CHAPTER 422
Xander stood with a drink in his hand, a rare, genuine smile tugging at the corners of his lips as the massive LED screen on the far wall lit up.
One by one, familiar images began to roll in—grainy photos from a different time, snapshots of scraped knees, awkward grins, and sun-drenched summer afternoons. Memories long buried in the blur of adulthood.
A picture of teenage John appeared next—lanky, wide-eyed, and grinning awkwardly at the camera, metal braces glinting like polished steel.
Zach let out a low laugh.
“John, man... I completely forgot about those braces.”
He jabbed an elbow into his side, flashing a wicked grin. “You looked like a damn satellite dish.”
John groaned, dragging a hand down his face, though the corner of his mouth twitched.
Across the room, Rochelle stood by the DJ booth, arms folded smugly as she watched the reactions unfold.
Her eyes were on her watch.
“I swear,” John muttered under his breath, glaring playfully in her direction,
“I’m getting her back for this.”
And then—static.
The screen stuttered, paused on a faded group shot, and blinked to black.
A soft ripple of confusion spread through the room. Murmurs. There were a few nervous laughs.
John let out a dramatic sigh and muttered,
“Thank God for small mercies.”
Xander tilted his head slightly, frowning.
I guess that was it.
But before he could finish the thought, the screen came alive again.
Only this time, it wasn’t childhood photos or awkward memories.
It was Harmony.
Standing alone, her eyes locked onto the camera.
She wore the same outfit she’d worn to the party earlier that evening.
Zach tilted his head, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he stepped forward, narrowing his eyes with amused suspicion.
“Looks like our little Bunny has a special way of wishing the birthday boy,” he said, voice low and dripping with irony.
John let out a soft chuckle, but it was hollow, lacking its usual warmth. His gaze flickered toward Harmony,
“Always so sweet, Bunny…” he murmured.
Then her voice cut through the silence.
Soft.
Smooth.
“I figured you’d avoid me after the little... incident.”
Xander’s brows pulled together.
Confusion twisted his features.
“What incident?” he muttered, eyes narrowing.
“John—what’s she talking about?”
John blinked, straightening slowly, unsettled.
“I... I have no idea.”
“I’m glad you brought up the incident,” another voice cut in—soft, steady, and unmistakably Arianna’s.
Xander froze.
That voice.
He knew it anywhere.
"A-Arianna?"
He stepped toward the screen instinctively, heart hammering in his chest.
John and Zach fell in behind him, eyes fixed on the screen.
Then Arianna’s voice rang out again, sharper this time.
“You tried to kill me, didn’t you?”
Xander stopped mid-step.
W-what?
Kill?
“What the hell is she talking about?” he asked, glancing between the screen and his friends, a slow unease curling in his gut.
Zach scoffed, running a hand through his hair, his expression tight with frustration.
“Your wife never knows when to f**king stop… always bullying Bunny…”**
**“Shut up,” Xander snapped, voice cutting like steel. His eyes never left the screen.**
**Harmony tilted her head. Then she laughed.**
**Low.**
**Cold.**
**Like something dead had learned how to smile.**
**Her eyes glinted with something dark and gleeful as she leaned slightly forward.**
**“Kill you?” she repeated, amusement dripping from every syllable.**
**“Oh, sweetheart, of course I did. And honestly? It was a brilliant plan.”**
**John’s head whipped toward Xander, his eyes wide with disbelief.**
**Zach stepped back, muttering,**
**“What the actual f**k…”
Xander’s grip on his glass tightened until his knuckles turned white.
No...no....no...
“Brilliant plan… really?” Arianna laughed, low and mocking.
Harmony’s smile twisted into something darker, eyes wild and unsteady.
“Well, it was… until now. But that’s the damn problem, isn’t it? You’re still standing. Still breathing. Like some twisted damn nightmare that won’t die.”
“.....Do you have any fucking idea how much those drops cost?!”
Harmony clasped her hands together
"Imported. Black market. One single drop is enough to stop the heart instantly. Instant cardiac arrest. No trace. No poison was left behind. Nothing. Like it never happened at all..."
She snapped her fingers.
"Poof."
Xander’s eyes narrowed, fists clenching at his sides until his nails bit into his palms. His jaw tightened, muscles twitching with barely contained rage.
Every word was a dagger.
She tried to kill my Arianna.
The screen still flickered with Harmony’s delighted expression—calm, serene, like she’d just recited a favourite recipe.
“And yet... here I am,” Arianna declared, arms thrown wide as if claiming the whole room.
“Still breathing. Still standing. Seems even God’s got a soft spot for me......”
“....No matter what pathetic games you play, I’m not going anywhere. Xander and I? We’re bound. Meant to be.”
Xander’s eyes locked on the screen, a slow, approving smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. His expression softened as he heard those words—words he felt deep in his bones.
“We are,” he murmured, his voice calm yet unwavering.
“You and me... we’re bound together. Meant to be.”
Harmony’s twisted smile vanished, replaced by something feral—lips pulled back to reveal teeth clenched like a predator cornered.
Xander had never seen her look so fierce.
Shut up,” she spat, voice rough and ragged, raw with fury.
“You don’t know a damn thing about me and Xander. He’s mine. Always has been. And you? You’re just a passing nightmare.”
For a moment, the world around him blurred—her words crashing into him like a sudden, brutal strike.
Hers? The thought echoed in his mind, cold and impossible.
I was never hers.
His hands curled into fists at his sides, knuckles bleaching white as a fierce storm of emotions surged through him—shock, disbelief, and beneath it all, a raw, unexpected ache that gnawed at his chest.
She stepped closer, each word dripping with venom.
“You think you love him? Please. You have no idea what I’ve sacrificed for him — what I’ve shattered, what I’ve destroyed.”
Destroyed?
Xander’s pulse is hammering in his ears. He’s too numb to even speak.
What had she done?
Arianna’s voice cut through the tension like ice.
“Really? Then tell me—what twisted version of ‘love’ is that? What have you done that classifies as love?”
Harmony smiled as if remembering...
“When we were twelve, a stray cat scratched his hand. A tiny scratch. He cried—and I felt it. So, you know what I did?”
There’s a pause, a moment where the room feels like it’s suffocating under the weight of her words.
“I found that cat the next day. Tracked it down. And I stabbed it. Again. And again. And again. Until it stopped moving. How dare it hurt my Xander.”
John’s eyes flash to Xander, his expression horrified. He’s muttering, barely able to keep his voice steady.
“Is this for real? What the hell is going on here?”
Zach lets out a low, stunned breath, shaking his head.
“This is messed up, man.”
Xander’s gripped a nearby table, his knuckles white. He’s struggling to stay calm, to keep himself in control.
He never expected this. None of them did. The woman they thought they knew, the one they had trusted, was someone else entirely.
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