(Viera begins her quiet revenge. And Kade begins the long, painful road back to standing.)
Viera
The world had taught her to be polished.
Poised.
Pretty.
But that girl?
That careful, curated darling of the school?
She died the night she found Kade broken on the pavement.
What stood in her place now was something colder.
Sharper.
Something that didn't flinch when the world looked her in the eye and tried to lie.
She didn't storm into the principal's office.
Didn't post rage-fueled rants or sob on camera.
Viera Holloway believed in precision.
And precision was quiet.
It started with rumors.
Whispers strategically placed.
Stories of parties, fights, blackmail.
True or not didn't matter.
What mattered was plausibility.
Then came the names.
Not loud. Never shouted.
Just slipped into ears of people who knew how to spread poison with a smile.
"Did you hear Logan's dad might lose his job?"
"Maya cheated on the finals."
"Jackson drinks before practice."
The school that once crowned her?
Now it burned from the inside.
And no one even saw her holding the match.
She still visited Kade every day.
Even when he was unconscious.
She brought books.
Sat beside him.
Sometimes she read.
Sometimes she held his hand and whispered promises:
"I'll never let them hurt you again."
"You're not alone."
"I see you, Kade. I see you."
Kade
Waking up was worse than being asleep.
Pain lived in his bones now.
His face was a pulsing drumbeat.
His ribs ached with every breath.
One arm was in a cast.
His knee wrapped in thick gauze.
His body didn't feel like his anymore.
And worse—he couldn't speak.
His jaw was fractured. Wired shut.
He could only listen.
Blink.
Nod.
But she was there.
She. Was. There.
He wanted to cry the first time he saw her asleep at the edge of his bed.
He didn't.
He couldn't.
But he wanted to.
Because no one had ever stayed for him before.
Not like this.
Not when he had nothing left to offer.
Each day she came, something in him healed.
Not fast. Not loud.
But real.
The nurses noticed.
"This girl's here more than the staff," one joked.
Viera just smiled, brushing Kade's hair off his forehead gently.
"I'm not leaving," she whispered. "He's mine."
Viera
She started showing up to school with no makeup.
Unwashed hair.
Sweatshirts that weren't hers.
People whispered.
She didn't care.
Let them whisper.
Let them wonder.
They could choke on their curiosity.
She wasn't playing their game anymore.
Then came the incident.
Logan bumped into her in the hall. "Still babysitting the freak?"
She turned slowly.
Smiled.
And punched him.
Hard.
Right across the mouth.
Blood sprayed.
Gasps filled the hall.
She didn't say a word.
She just walked away, shaking out her wrist.
They suspended her.
Three days.
She used it to stay longer at the hospital.
Brought Kade his favorite books.
Played music for him.
Painted his cast with stars and little messages:
You're still here.
You matter.
They couldn't take you from me.
Kade (after his release)
He left the hospital in a wheelchair.
Couldn't walk properly yet.
Still couldn't speak.
But Viera wheeled him out like he was royalty.
And when the sun hit his face for the first time in weeks, he nearly wept.
He was alive.
Battered. Burned. But breathing.
And next to him was her.
His shadow.
His fire.
His anchor.
The first night back home was the hardest.
He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the door.
Listening.
No footsteps.
His father was gone.
Permanently.
CPS. Police. A neighbor finally spoke up.
He was gone.
And the silence?
It was both terrifying… and beautiful.
That night, Viera climbed through his window at midnight.
Just like that.
No permission. No warning.
She slid beside him in bed.
Wrapped her arms around him.
And said nothing.
Because words weren't needed.
Not when his heartbeat told her everything.
Later That Week
Kade stood.
Just for a moment.
Hands on the edge of the sink. Body trembling.
But he stood.
And when he looked up at the mirror, bruises fading, stitches gone—
He didn't see a victim.
He saw a survivor.
And behind him?
Viera, arms crossed.
Smiling.
Proud.
End of Chapter 9
Next: Chapter 10 – The First Time He Laughed Again