Chapter 6

Jarrett POV:

The hospital corridor was a sterile white, smelling faintly of antiseptic and something indefinable, like fear. I hated hospitals. I hated the quiet reverence, the hushed voices, the way everyone looked so fragile. I was just here for a follow-up, a quick check-up my agent insisted on after the grueling press tour. My head still felt foggy from the last three months of non-stop work, interviews, and public appearances.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted down the hall. Nurses and doctors were ushering people away, clearing a path. "Filming underway! Please keep clear!" someone barked. I rolled my eyes. Of course. Even hospitals weren't safe from the relentless march of production crews. I just wanted to get this over with and go home.

As the crowd parted, my gaze snagged on a familiar figure. Her back was to me, but I knew that silhouette. The way her hair, now a lighter auburn, fell just past her shoulders. The elegant curve of her neck. It couldn't be. Not here. Not now.

Then she turned. Alayna.

My breath hitched. She looked... different. Sharper. More composed. Her eyes, usually so expressive, were distant, almost cold. She held a small, neatly wrapped bouquet of flowers. I remembered her telling me, months ago, after our last fight, that she'd sold her shop in LA. She was moving to Portland. To start fresh. I hadn't thought she actually would. I thought it was just another one of her threats, another desperate plea for attention.

Beside me, Kisha, who was accompanying me for a "casual PR photoshoot" after my check-up, nudged me. "Who's that, Jarrett? She looks familiar."

I didn't answer, my eyes locked on Alayna. She met my gaze, briefly, then her eyes flickered to Kisha. A shadow, fleeting but definite, crossed her face. I remembered mentioning a new project, a medical drama, but I hadn't told her Kisha was my co-star. Why would I? It wasn't important anymore. It still wasn' t.

A strange pang of something twisted in my gut. Regret? No. Not regret. Just... surprise. She was actually here. And she looked so... unbothered.

She turned to leave, her movements fluid and decisive. Just like the way she'd walked out of our apartment after our final fight. My heart hammered. I had to talk to her. This couldn't be the end. This couldn't be how our seven years ended.

"Alayna!" I called out, my voice louder than I intended. She paused, her shoulders stiffening, but she didn' t turn around. She just kept walking, her back ramrod straight, heading for the exit. My heart seized in a sudden, irrational panic.

Kisha, ever the opportunist, grabbed my arm, her voice a low, theatrical whisper. "Is that... Alayna? Your ex? Oh, Jarrett, I had no idea she was here! Is she... here to check up on you? To make sure I' m not getting too close to her man?" She gave me a wide-eyed, innocent look, but her eyes held a spark of something else. Triumph, perhaps.

I just gave a tight, awkward smile. "No, Kisha. She's... not here for that." I knew Alayna. She wouldn't play those games. Not anymore. Not like this.

Kisha wasn't buying it. "Oh, I get it," she said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "She's still jealous, isn't she? It must be hard, seeing you move on, working with someone new. I mean, you know how these civilian girlfriends get. So clingy, so insecure." She tugged on my arm, trying to pull me in a different direction. "Don't worry about it, Jarrett. She'll get over it. You just need to focus on your work. On us."

I nodded, vaguely. Kisha was right. Alayna was always so sensitive, so prone to overthinking. This was just another one of her "episodes," as I used to call them. She'd calm down eventually. She always did.

But then, my phone buzzed. A single, stark message. From Alayna.

"It's over, Jarrett. Don't come home."

I stared at the screen, then at the empty corridor where Alayna had disappeared. A cold knot formed in my stomach. Over? That was ridiculous. She was just being dramatic. She was just trying to get my attention. She always did this. She always threatened to leave, then came back, needing me to soothe her, to reassure her.

I scoffed, shaking my head. She was playing games. I knew her. This was just a phase. She' d be back. She always came back.

But as the words echoed in my head, a tiny, unsettling tremor ran through me. Her face, so calm, so distant. Her eyes, so empty. Perhaps this time... perhaps this time she wasn't playing.

A sudden, sharp fear pierced through my carefully constructed walls of denial. What if she was serious? What if I had truly lost her? The thought was like a punch to the gut. The silence between us, the lack of her usual incessant texts, her frantic calls during my last project-it wasn't just her being "mad." It was a complete absence. A void.

I hadn't noticed it until now, until this moment when I saw her, so defiantly free. Her silence wasn't a punishment. It was simply... silence. The silence of someone who had nothing left to say.

I crumpled the phone in my hand, the screen still displaying her final, cutting message. My heart, usually so guarded, felt a sudden, inexplicable stab of dread. This wasn't a game. This was real. And I, Jarrett Sheppard, the man who had everything, suddenly felt like I had lost everything.