Chapter 15: Broken Trust
1154 Words
The days after Midnight revealed his past should have brought him and Sabrina closer.
Instead, an unexpected distance began to grow between them.
Neither of them understood how quickly happiness could change.
---
Monday morning arrived with heavy rain.
Students hurried across the campus, shielding themselves with umbrellas as they rushed to their classrooms.
Sabrina stood outside the library, waiting.
She checked the time on her phone.
Ten minutes had passed.
Midnight was never late.
Not once since they had started their tutoring sessions.
She smiled to herself.
"Maybe he's just busy."
Another five minutes passed.
Still nothing.
Finally, she gathered her books and headed toward the Student Leadership Organization office.
When she reached the door, she heard unfamiliar voices inside.
"...Your father is serious this time."
It was Professor Hernandez.
Midnight answered quietly.
"I know."
"He wants you to transfer to the university overseas before graduation."
"I haven't agreed."
"You may not have a choice."
Sabrina stopped outside the door.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"Transfer?"
She hadn't heard anything about this.
Before she could knock, another student called her name from down the hallway.
"Sabrina!"
The voices inside suddenly fell silent.
She quickly walked away, deciding she would ask Midnight about it later.
---
That afternoon, Sabrina searched for him across campus.
The library.
The cafeteria.
The student center.
He wasn't anywhere.
When she finally saw one of the organization officers, she asked,
"Have you seen Midnight?"
"He left early."
"Oh..."
"He had an important meeting."
Sabrina nodded politely, though disappointment settled inside her.
She wished he had told her.
---
Meanwhile, Midnight sat inside the dean's office with his father.
The atmosphere was tense.
His father placed several documents on the desk.
"The transfer papers are ready."
"I'm not signing them."
"You don't have a choice."
"I do."
His father's expression remained cold.
"You've become distracted."
"I've become human."
The older man's eyes narrowed.
"Is this because of that girl?"
Midnight remained silent.
His silence answered the question.
His father sighed heavily.
"I warned you."
"You don't know her."
"I don't need to."
"She's changing you."
Midnight looked directly into his father's eyes.
"...Exactly."
---
For the next several days, Midnight became unusually busy.
Meetings with the dean.
Calls from his father.
Scholarship paperwork.
He barely had time to attend classes.
Every evening, he intended to message Sabrina.
Every evening, exhaustion won.
He kept telling himself,
"I'll explain tomorrow."
Tomorrow never came.
---
Sabrina tried not to overthink it.
She really did.
But every day, Midnight seemed farther away.
Their tutoring sessions were canceled.
Their afternoon walks disappeared.
Even their usual greetings became short.
"Morning."
"Morning."
"See you."
"Take care."
That was all.
The cheerful conversations they once shared had vanished.
---
One afternoon, Chloe found Sabrina sitting alone beneath the acacia tree.
"You've been quiet."
Sabrina forced a smile.
"I'm okay."
"Liar."
She looked down.
"I don't know what happened."
"With Midnight?"
Sabrina nodded.
"He won't talk to me."
"Have you asked him?"
"I've tried."
"What did he say?"
"...He's busy."
Chloe frowned.
"That doesn't sound like the whole story."
"It isn't."
Sabrina sighed.
"It feels like he's avoiding me."
---
The following day, preparations for the charity donation ceremony were underway.
Sabrina volunteered to organize the certificates.
As she entered the conference room, she froze.
Midnight was already there.
Standing beside him...
was a young woman wearing a formal business suit.
She looked elegant and confident.
The woman smiled warmly at Midnight.
"I'm glad you agreed to meet."
Midnight nodded.
"Thank you for coming."
Sabrina watched as the woman handed him a folder.
Then, to Sabrina's surprise...
She gently adjusted Midnight's crooked tie.
The gesture lasted only a few seconds.
But it felt much longer.
Sabrina's chest tightened.
Without thinking, she quietly stepped back before either of them noticed her.
---
She spent the rest of the afternoon distracted.
Questions filled her mind.
"Who was she?"
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Is she the reason he's been avoiding me?"
She hated herself for assuming the worst.
But she couldn't stop thinking about it.
---
That evening, Midnight finally found time to look for Sabrina.
He spotted her outside the library.
Relief crossed his face.
"Sabrina."
She looked up.
"Oh."
His smile faded.
"Can we talk?"
"I'm a little busy."
"It won't take long."
She closed her notebook.
"Who was she?"
Midnight blinked.
"...Who?"
"The woman you were with."
Realization crossed his face.
"You saw us."
"Yes."
Silence settled between them.
"She isn't who you think she is."
"Then who is she?"
Midnight hesitated.
"I can't explain right now."
Sabrina stared at him in disbelief.
"Why not?"
"It's complicated."
She laughed bitterly.
"Everything has been complicated lately."
"I'm trying to fix it."
"By pushing me away?"
"I wasn't—"
"You canceled every tutoring session."
"You stopped talking to me."
"You disappeared."
Her voice trembled despite her efforts to stay calm.
"And now you expect me to pretend nothing happened?"
Midnight looked down.
"I never wanted to hurt you."
"But you did."
The words struck him harder than any accusation ever had.
---
For several moments, neither spoke.
Finally, Sabrina took a deep breath.
"I trusted you."
"I know."
"I thought..."
She paused.
"I thought I mattered to you."
"You do."
"Then why didn't you tell me the truth?"
Midnight closed his eyes.
Because if he told her about the transfer...
If he admitted his father wanted him to leave...
He feared losing her before he even had the chance to confess.
"I can't."
His quiet answer shattered the last of Sabrina's hope.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I understand."
But she didn't.
Not really.
She picked up her bag.
"I think..."
She forced a weak smile.
"...we both need some space."
Before Midnight could stop her, she turned and walked away.
He stood frozen.
Every instinct told him to run after her.
To explain everything.
To tell her the truth.
Instead...
He remained where he was.
Watching the person who had become the most important part of his life slowly disappear into the darkness.
---
That night, rain poured over the campus.
Sabrina sat by her dormitory window, wiping away tears she couldn't seem to stop.
She kept replaying their conversation.
"I can't explain right now."
Those words echoed painfully inside her heart.
Across campus, Midnight stood alone beneath the rain outside the organization building.
He didn't bother opening his umbrella.
He barely noticed the cold.
For the first time since meeting Sabrina...
He felt truly helpless.
He had spent years protecting his heart from pain.
Yet now, because he had hidden the truth...
He had broken the trust of the one person he never wanted to lose.
The rain continued to fall between them.
Not just across the campus...
But across the distance that had suddenly grown between two hearts that had once felt so close.
And neither of them knew whether that distance could ever be crossed again.
- Writer
