Chapter 24 - 23: Natalia Reyes
Kael turned at the sound of someone calling his name, a voice familiar—too familiar.
"Kael? Is that really you?"
His eyes narrowed as he recognized the tall woman stepping out from between two parked cars. Sleek brown hair tied up in a ponytail, brand-name purse hanging from her shoulder, designer jeans, and a smug smirk curling on her lips.
Kael froze for half a second. Then his expression hardened.
"Natalia?"
Natalia Reyes. She stood in front of him.
Natalia looked him up and down, pausing just a little too long on his worn hoodie and scuffed jeans. Her eyes gleamed.
"Wow, it’s really you. I wasn’t sure at first. You’ve changed."
Kael clenched his jaw. The anger that rose in him wasn’t hot—it was cold, coiled. Not at her. But at himself. At the kid he used to be. The boy who once thought love was simple, who thought someone like her could be real.
It was a bitter kind of rage—the kind that festers quietly in your ribs for years until it only takes one spark to reignite.
Back in high school, they had been neighbors. That was how it started. Just glances from across the driveway, occasional waves. By the time they got to college, Kael had fallen hard. She was beautiful, popular, always surrounded by rich and handsome boys. And he? He was the scholarship kid. Worn shoes. No car. Just grit and silence.