Tristan’s POV
I left VFS with fury still simmering beneath my skin, the tension in my jaw was like a steel vice. Delance’s indifference clung to me like a stench I couldn’t wash off. Her smugness... her apathy, and the way she dismissed Elona’s suffering like it was some necessary evil in the pursuit of glory. It took everything in me not to slam her door on the way out. But I wasn’t done. There was still a ghost from the past that needed to be confronted.
Grace.
The name soured in my mouth the second it crept into my thoughts. I hadn’t thought about her in months, not since the news of our loss. The push on that damn camp during volleyball, the way Elona had crumpled and held her stomach and winced in pain. The look in her eyes. I will never forget that moment, and it was happening in front of me. Hell, it happened on my birthday. The anger inside of me intensified.
As I sat in my car, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called Cris. She answered groggily, her voice thick with sleep. “Dad? What’s wrong?”
“Cris, where does Grace live? Or where is she studying now?” My voice was cold and flat. I didn’t mean to sound so clipped, but rage doesn’t leave room for patience.
A beat of silence. Then, curiosity laced her tone. “Why do you want to see Grace?” she asked.
“I’ll explain another time. Please.” I was getting impatient.
I could hear rustling on the other end, bedsheets falling, a soft groan, followed by the sound of a keyboard. “Uh… last I heard she got into Lucenti PR Group. She started interning there this month.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, and hung up. My hands were already gripping the steering wheel before the line went dead.
The sky bled into soft peach as the city came to life. The rush of traffic thickened with every block I passed. But the world outside might as well have been silent for all I could hear was the pulse hammering in my ears. The loss clawed at my chest, begging for release, demanding retribution.
I parked just across the road from Lucenti PR Group and leaned against the hood of my car, scanning the street like a predator waiting to strike.
It didn’t take long. She came walking up the sidewalk, balancing a stack of files in her arms. Her black formal suit was crisp and tailored. Her hair spilled freely down her back, swaying with each step. There was a confidence in her until she saw me. She literally stumbled slightly. Her eyes widened like a deer’s caught in headlights, and her entire face flushed a guilty shade of pink. I stepped off the curb and met her halfway.
“Mr. Crane,” she said, breathless. “I...wow. Hi.” Her tone was flirtatious. It made my skin crawl.
I didn’t return the greeting. “We need to talk.” Her smile faltered.
I walked her backward, cornering her near the glass entrance of the building, not caring if the early commuters stared. My voice was icy when I spoke. “You pushed Elona.”
Her lips parted. “What? I-I don’t know what-”
“Don’t lie to me,” I growled, low and sharp. “You shoved her during volleyball camp. I know it was you because I saw you do it.” I hissed.
“I… it was just a nudge! It was a stupid game!” she tried to save herself.
“She was pregnant.” The words hung between us, heavy, sharp as broken glass.
Her face drained of color. She looked like she had been slapped. “I didn’t know-” she stammered. “I swear-Mr. Crane, I-”
“You caused her to lose our baby.” Her knees buckled slightly, and she clutched her files tighter against her chest like they could shield her from the weight of her actions.
“I didn’t mean to! I didn’t even know you two were... were a thing,” she seemed crushed and disappointed.
“You were jealous,” I snapped. “Obsessed. Always hovering around. I saw it. Everyone did. And you took it out on Elona.” Tears welled in her eyes, but they didn’t move me.
“I just… I liked you,” she said softly. “I guess I thought… maybe if she was out of the way... you would notice me, see me for me.” My stomach twisted. I took a step back before I did something I would regret.
“I should sue your parents. Drag your name through every court in the province. Make sure this internship you’re so proud of vanishes like smoke. You took a life that wasn’t in the world yet. You caused us pain.”
“No, please. My dad cannot know. My mom... she would never forgive me.”
“You think forgiveness is what you deserve?” I snapped. Her bottom lip trembled. “I lost a child,” I said, my voice breaking. “We lost something we will never get back because you couldn’t control your jealousy,” she looked away, ashamed. “I never noticed you and I never will, so whatever feelings or obsessions you have of me, let it go because it will never be you,” she was crushed with my words. “You will stay away from Elona. You will stay away from Cris. And if I even hear your name again in her orbit, I will ruin whatever future you’re trying to build. I promise you.”
She nodded frantically. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry.”
I turned on my heel, fury still scorching my insides. Sorry didn’t bring our baby back. I didn’t look back as I left her standing there, trembling on the sidewalk like a child caught in a lie. I crossed the street and climbed into my car, slamming the door shut behind me. The sound echoed like thunder in the confined space, and for a moment, I just sat there gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white.
My breath was shallow and labored. The ache behind my eyes started to sting. I blinked it back.
No tears.
Not now.
Not here.
Not for her.
I started the car, the engine roaring to life, but I didn’t move. My forehead dropped to the steering wheel with a hollow thud, and the silence inside the car seemed to suffocate me. I had said what I needed to say. I confronted her. I made sure she knew. But it didn’t make the pain go away. It didn’t bring the baby back. It didn’t erase the image of Elona curled in that hospital bed, pale, hooked to machines she never should’ve needed that day of her surgery and now last night with her flare-up too. I probably triggered that flare-up for her by being rough. But she is always strong.
I had seen Grace’s eyes, how they had widened in horror, how she scrambled for excuses. She hadn’t known. I believed that. I had to. Because if she had known… If she had pushed Elona knowing she was pregnant… I might have done something I couldn’t take back. Still, it didn’t excuse her. It didn’t erase the intent behind the act. She wanted Elona out of the way. Instead, it was at the cost of our baby.
I exhaled sharply and finally pulled off, tires groaning against the road. The anger hadn’t left me, it was stitched into my muscles, carved into the hollow space the baby left behind. But beneath it now was something else, something quieter and more dangerous.
Resolve.
This would never happen again. Not to Elona. Not to any girl under that system. Not with people like Grace, or Delance, or any bastard who thought young women were stepping stones to power and image. Elona had suffered enough.