Chapter 11
ANASTASIA
It’s Sunday when I decide to get some studying done in the library.
My head is still swirling with thoughts of Eryx and the time we shared in the car, and a good study sesh should help clear up some of this fog.
I still don’t know what I’m feeling or how to process everything.
It was nice to just unwind a bit and talk to him.
He sat there and listened and didn’t call me crazy. He understood me.
It’s quiet when I enter the library. It’s late in the day and everyone is likely back in their dorms, but there’s a few people scattered about working on their own projects.
I find a table towards the back of the room and as I’m getting everything out of my bag I hear faint whimpering coming from somewhere behind me.
“Leave it alone Stass, just put your headphones on and let it be,” I tell myself, but ever the curious person I get up to investigate.
And I’m glad I did. Tucked in the back sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest is Ro.
And she’s crying. I run over to her without hesitation and drop down to her and hold her to me.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok Ro. What’s going on, what happened?”
She tries to steady her breathing, “I can’t do it anymore Stassi.”
“Can’t do what? What happened?”
“It’s like no matter what I do, it’s never enough. I’m never enough.”
It breaks my heart to hear her say that. Since meeting her, Ro has been one of the most selfless people I’ve known. Whoever has her feeling like this better fucking pray I don’t find them.
“I’ve given him six years, six fucking years and he won’t stop.
And here I am always excusing his behavior,” she wipes her eyes.
“Chris and I have known each other for most of our lives, and we’ve been together now for six years.
He proposed two months ago. Told me he was a changed man.
Told me how sorry he was and how much he loves me.
How he can’t imagine his life with anyone else.
That those other girls don’t matter, they aren’t me and they don’t mean anything.
” She turns to me and that’s when I see it.
Her split lip and the red marks on her neck.
“Ro,” I pause unsure how to say what I need to say. “What happened?”
“He’s always going on these work trips, he’s a few years older and works for my father.
He was supposed to be back a few days ago but he didn’t get back until today.
He forgot to turn off his location so I knew where he was.
He was hiding out in Velmora. I got the ping earlier today.
Shina told me it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to know.”
There’s so much sadness in her eyes and it breaks my heart.
“His location took me to a property I hadn’t seen before. The driveway was empty so I was hoping that I was wrong and that the ping I got was a glitch. I parked off to the side and when I went to go knock to see whose house it was, he was walking out.”
“What happened next?”
“I confronted him, yelled at him, asked him whose house it was. But he just called me crazy.”
There’s that fucking word.
“That I was overreacting and that this was a clients house and that it’s not what it seems like.”
“But you didn’t believe him?” I ask her, already knowing the answer.
“I seen his disheveled appearance, loose tie, top button unbuttoned, red mark on his neck. I knew what it was. And he didn’t like that I called him out.
” She covers her face as she continues to tell me what happened and I just hold her.
“I started screaming at him and I slapped him. It’s my fault I shouldn’t have yelled at him.
He’s always careful not to mark my face but I shouldn’t have provoked him.
I shouldn’t have hit him. I should have never confronted him. ”
That has me fuming. “Ro, I need you to look at me when I tell you this. I need you to hear me. This is not your fault, don’t you for a single second think that this was on you.”
Her phone starts ringing, and I see the name Chris across her screen.
“Is that him?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
Ro doesn’t speak. Her eyes fix on the screen, wide and filled with a thousand emotions—panic, longing, confusion. She reaches for it, fingers trembling, but I gently pull her hand away.
“You don’t have to answer.”
“But I do,” she says, barely a whisper. “If I don’t, he’ll come looking.”
She tries to steady herself and picks up the phone. She doesn’t say much—just a soft "Okay" and "I’ll be there in a few minutes." When she hangs up, she looks at me, defeated.
“He’s waiting for me back at the dorm. Can you come with me, please?”
I feel my jaw tighten. “Of course,” I say firmly. “You’re not going back there alone.” She nods, not meeting my eyes. We pack up our things in silence, the weight of everything unspoken hanging in the air between us.
The walk back to the dorm is quiet. The sun’s gone down and the air has cooled, but there’s sweat on the back of Ro’s neck.
I stay close to her, just in case. When we reach our floor, I see him immediately—Chris—standing outside Ro’s room, suit jacket draped over one arm, a too-practiced look of remorse on his face.
He’s holding a bouquet of red roses, as if they could erase everything.
“Ro,” he says, stepping forward. “God, I’ve been so worried. I’ve been calling. I’m sorry. I lost it, I know, but... I can’t lose you. You know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Ro freezes beside me, her body tight like a bowstring.
“Please, baby,” he continues, reaching for her hand. “You’re everything to me. That house—there’s nothing going on. I swear it. I promise it was just a client. I didn’t want to upset you. Please don’t shut me out.”
She doesn’t answer. For a second, I think she might tell him off, walk away, slam the door in his face. But instead, she takes a slow step forward, then another. She reaches out and takes the flowers from his hand, eyes on the floor.
“I just... I need things to be better,” she says softly.
“They will be,” he promises, gently touching her arm. “I’m going to prove it to you, no more secrets.”
Ro nods, though she looks like she’s about to cry all over again. He leads her inside her room, she looks back at me for a second. “Thanks for walking me back Stassi. I’ll be fine don’t worry.” And the door closes behind them with a soft click that feels a lot louder in my chest.
But I do worry. I stand there for a long moment, staring at the door.
There’s a knot of fury in my stomach and a sharp ache in my heart.
I wanted to claw his damn eyes out. Keep her close and protect her.
I know how hard it is to walk away from someone who’s broken you and convinced you that they’re the only one who can fix you.
I go back to my room and sit on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall between us.
For now, she’s gone back.
But this isn’t over.