WRECKED BY YOU

Chapter 14: Shattered Promises

The golden light of the late afternoon slanted through the towering trees lining the Saint Matthew’s Academy courtyard. Leaves rustled softly in the warm breeze, but the peace of the setting sun was a stark contrast to the storm raging inside Zara’s chest. Each step she took on the cobblestone path felt heavier than the last, burdened with the weight of a question she hadn’t yet dared to ask herself — could she really trust Jace?

Her phone buzzed again in her hand, the screen lighting up with his name. But this time, there was no teasing message, no cryptic dare to unravel. Instead, it was simple, cold: We need to talk.

Zara’s breath caught. Those words felt like a hammer striking the fragile glass of their relationship, threatening to shatter everything they had built in such a short time. Was this the moment where everything fell apart?

She made her way to the old brick wall behind the art building — their usual refuge away from prying eyes and whispered rumors. Jace was already there, leaning against the wall, his posture rigid, unlike the relaxed confidence he usually carried like armor. His dark eyes, which once sparkled with mischief, were now clouded with pain and uncertainty.

“Talk,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper, but charged with all the frustration and hope tangled inside her.

He shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. “I messed up,” he admitted, the words tasting bitter on his tongue.

“Is that all you have to say?” Zara’s arms crossed tightly over her chest. “After everything — you just ‘messed up’?”

“No, there’s more,” Jace said, pulling something from his jacket pocket — a crumpled, yellowed letter. “I found this yesterday. From my dad.”

Zara’s eyes widened as she took the letter from him, fingers trembling slightly. The ink was faded but the words were still sharp and cutting: promises broken, threats veiled as warnings, bitterness and anger poured onto the paper like a storm unleashed. It was a father’s confession of failure, a declaration that he had given up on his son long ago.

“So all of this,” Zara whispered, tears threatening to spill, “the distance, the walls, the anger — it’s because of him?”

Jace’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. For years I carried his rejection like a scar I couldn’t heal. I thought I had to be tough, to push everyone away before they left me. Even you.”

Zara stepped closer, the anger melting into something softer, a fragile thread of understanding weaving between them. “But why didn’t you tell me? Why keep me in the dark?”

“Because I was scared,” Jace admitted, voice cracking. “Scared that if you saw the real me — the scared, broken kid underneath — you’d run away. And honestly… I didn’t want to lose you.”

For the first time, Zara saw past the walls he’d built. She saw the boy who’d been abandoned, the pain he carried beneath his bravado, and the desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, she could help him heal.

She reached out, touching his arm gently. “You don’t have to be alone anymore. Not with me.”

Jace smiled — a small, shaky thing, but real. “I want to believe that.”

Their moment was shattered by the sudden, shrill ring of Zara’s phone. She glanced down, heart sinking — Vanessa’s name flashed across the screen.

A cold shiver ran down Zara’s spine. The girl who had haunted her every step, who refused to let go.

Jace’s eyes darkened, a flicker of warning flashing in them. “We’re not done yet, Zara. Whatever comes next, we face it together.”

Swallowing hard, Zara accepted the unspoken challenge. Their fight wasn’t over. In fact, it was only just beginning.