Sunny hadn't planned where to go. She just walked.
The city blurred around her—cars, voices, footsteps—but none of it felt real. Her phone sat heavy in her pocket, silent now.
Pengxi hadn't called back. Nichole hadn't sent proof.
She had only a promise from a woman who looked at her like she was disposable.
Melissa found her that night. She stood in the doorway of Sunny's bedroom, arms crossed, eyes full of worry.
"You didn't come home yesterday," Melissa said softly. "Or today. You quit your job. You stopped answering messages. What's going on, Sunny?"
Sunny turned her face away. "I'm fine."
"You're not." Melissa stepped closer. "You don't just disappear for no reason."
Sunny laughed weakly. "You disappear all the time."
"Not you."
That was the problem. Melissa waited.
Sunny didn't speak.
"Did Olivia hurt you?" Melissa asked.
Sunny's chest tightened.
"No."
"Then why are you crying like she did?"
Sunny swallowed. She couldn't tell her.
If she told Melissa, she'd be forced to explain Pengxi. Nichole.
The deal. The threat and if she explained that, she would break.
"I just… didn't belong there," Sunny whispered.
Melissa shook her head.
"You finally liked something. You finally smiled again and now you're saying you didn't belong?"
Sunny hugged herself.
"Some places only feel safe until they remind you who you really are."
Melissa softened. "Sunny… look at me."
Sunny didn't.
"Running won't save you."
Sunny whispered, "Staying would've killed someone I love."
Melissa froze. "What?"
Sunny shook her head quickly.
"Nothing. I shouldn't have said that."
"Sunny—"
"Please don't ask me again," Sunny begged.
"If I talk about it, I won't survive it."
Melissa's eyes filled with tears.
"Who did this to you?" Sunny stayed silent.
Melissa exhaled slowly.
"Okay. Then I won't ask why. But I won't leave you either."
Sunny finally looked up.
"You're not alone," Melissa said gently.
Sunny wanted to believe her. But she had never felt more alone in her life.
That night, Sunny lay on the mattress staring at the ceiling, phone in her hand.
Olivia's name glowed on the screen.
Unread, unanswered, untouched.
"I left for you," Sunny whispered.
"And you don't even know it."
Tears slipped into her hair. She turned the phone face down and let the silence keep her company.
Sunny sat on the edge of the mattress, knees pulled to her chest.
The room was dark except for the thin line of moonlight slipping through the curtain.
Her phone lay in her palm, heavy, unforgiving.
She didn't open Olivia's message. She couldn't.
Because if she did, she might go back and going back would mean choosing herself over Pengxi.
She pressed her forehead against her knees.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into the empty room. "I loved you too quietly."
Across the city, Olivia stood by the window of her bedroom, the city lights reflecting in her eyes like broken stars.
Her phone glowed in her hand.
Sunny: Seen 2 days ago.
No reply, no explanation,no closure.
Olivia typed. Did I do something wrong?
She erased it. Typed again.
Please talk to me. Deleted.
Her hands trembled. She finally sent: I miss you.
Sunny's phone vibrated. She felt it, she didn't look.
Her chest tightened painfully, like something was squeezing her heart from the inside.
"I can't answer you," she whispered.
"If I answer, I'll stay. And if I stay, he'll die."
She turned the phone face down.
Olivia sat on the floor now, back against her bed, reading the message she had sent like it might change if she stared long enough.
"I would've chosen you," she said softly.
But Sunny couldn't hear her.
Sunny finally picked up the phone.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
She typed. I'm okay.
She deleted it.
Typed again.
You don't need me anymore.
Deleted. Her vision blurred.
She placed the phone against her chest instead.
Olivia wiped her eyes angrily.
"She always told me I deserved peace," Olivia whispered. "But she never let herself have any."
She opened their old work chat and scrolled.
Sunny: Don't forget to eat.
Sunny: You work too much.
Sunny: You're stronger than you think.
Olivia broke.
Sunny lay down, curling into herself.
"I left so you could be happy," she whispered. "Even if it's not with me."
At the same moment, Olivia whispered into her pillow,
"I would rather be broken with you than whole without you."
Two hearts, one silence and a love that neither of them was brave enough to protect in time.
Sunny sat on the couch with a bucket of ice cream on her legs.
The knock that came after startled her so badly she almost dropped the ice cream in her hand.
Melissa had already gone to work. Sofia had gone to Abuela's house.
The apartment was quiet except for the hum of the air-condition.
She opened the door. Olivia stood there.
Her eyes were red. Her hair was slightly messy. She looked nothing like the composed woman Sunny knew.
For a second, neither of them spoke. Then Olivia said, "You disappeared."
Sunny's chest tightened. "Olivia… you shouldn't be here."
"I looked for you," Olivia said. Her voice shook.
"You didn't answer. You didn't explain. You just erased yourself from my life."
Sunny stepped back, letting her in.
Olivia walked inside slowly, like she was afraid Sunny might vanish again.
"Why?" Olivia asked. "What did I do? Was it because of the kiss?"
"No... You didn't do anything," Sunny whispered.
"That's not an answer."
Sunny turned away. "I needed space."
"For two days? Without a word?"
Sunny clenched her fists. "I thought it would be easier."
"For who?"
Sunny couldn't reply. Olivia stepped closer. "My grandmother talked to you, didn't she?"
Sunny froze. That was enough.
"She threatened you," Olivia said, voice breaking.
"Didn't she?"
Sunny's eyes filled. "Olivia… please don't make me say it."
"Say it," Olivia begged.
"Please. I can't lose you without knowing why."
Sunny laughed bitterly. "Because loving you was costing someone else their life."
Olivia stared at her. "What?"
"My uncle," Sunny whispered. "She used him."
Olivia's breath hitched. "She promised you she'd let him go if you left."
Sunny nodded. Silence fell between them like glass.
Olivia shook her head slowly. "You should've told me."
"I didn't want you to hate your family because of me."
"I already do," Olivia said softly. "Because they made you suffer alone."
Sunny's tears finally fell.
"I didn't want to be the reason your world broke."
Olivia stepped forward and held her face gently.
"You were the only thing in it that felt real."
Sunny sobbed quietly. Olivia pulled her into her arms.
"You don't get to disappear from me like that again," Olivia whispered.
"Not without letting me fight with you."
Sunny clutched her shirt.
"I was so scared."
"I know," Olivia said. "But I'm here now."
They held each other, both shaking and for the first time since Sunny left—She felt safe again.