Jenna's POV
I was packing my things, getting ready to visit my parents. Felix had offered to drive me, and I agreed. But as he looked for his wallet, we couldn’t find it anywhere. I joined him in searching, opening drawers and checking corners. Nothing.
Then, I spotted his coat hanging nearby. I picked it up and gave it a shake, and suddenly, his wallet fell to the ground. Bending down, I reached for it and noticed a picture inside—one that immediately caught my attention. The person in the photo looked familiar. My heart skipped a beat as I realized who it was.
Riri.
I quickly grabbed the wallet and pulled out the picture. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How could Felix have a picture of her? Before I could process anything further, Felix walked over, his eyes widening as he saw me holding the wallet. In a flash, he snatched it back and stuffed it into his coat pocket, his expression unreadable.
I stood there, stunned, struggling to make sense of it all. This was impossible. There’s no way Felix knew Riri... or was there?
"You know Riri?" I asked coldly, my gaze locking onto his. I needed answers.
"Riri?" He looked confused for a moment before his face cleared. "This is Aira."
Aira.
My mind started racing. Of course, he had mentioned Aira to me before. I just hadn’t realized—hadn’t connected the dots—that Aira and Riri were the same person. Back then, I was so focused on Felix’s story that I never even thought about Riri’s full name.
Everything felt like it was crashing down on me. How had I not noticed?
"So... she's the one you've been talking about? The one you said you loved?" I asked, my voice cold and trembling, unable to hide the hurt I was feeling.
Felix didn’t answer immediately. He just stood there, silent, his face clouded with indecision. I could see the gears turning in his head, as if he was struggling to find the right words, or maybe trying to avoid the truth altogether.
The silence between us was deafening, and it only made the pain sharper. I could feel my chest tightening, confusion and betrayal mixing together in a storm of emotions. Was he still in love with her? Was I just a placeholder?
Before Felix could say anything, there was a sudden knock at the door. My heart sank further as Aiden walked in, his presence adding another layer to the already tangled mess of my thoughts. My mind was spinning from Felix’s silence, and now Aiden’s arrival only made things worse.
"Jenna, we need to talk," Aiden said, his voice low but urgent.
I looked at him, my head swirling with confusion, unable to process the chaos around me. What now? Felix’s secrets, Aiden showing up out of nowhere—it was all too much. Everything was unraveling before my eyes, and I had no idea where it would end.
“What are you doing here?” I managed to ask, my voice barely steady.
"I know everything, Jenna," Aiden began, his voice steady but tense. "Felix is just using you—"
But before he could finish, Felix cut him off, his tone sharp and cold. "Don’t play the victim, Aiden. Why don’t you tell Jenna about your relationship with Aira?"
My breath caught in my throat. Relationship? What was Felix talking about?
I turned to Aiden, his face suddenly pale. The confident look he walked in with moments ago was gone, replaced by something much darker, something closer to guilt.
“Aiden?” I whispered, searching his eyes for any sign of the truth. My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for him to deny it, to say Felix was lying. But he just stood there, frozen, his silence confirming everything.
"You—" I stammered, unable to form a full sentence. "You were with Aira?"
Aiden clenched his jaw, his eyes flickering with frustration, guilt, and something else I couldn’t quite place. “It was... complicated,” he muttered.
“Complicated?” I repeated, my voice shaking. “You lied to me.”
Felix, standing beside me, let out a bitter laugh. “See? He's no better than me, Jenna. In fact, he's worse. He destroyed Aira, and now he’s pretending like he’s the hero in this story.”
I felt like the ground beneath me was crumbling. Both of them—Felix and Aiden—had been hiding so much. And I was caught in the middle of their tangled web of lies and betrayal.
"Why didn't you tell me, Aiden?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I was overwhelmed with confusion, betrayal, and anger.
Aiden sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I didn’t want to hurt you," he said softly. “I never thought it would come up again.”
"You’re the reason Aira committed suicide," Felix said sharply, his words dripping with bitterness. "Both of you."
His accusation hit me like a ton of bricks. I stared at him, stunned, unable to process what he just said. Me? How could he blame me for something I had no part in? I had no idea Aiden and Aira even knew each other. My mind raced, trying to make sense of everything.
"You think I’m to blame?" I whispered, my voice shaking with disbelief. "Felix, I didn’t even know they had a relationship. We met Riri—Aira—because she moved near us, and she was always so kind, so genuine. I never, not once, thought of hurting her."
Felix’s gaze softened for a brief moment, but his anger still lingered beneath the surface. “Maybe you didn’t know about us, Jenna,” he said, his voice quieter but still laced with pain. “But your relationship with Aiden… it broke her. She was already fragile, and when she found out he had moved on with you... it destroyed her.”
Tears stung my eyes as I tried to understand. I had no idea that Aira was suffering, no idea that my relationship with Aiden was affecting her in any way. But Felix’s words cut deep, and now I was questioning everything.
"I didn’t know," I repeated, my voice trembling. "I never wanted to hurt her. I didn’t even know—"
Aiden stepped forward, his face twisted in frustration. "Felix, you’re twisting things," he said, his voice tense. "Aira and I had problems long before Jenna came into the picture. It wasn’t her fault, and you know it."
Felix turned to Aiden, his eyes blazing with anger. “You never cared about her. You pushed her away, made her feel worthless. And now you’re trying to make excuses?”
I stood there, torn between the two men, unsure of whom to trust or what to believe. I never imagined being pulled into something like this—into a tragedy I didn’t even know existed.
"Stop it!" I cried out, my voice breaking. "I don’t know what’s true anymore. But blaming each other isn’t going to bring Aira back."
Both Aiden and Felix fell silent, their gazes locked in a silent battle of guilt and resentment. I could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on me, and all I wanted was to escape from the chaos.