My Guardian's Kiss, A Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Cora POV:

After posting my comment, I found Cole' s profile again and tapped 'remove from special attention'. No more notifications, no more agonizing over his every move. I would use these last few days, these precious moments of solitude, to completely excise him from my heart. He was an infection, and I needed to be surgically clean.

I returned home to an empty house. The silence was deafening, cold and vast. I heated up a can of soup, eating it slowly, the bland taste a reflection of my mood. My phone buzzed. It was Isabela.

We won't be home tonight, love. Cole and I are having a romantic dinner, and then we're staying at a hotel. Don't wait up!

Attached were photos: a candlelit table, an expensive bottle of wine, and a plush hotel room with a rose petal-strewn bed. My fingers trembled as I typed back, "Okay."

A notification popped up from my high school group chat. Plans for a graduation party. I hesitated. I was leaving the state soon, starting a new life. This would be a final farewell, a chance to close this chapter. I decided to go.

Someone in the chat mentioned Cole. "Do you think Cole will show up? He always comes to our events."

I typed, "He won't be there."

They don't know, I thought. They don't know he rejected me. They don't know he has someone else now.

That night, sleep eluded me. I tossed and turned, fragments of dreams flitting through my mind. I saw Cole, the first time I ever truly noticed him, standing tall and aloof. Then, I saw him turn his back on me, walking away.

I woke with a gasp, my cheeks wet. If he had always been so cold, so distant, would I have fallen so deeply? Would I have understood the boundaries sooner? The most painful part, I realized, wasn't the rejection itself, but the stark contrast. To have been given all that warmth, all that affection, only for it to vanish overnight.

I got out of bed. My eyes fell on the suitcase, still sitting by the door, filled with the ghosts of our past. Just a few more days. I needed to get rid of everything. Clear out the physical space, clear out the emotional space.

I was dragging the now-packed suitcase down the stairs when the front door opened. Cole and Isabela walked in, their arms linked.

Cole's eyes narrowed on the suitcase. "Where are you going with that?" His voice was colder than the morning air.

"To the donation center," I said, my voice flat. "Just getting rid of some old things. I'm moving into the dorms at Juilliard. No need for clutter."

He didn't say a word. He simply walked over, took the suitcase from my hand, and tossed it into a pile of donate-ables by the door. Not even a second glance at the contents. My heart sank. He didn't care. He didn't care that those were the gifts he'd given me, the memories we shared.

He turned to me, his voice firm. "You won't be moving into the dorms. I'll call the admissions office and arrange for you to commute."

He's doing it for Isabela. The thought was a bitter acid in my mouth. He only cares about her convenience, not my future. I just nodded, turning and walking back up the stairs.

As I reached the landing, I heard Isabela' s soft voice drift up. "Is she angry, darling?"

Cole's reply was curt. "She's an adult now. She needs to learn independence."

I paused, my hand on the banister, then continued to my room. Yes, I am an adult. And I will make my own way.