Love Rivals: The Day I Saw Your Tears

134. When Fear Begins To Unfold

The very thing I'd been dreading felt like it was unfolding right before my eyes. It’s been a week since that night, and Sarah hadn’t reached out, not even once. I hadn’t had the nerve to either.

Each day passed slower than the last, filled with a suffocating silence that gnawed at me. A part of me wanted to grab my phone and call her, say something—anything—but the fear of what she might say, or worse, not say, held me back.

Just as I was wrapping up some paperwork, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Krystal: "Meet me in ten minutes."

I frowned at the message. That was unlike her — she rarely asked to meet so suddenly. I quickly typed back, "I’ve got surgery in half an hour."

The response came immediately, "Okay. I’ll be at the hospital in five."

Something must be wrong. My mind raced as I stared at the screen, feeling the weight of the urgency in her words.

I stood in the garden, pacing slightly, anxious. When Krystal rushed toward me, her breath labored from running, I handed her a bottle of water without a word. She downed it in one go, then finally spoke, her voice tense.

"Did you two have a major fight?" she asked, still panting.

I blinked, utterly confused. "Fight? No, nothing like that."

Krystal sat down on the bench, running a hand through her hair. "Days ago, Sarah asked me about how divorce proceedings work. I thought she was just venting, you know? Maybe blowing off steam. But now, I think she’s serious about it."

Her words hit me like ice water down my spine. My heart stammered as I tried to process. "Divorce?" The word barely left my lips. "She... she wants a divorce?"

Krystal nodded slowly, looking just as surprised as I felt. "I didn’t believe it either at first. I thought she was just acting out of frustration. But now… I don’t know, Ryan. Something has changed, and I don’t know what. What happened that made her so determined?"

I shook my head, still reeling. "Nothing major happened. In fact, we’ve been getting closer recently." My mind raced back to all our moments together, trying to pinpoint anything that could’ve led to this. Suddenly the moments of that night flashed in front of my eyes. I said, "I need to talk to her."

I pulled out my phone, calling Nitya to cover for me. As I hurried to leave, Krystal called after me, her voice stopping me mid-step.

"Ryan, please. Don’t let her go through with this," she pleaded. "You two… you need each other. I don’t want to see either of you make a mistake you can’t take back."

I met her gaze, nodding firmly. "I won't let it happen. I promise."

I raced to my car, heart pounding, trying Sarah’s number over and over, but no answer came. My mind was spiraling with a mixture of fear and disbelief. Within twelve minutes, I arrived at her house, ignoring the time it usually took.

I burst in, finding her father about to ask me something, but Sarah appeared just in time, stepping between us.

"Dad," she said calmly, "I asked him to come. We need to talk. I’ll be back soon."

Without another word, she grabbed my hand and led me outside, her grip tight, determined, but her face calm.

Once we were alone, she turned to face me. "Okay, what is it?"

I took a breath, forcing myself to ask what had been gnawing at me since Krystal’s words. "Sarah, do you really want a divorce?"

She sighed heavily, her eyes narrowing in frustration. "So, Krystal told you, huh? Great. Is she even on my side anymore?"

Without waiting for me to respond, she walked to the passenger seat of my car and slid inside. Her expression was hard to read, but I could sense something more beneath her facade.

"It’s Sunday," she muttered. "Let’s go to our old school."

I stared at her, trying to figure out what was going on in her mind, but I followed her lead, slipping behind the wheel and starting the engine.

I parked the car under a large tree, the shade casting long shadows over us. We both got out, silently agreeing to jump the balcony railing to sneak into the school, just like we had done back then. Sarah moved ahead with purpose, her steps light as she wandered through the familiar corridors. She glanced at the old classrooms, her eyes flickering with nostalgia as the memories washed over her.

"Whoa," she said, her voice soft with reminiscence. "We’ve lived through every class along this corridor. It feels like a lifetime ago... We really grew up, didn’t we?"

I followed her silently.
She kept walking, her pace steady, until we reached the rooftop.

She turned and glanced at the edge of the rooftop, her eyes clouded. "Do you remember this place?" she asked quietly, her voice echoing in the empty space around us.
She walked closer to the edge, staring out at the view below, her gaze distant. "This... This is where I lost everything," she whispered, the hurt evident in her voice.

Before I could gather my thoughts, Sarah took a few deliberate steps toward me, her eyes piercing through mine, filled with determination. "Ryan," she began, her voice stronger now, but still soft. "I can't get distracted anymore. I've lost enough."