At the same time, she pulled out her phone and dialed Khalid’s number. When he answered, her tone was firm and direct. “Wait at the intersection. We need to talk.”

Observing the scene, Vincent quietly picked up the car keys, his movements deliberate. He didn’t need an explanation; he understood what Katelyn was doing.

Without hesitation, Katelyn guided Ashlyn into the car, her actions swift but gentle.

Vincent took the wheel, and within moments, they were speeding away from the villa, leaving behind the suffocating walls that had become Ashlyn’s refuge.

Panic gripped Ashlyn’s chest as she fixed her eyes on Katelyn. “I can’t do this. Let me go back and rest. I’m completely worn out.”

Ashlyn’s words fell on deaf ears as Katelyn remained unmoved. In a firm tone, she said, “No, you must come.”

This wasn’t the Katelyn that Ashlyn knew. Katelyn had always been the kind of person who valued others’ choices, handling things with patience and kindness. But today, that gentleness had been replaced by an unwavering forcefulness. Arguing was pointless.

Fatigue weighed heavily on Ashlyn, but she held back her words. It didn’t matter what she said. Katelyn wouldn’t hear her out.

A sudden sense of helplessness crept in. In a moment like this, when sorrow weighed on her, she couldn’t even find comfort in being alone.

The thought unsettled Ashlyn deeply.

Meanwhile, Vincent sped down the road without hesitation.

Khalid, assuming Katelyn needed something from him, eased his car to a stop at the next intersection and waited.

Vincent, spotting Khalid ahead, pulled over to the side of the road right away.

? @ ν﹒

Without a word, Katelyn yanked Ashlyn out of the car.

Vincent shut the windows and locked the doors before settling in, focused on handling company matters. He showed no interest in whatever was about to unfold outside.

Ashlyn twisted in Katelyn’s grasp, desperate to break free, but there was no escaping. In moments, she was standing right in front of Khalid. For a second, Khalid just stared at her, caught off guard. Even beneath the dim glow of the streetlight, her swollen, red-rimmed eyes were impossible to miss. The sight of her hit him hard, like a weight pressing against his chest.

Khalid had convinced himself that Ashlyn ended things because she couldn’t accept his past. But if that was true, why did she look so devastated?

An urge to pull her into his arms nearly overpowered him. He wanted to comfort her, yet he held himself back, afraid he was overstepping. Katelyn had her doubts at first, but the raw emotion in Khalid’s eyes erased them. In that moment, she…

Understood exactly what was going on between them. There was no avoiding it. This needed to be addressed.

She turned to Khalid, her tone unwavering. “Khalid, you’re also my friend, but I won’t take sides. This conversation needs to happen, whether you like it or not.”

There was no room for either of them to back down, given how straightforward she was. If there was truly nothing between them, she wouldn’t interfere. But that wasn’t the case. They both mattered to her, and for that reason, she refused to stand by and let things go unresolved. Katelyn didn’t want things to become unbearably awkward between them in the future.

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