CHAPTER 20
Terra’s POV:
The morning light filtering through the blinds of the apartment felt different today.
It wasn't the harsh, blinding glare of a typical Manhattan day; it felt soft, filtered through the lens of a new reality.
I lay in bed for a long time, listening to the muffled, rhythmic hum of the city waking up—horns blaring in the distance, the low rumble of the subway, the chirping of birds that somehow found their way into the urban sprawl.
I stretched, my body feeling heavy and content, and my mind immediately drifted to last night.
Miley.
She had come home late, exhausted but practically vibrating with a kind of electric, low-frequency energy that I had never seen in her before.
She’d walked through the door, kicked off her shoes, and instead of collapsing into the couch, she’d pulled that heavy, embossed E-Tech folder from her bag and laid it on the table like it was the Holy Grail.
I remembered the look on her face—that perfect mix of shock, triumph, and sheer disbelief.
She wasn't an intern anymore. She wasn't just a cog in the machine; she was a consultant. She was official.
I sat up, pushing the duvet off my legs, and walked into the living room.
The folder was still sitting on the coffee table, a permanent anchor to the future we were building.
I didn't open it—it was her contract, her path—but just seeing it there made my chest swell with a fierce, protective pride.
Miley had fought for her place in that building, navigating the corporate shark tank, the drama, the highs, and the crushing lows, and she had come out on the other side with a golden ticket.
I spent the next hour just moving through the apartment, my mind replaying our conversation from the night before.
The way she had smiled at me—not the professional, "corporate" smile she wore for meetings, but that soft, genuine expression she saved exclusively for our sanctuary.
We were in this together. That thought alone was enough to keep me fueled for a lifetime.
By the time I showered, dressed, and grabbed my bag, the apartment felt alive with the memory of her. I took a deep breath, soaking in the quiet warmth of the space we shared, before stepping out into the crisp, morning air.
I was meeting Kelly and Gabriel at the Starbucks on the corner. It was our ritual, our weekly decompression chamber, but today felt different. Today, I had a secret burning a hole in my pocket, a secret that felt too heavy, too sweet, and too incredible to keep contained.
The Starbucks was buzzing when I walked in.
The familiar, comforting scent of espresso and burnt sugar hit me instantly.
I scanned the room and spotted them immediately—Gabriel was standing up, waving a hand in the air with a flair that made half the patrons turn their heads, and Kelly was sitting across from him, already laughing at something he’d clearly just said.
"And there she is! The woman of the hour!
" Gabriel announced, his voice dropping into a dramatic, theatrical tone that could have carried to the back of the theater.
He stood up to hug me, his perfume—something light, expensive, and citrusy—enveloping me.
"Terra, darling, you are positively glowing.
What is in the water at your place? Are you drinking diamonds? "
I laughed, sliding into the booth next to Kelly. "It’s not the water, Gabriel. It’s just... life, I guess."
Kelly eyed me, her gaze sharp, intelligent, and piercing.
She had that way of looking at you—like she was peeling back the layers of your skin to see the clockwork underneath.
She didn't buy the "just life" answer for a second.
She reached out, plucked my hand off the table, and studied my face, a slow, knowing smirk spreading across her lips.
"Okay, spill it," Kelly said, not asking, but demanding. "You walked in here looking like you just won the lottery, you’re smiling at your phone like a teenager, and you’ve got that ‘I’m holding onto a massive secret’ look. Talk to me, Terra. What’s the tea?"
I felt the heat climb up my neck, my smile widening despite my best efforts to play it cool. I looked at Gabriel, who was leaning forward, his eyes wide and hungry for the gossip.
"Okay, okay," I whispered, leaning in so the people at the next table couldn't hear. "But you guys have to promise—like, serious, pinky-swear promise—that this doesn't leave this booth. Not to anyone. Not even to your other friends."
"Honey, my lips are sealed with gold-plated locks," Gabriel said, clutching his chest. "I am a tomb. A gorgeous, gossiping tomb. Tell us!"
"I’m in a relationship," I said, the words feeling like a physical weight lifting off my chest as I finally let them out. "With Miley."
The silence in the booth was absolute for about three seconds.
Then, Kelly’s reaction was instantaneous.
She let out a shriek that actually caused the barista at the counter to jump.
She slammed her hand down on the table, leaned back, and punched her fist into the air with a triumphant, joyful noise.
"YES! I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!
I told you, Gabriel! I told you there was something going on! "
Gabriel gasped, his hand flying to his mouth, then, without missing a beat, he snapped his fingers in a sharp, flamboyant Z-pattern in the air, his face beaming.
"YOU GO, GIRL! Oh, my god, I am living for this!
The intern-to-executive pipeline is not the only thing moving fast in that building, is it? "
"I am so happy for you," Kelly said, her voice dropping, sincerity washing over her face as she squeezed my hand again.
"She’s a good one, Terra. You can tell. Even when she was stressed out of her mind, she carried herself with so much respect.
And you? You deserve someone who looks at you like you hung the moon. "
I felt my eyes prick with sudden, happy tears. "She’s signing her contract today, guys. Well, if she hasn't already. Remember, we’re planning to celebrate the second she gets home."
"Oh, absolutely not," Gabriel said, already tapping furiously on his phone.
"We are not doing a quiet night in. If she signs that contract, we are doing a full-blown celebration. Champagne, music, maybe a little bit of dancing? I know a place downtown that does the best cocktails on the eastern seaboard. You guys are going to toast to the new executive, and you’re going to look fabulous doing it. "
"He’s right," Kelly added, nodding decisively. "We need to celebrate big. You’ve been so guarded, so protective of yourself for so long, seeing you this happy... it’s everything, Terra. Really."
I looked out the window, watching the pedestrians pass by, my heart feeling light, buoyant, and entirely full.
The world outside looked different today—brighter, sharper, more defined.
For so long, I had been living a life that didn't truly fit, staying with Malik out of routine. But everything changed the moment I crossed the line from being Miley’s roommate to her lover.
Getting that first taste of another woman rewrote my entire world; I was hooked instantly, and I knew right then I could never go back to men again.
I used to be terrified of opening up and letting someone see the messy, vulnerable parts of me.
But with Miley, it hadn't been a scary leap.
It was a slow, inevitable walk toward exactly where I belonged.
"I just... I feel like I can finally breathe," I admitted, my voice soft. "I didn't realize how much I was holding my breath until she accepted me her love-life."
"Well, keep breathing, baby," Gabriel said, leaning back and blowing a dramatic kiss into the air. "Because life is about to get very, very interesting for you two."
We spent the next forty-five minutes just basking in it. We laughed, we mocked each other’s dating histories, we dissected the ridiculous nature of the Manhattan dating pool, and we kept coming back to the same joyful realization: I was happy. Truly, honestly happy.
I didn't know it then, but the sun shining through the glass behind Gabriel was the last time the world would feel that warm, that golden, and that safe.
I was sitting there, laughing about a joke Kelly had made, completely unaware that the shadows were already lengthening, and that the beautiful, fragile life I was building was about to be put on a collision course with a darkness I never saw coming.
But for those forty-five minutes? I was just a girl in love, having coffee with her friends, dreaming of a future that felt as big and infinite as the sky.
The laughter was still hanging in the air, light and effortless, when the heavy glass door of the Starbucks swung open with a violent click against the frame.
A sudden, unnatural chill swept through the room, cutting through the warm aroma of roasted coffee beans and pastry sugar.
I didn’t look up immediately—Gabriel was in the middle of a hilarious, animated imitation of a dramatic Tinder date—but Kelly’s face changed in an instant.
The vibrant smile vanished from her lips, her eyes widening, freezing into two points of pure, unadulterated dread.
"Oh, no," Kelly whispered, her voice dropping an octave, completely stripped of its humor. "Terra... don't look now."
But my body reacted before my brain could even process the warning. My neck turned.
Walking through the threshold was Malik.
He wasn't alone. Two of his usual boys flanked him, their expressions cold, hardened, and utterly devoid of life.
They wore heavy designer hoodies despite the morning warmth, their hands buried deep inside their front pockets.
Malik walked with that slow, arrogant swagger that used to make me feel safe when we were together, but now it only made my stomach violently churn.