Chapter Two.
~AVA's POV~
My eyes widened, terrified by the sight before me.
Has he finally gone crazy or is he just joking? Why the fuck is he pointing a dagger at me?
My heart rammed harder against my ribs the moment Kayden took another step and then my instincts kicked in.
It was at that moment that I knew I needed to get the hell out of there, to run for my life before he does something insane because right now, he clearly didn't look like he was sane at all.
Before I could blink within the next second, the cold metal was already pressed to my neck, grazing my skin as Kayden trapped me against the wall behind.
My throat suddenly went dry, but I dared not swallow.
I couldn't even utter a word like I did before, not to think of screaming for help when I had something this sharp terrifyingly close to my neck. Screaming for help was almost like calling onto death.
Is this happening because I told him I was done?
Because I finally said the words I’d been holding back for so long?
I’d spent months—years—quietly enduring, letting him manipulate me. But today, I snapped. I told him I was breaking up with him. And now he looked ready to kill me for it like I had no right to leave him.
No wonder Bella left him for another man before they even made it to a year.
Back then, I didn’t understand. I was the girl behind the wall, the quiet admirer. The one who watched him from afar, heart fluttering every time he smiled. So when he finally noticed me, when we started talking, laughing, growing close… when he confessed his feelings, I fell hard. And I never once stopped to ask why his ex walked away.
I was too blinded by love. Too eager to believe I was the exception.
But after everything I’ve endured over the last three years… every fight, every argument that always pointed me in the wrong, every twisted apology…now I understand.
Kayden isn't just toxic. He's unstable.
He needs help. A psychiatrist. Maybe even a padded room in a psych ward!
I stayed because I was young, naive. I wanted to believe in the boy I fell for. I swallowed his lies, forgave his blackmails, let myself get tangled in his emotional web. But not anymore.
“Cat got your tongue?” His voice sliced through my spiraling thoughts as he tilts his head a bit, staring down at my trembling self.
He sneered, “You're still gonna lie to my face?” he growled. “Or are you stupid enough to try walking out on me again?”
“Kayden…this isn't right. Let's be civil about this. You know you're hurting me so please…I beg of you, please stop what you're doing before it gets too late. Before you regret it.” I tried to reason with him, but he was far from it as he laughed, tracing the sharp edge of the dagger on my face and I felt goosebumps prickling my skin.
My lips trembled, “Wh-what do you think you're doing?”
“No. It's meant to be what do you think I am doing, Ava?” He returned the question to me.
“Could you please stop? You are scaring me,” I pleaded, trembling with tears forming in my eyes while thinking of tiniest ways I could escape from him.
“This is the only way to keep you to myself. I don't share what is mine. You are mine, Ava,” he cooed.
His tone grew dangerously louder and menacing with each word, “You are mine to keep! You think you can just leave me? Come home one day and throw away everything we’ve built? You think you can walk out of this relationship because you found a new man?” He demanded.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I shook my head, unable to believe and understand how I fell for this man. A man who was dead sick in the head!
“You’re insane, Kayden. Just a pathetic, insecure loser. A coward. That's what you are!” I spat.
“You’re just terrified of losing me because I was easy to control, weren’t I? You’re scared you’ll never find another girl weak enough to let you pull the strings in the relationship just like I did because I fell hard for you!”
“You're paranoid, jealous. Confusing possessiveness for love, and you seriously need help. Get your head checked before you go around calling this toxic obsession 'Love'. I’m done with you and this goddamn forsaken relationship!” I yelled, furious as I poured out my heart and thoughts.
I barely saw the slap coming when I felt a crack on my face as it whipped to the side, pain blossoming across my cheek.
His hand gripped my neck while the other clamped down on my jaw, forcing me to face him.
“Say one more word, and you’ll be kissing your pretty face goodbye,” he hissed, but I didn't wait a moment longer before I jabbed one knee up his groins hard enough that I was sure one of his balls wouldn't function the same way it did before.
"A-AAHHHHH!” he howled, crumpling to the ground in agony.
I didn’t wait. I grabbed my bag and ran. I slammed the door shut behind me, locking him inside before he could recover. His fists pounded against the door, his voice raging behind me.
“You can’t run from me, Ava! You can’t hide! I’ll find you, no matter where you go, and when I do, I’ll drag you right back into my life and make it a living hell for you to be in. That’s a promise!”
Those were the last words Kayden screamed at me, but I never looked back, not even for once did I turn.
There was a long stretch of silence as my best friend Cas stood beside me, leaning against the window frame with her arms folded tightly under her chest. Her expression was hard, unreadable.
I sat on her bed, face buried in my hands, quietly sobbing. I had just told her everything that had happened, every painful detail.
Running to her place had been the only thing that made sense at that moment. I didn’t even think twice. Cassidy was the only person I could trust, the only one who ever truly cared.
It’s not like I had anywhere else to go. Most girls would probably run to their parents, but me? I could only laugh bitterly at the thought.
My parents never cared for me the way Cas did. They sent money to support me but never asked how I was really doing. To them, as long as the bills were paid, and I looked fine on the outside, everything else didn’t matter.
They believed money solved everything. But it didn’t. Not loneliness. Not fear. Not heartbreak. And certainly not the chaos I was drowning in.
Cas had always been my safe space, always protective, always understanding. We’d been best friends since high school, long before I let Kayden into my life.
She tried to warn me about him over and over, but I didn’t listen. I was too desperate for the love he gave me, the kind I never got from my parents. And now, all I had left was regret.
“I told you. More than once. I warned you to leave that bastard, but you never listened. And now look at what that ugly punk almost did to you. You’re lucky he didn’t use that dagger though,” she snarled.
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and looked at her. “Are you really going to blame me right now, Cas? Can’t you just console me instead? A little comfort would go a long way, you know,” I sniffed.
“Console you?” Cas scoffed, nonchalantly unwrapping a gum, and popping it in her mouth.
She chewed slowly, then blew a loud bubble right in my face. “Maybe I would’ve been softer on you if you hadn’t been so damn stubborn. But you never listen, Ava.”
She dropped onto the bed beside me with a shake of her head. I knew she wasn’t done. She’d keep going, digging into every mistake I made.
Before she could, I took a deep breath. I had to tell her what I’d already decided. I knew Kayden. Once he left my apartment, he’d come straight here looking for me because he knew my comfort zone.
“I’ve made up my mind, Cas.”
She gave me a sideways glance, one brow raised. “Yeah? What now?”
“I need to leave the States for a while.”
Cas turned to me with a look of disbelief, but I gave a slow, steady nod to show her I meant it.
I had already made up my mind. Kayden wasn’t the type to let me go without a fight.
“This is the only way, Cas,” I said quietly.