Chapter 44: Chapter 44

C Chapter 11 Sid grabbed tours from the dentiste saire, due laude shaking slightly as he tried to wipe away my fears “None of that crap is from Plinnie Järse propile doar! huone the first thing about your The already reached out to Septim–hrs a discord anod. He’s taking down the post and banning the worst commenters right an “

I looked up at him with a hollow sulis “How can you be so sure they’re just rumores What if I actually-”

“Stop. Just stop right there,” Sid interrupted fruity.

Tve known you for two years. I’ve seen how hard you work, how you help everyone on the team, how you respect yourself.

This bout you”

His eyes burned with protective anger as he spoke without a hint of doubt: “Whatever happened in that bathroom, it clearly wasn’t your choice. Someone took advantage of you when you were sick”

Something in his absolute certainty created a tiny space of safety in my shattered world. “Otherwise you wouldn’t even look at me.” he added, his voice barely audible.

“What?”

“Nothing important,” he mumbled, focusing on his phone.

“Stephen just confirmed the post is gone. He’s also alerted the school administration about the photo–it constitutes harassment“

After a moment of silence, Sid carefully asked: “Do you think... would it help if Zephyr cleared things up? I could talk to him if-

1 shook my head firmly.

How could Zephyr possibly explain dragging a girl into a bathugum stall during bener If he told the truth, he’d have to admit to Katherine what he did admit that whole pursuing her be was shoving his hands up another girl’s shirt.

No one would misunderstand what that meant.

Sid nodded, understanding immediately, “What if I put something out there instead? just the facts?”

I looked at him in confusion.

Sid’s expression was determined.

“Just explaining you had a 103 degree fever and collapsed. Nothing personal noting donated just enough to counter the rumors.”

After hesitating, I nodded slightly, Sid left before my mom returned, but not before I saw him making calls in the hallway sathing urgently, his expression serious.

Seeing my tear–stained face, Mom hugged me tightly. When she asked what happened I just shook my head. I couldn’t drag her into this nightmare, After dinner, I hesitantly checked my phone again.

The Discord posts had vanished completely, In our class group chat, there was a pinned message from Sid explaining that I’d been inspraind with a severe fever and asking everyone to respect my privacy during recovery Several teachers had replied supporting the message.

But then someone posted a screenshot from Instagram:

TrackTeam Jake: [Whoa, is this official? Katherine’s going public?)

[Katherine Linderman: Is this what real love feels like? How someone who acts like the Big Bad Wolf around everyone else can be just a sweet puppy trying to make you stille ?)

12:47 The Rumed bride of Velvet Nights Chapter 11 The photo showed a clumsily sewn rabbit plushie with mismatched button eyes.

The stitching was awkward and crooked–but I recognized it instantly.

It was the rabbit I had made with my own hands in third grade and given to Zephyr on his birthday.

I stared at the screen, completely numb.

Zephyr hadn’t just betrayed my body and my reputation.

He’d taken the physical symbol of my childhood love–something I’d poured my heart into making for him alone–and casually handed it to another girl like it meant nothing.

Something inside me finally, mercifully, went silent.

The last ember of hope I’d been foolishly nurturing extinguished completely.

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