Chapter 468

“Rea!” Jace reached out and grabbed my arm. I glanced at the bandage on his head, then over at Wayne, who’d come in with him. “I think something’s happened to Hayden.”

Wayne frowned, clearly not buying it. “What do you mean? How do you know?”

I didn’t, not for sure. “I called him. He sounded busy, said he’d call me back, but…he hasn’t. Not once.”

“Why didn’t you call again?” Jace asked, a little sharply.

I hadn’t. I just waited, trusting he’d call like he said.

“I’ll call him.” Jace pulled out his phone, dialing.

It rang forever until finally, “Mr. Johnston.” Jace stood close enough that I could hear everything.

“Hayden, where are you?” Jace asked, without hesitation.

“On a plane.”

My breath caught. Jace glanced at me. “A plane? Where to?”

“Back to Kehlmark.” Those two words crushed me. I reached for the phone. “Is something wrong?”

Hayden didn’t answer. My hand shook. “Hayden, talk to me! Did something happen? Are you lying about Kehlmark? Where are you?”

I couldn’t believe he’d leave without seeing me—unless something big was going on.

“No, I’m not lying,” Hayden finally said.

But I wasn’t convinced. My voice cracked as I pushed back, “I don’t believe you. You’ve lied to me before.”

There was a long pause, and I braced for Hayden to come up with some excuse. Instead, he said, “Yeah, I’m a liar. But not this time. If you don’t believe me, I’ll send you a picture.”

The line went dead. A second later, my phone buzzed. Hayden had sent a photo of himself on the plane, along with a shot of his boarding pass.

Staring at it, I had to accept the truth. He really was going back to Kehlmark. And he hadn’t even come to see me.

I must’ve looked as wrecked as I felt, because Jace and Wayne just stood there, silent.

Finally, Jace broke the tension. “That asshole! I’m calling him back.” He reached for his phone.

I grabbed his hand. “Don’t.”

“Rea…” Jace’s voice was full of concern.

Ignoring him, I typed a message to Hayden: [Is something going on back home?] I hit send. No reply.

Frustrated, I sent another: [If something’s happened, I’ll understand. But if you left without a good reason, I’ll be really hurt and angry.] Still nothing. But I saw the messages had been read. He was ignoring me.

What was happening? Panicked, I typed one last message: [Come back. I need you to see me before you go. If you don’t, we’re done. We’ll break up.]

“Rea,” Jace and Wayne said at the same time, shocked by what I’d just sent. But I kept my eyes locked on the screen. A notification appeared: [Hayden is typing…]

I held my breath, waiting. Then one word popped up: [Okay,]

Just that one word, and it felt like a knife to my chest.