hear her breathing on the phone. It felt comforting.

“Elisa,” she said after some time. “Try to rest. Your mind is tired. You’ve had too much happen in one night.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see. “Okay.”

“And if you need me, just call. I’m here.”

“Thank you,” I said.

We ended the call.

I put the phone down and lay back again. My pillow was still damp from crying. I turned it over and faced the wall.

I took a slow breath. My chest still hurt, but the edge of the pain felt softer now. Maybe because I said it out loud. Maybe because someone heard me.

Roman might leave.

Maybe soon.

Maybe without saying goodbye.

The thought stung.

But if leaving was the only way he could survive…

I couldn’t be selfish and ask him to stay. Knowing his cause for wanting to resign is because of me.

I closed my eyes. I let the quiet settle over me. My breathing steadied little by little.

I didn’t sleep.

But I finally stopped crying.