SCARRED HEARTS

CHAPTER 9: GHOSTS

Lila sat at her desk, her fingers hovering over the keyboard, but she wasn't really working. She couldn't focus. Her mind kept returning to the look in Sebastian's eyes when he saw the scar—the way it lingered in the air between them. His touch, gentle yet insistent as he revealed the mark, felt like a crack in her armor, one that she hadn't realized was so fragile until that moment.

It's just a scar, she told herself. It doesn't define me.

But it was more than just skin-deep, and somewhere deep inside, she knew that Sebastian had seen through the surface. He had seen the part of her that she kept hidden. The part that wasn't just a scar, but the memory of everything that had led to it.

Her hands shook slightly as she reached for the coffee cup on her desk, trying to ground herself in something tangible. She couldn't stop thinking about that moment—the soft, almost reverent way Sebastian had looked at the scar.

It wasn't the first time someone had noticed it. People had asked before, but most of them had been strangers or colleagues who didn't know her well enough to pry. But Sebastian? He wasn't like everyone else.

The sound of the office door opening pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up quickly, expecting to see someone from work. But instead, the figure standing in the doorway was one she hadn't expected to see at all.

Flashback—Ten Years Ago

Lila's heart pounded in her chest as she stood by the window, staring out at the rain. The night had descended quickly, and the cold October air crept in through the small cracks in the window frame. She shivered, but it wasn't just the cold that made her skin crawl—it was the unease that had settled into her bones.

Her parents were gone for the weekend, leaving her alone in their large, quiet house. She wasn't scared of being alone—it wasn't that. But tonight felt different. There was something about the stillness that gnawed at her, something she couldn't shake.

She glanced over her shoulder, her breath catching in her throat as she caught sight of the phone on the kitchen counter. Her eyes flicked between the phone and the front door, the weight of her decision pressing on her chest.

Her fingers itched for the phone, but she hesitated. Should I call him? No, she thought, don't. You don't need to get involved. It's not worth it.

But the pull was strong. She had never been good at ignoring her emotions, especially when it came to Jared. He was... complicated. There had been moments when he was sweet, moments when she'd felt like he was the only person who truly understood her. But those moments were few and far between. Most of the time, he was unpredictable, erratic, and dangerous in ways that Lila had never quite understood.

Yet, there she was again, drawn to him like a moth to a flame, as if his darkness was something she needed to confront head-on.

With a sigh, she finally grabbed the phone and dialed his number, her pulse racing as it rang.

"Hello?" His voice came through the receiver, rough and low, like he had been waiting for her call.

Lila hesitated. "Jared, we need to talk."

Present Day

The buzz of her phone broke through the memory, and Lila jumped, her hands trembling as she grabbed it. The sudden noise had shaken her, pulling her out of the past and back to the present where things—everything—felt unfamiliar.

The message was from Sebastian.

"I'm taking you to dinner tonight. Dress up."

Her heart skipped a beat. She had almost forgotten about the strange, unspoken tension between them—the way things had changed since the moment he had seen her scar.