It's a fact that you can't help who you fall in love with. And for Rosaline Davenport and him, it definitely shouldn't have been each other.
Because, sometimes, love stories have blood on them.
[warning: this is the mother of all slow-burns]
•...
—— also those who have come from the timer in IG, please relax 😭 i promise there's nothing to cry about in this chapter. I said this is where we *get on* the downward slope. As in things *start* going south from here onwards. Not that this chapter drives right into the ugly bits.
Honestly, this chapter is lighter in comparison to the other ones in this Act. I promise.
{ also if you're a reader who hasn't seen my IG stories - where i pointed out all the parallels from previous chapters that this chapter would touch on - i cannot go into same amount of detail here. So I'll just mention which chaps this chapter has references to:: Ch 11, 35, 40, 42, 44, 45 & 50 } — Rose's concern about what people think, Zach worrying about how that'll limit their relationship at a certain point, talks about their social life/building friendships, Rose telling Zach his arms feel safe even when he manhandles, Zach saying he can handle her no matter how low she gets, Zach's ideology about not correcting people when they assume etc etc etc
—also i forgot the wp @ of the reader who made this edit based on a teaser of this chapter i shared on IG - but their IG handle is @/anima_187_ so holler if you see this 😭
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【 55.
Fifty-five
Barbaad 】
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[ Barbaad • ruin ]
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ZACH GLANCES DOWN through the corner of his eyes when his phone vibrates, the screen lighting up as the notification of a new text comes through.
The digital blueprint of his company’s new prototype fills his laptop screen, but since he already reviewed the document thrice, he doesn’t mind diverting his attention to tap on the unread text message.
Vienna: Are you sure you won’t be able to make it to the farewell? Let me know if you have second thoughts.
An inaudible sigh leaves his mouth and he goes to respond to it right away, not wanting to leave it on seen considering he didn’t read the message from the notification bar.
But another text sends a wave of vibration through the device.
Rose: Busy?
Zach’s lips tug up into a smile. He doesn’t bother with replying to the text, instead tapping on the call icon instantly.
She answers on the first ring, and there’s surprise in her voice when she says, “Hey.”
