I was heading towards my last lecture of the day, bag slung over one shoulder, mind half on the case study I hadn't finished reviewing.
I turned the corner near the faculty courtyard,
—and saw him.
Daniel was standing near the steps outside the business block, sleeves rolled up, phone in hand. He wasn't laughing. Wasn't distracted. Just… there.
For a second, I kept walking.
If I adjusted her path slightly, I could pass behind the sculpture and avoid the line of sight completely.
Temporary distance.
Comfortable.
Safe.
Her steps slowed.
Ophilia's words flickered in her head, context, obligation, family pressure.
Understanding.
But understanding didn't erase humiliation.
Daniel looked up.
Their eyes locked.
Too late to pretend.
He ended whatever he was doing, slid his phone into his pocket, and waited. Not approaching. Not retreating.
Waiting.
I crossed the remaining distance before I could overthink it.
"We need to talk," I said.
His expression didn't soften.
"I assumed we would."
There was no greeting.
No courtesy.
Just tension pulled tight.
A few students passed between us, unaware.
Daniel's gaze held mine steadily. "You look fine."
The implication was sharp.
"So do you."
A beat.
Then he said it.
"You moved on quickly."
No anger in his voice.
That almost made it worse.
My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag. "It wasn't like that."
"I saw it."
"Yes."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You let him kiss you."
Accusation. Direct. Clean.
My chest tightened, guilt flashing first, then anger rising to meet it.
"And you let Mira stand next to you like she had a claim."
His jaw shifted slightly.
"That's different."
"Is it?" I asked quietly. "Or is it just easier for you to explain?"
His eyes hardened. "Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Reduce this to something simple."
I let out a slow breath.
"I didn't plan it," I said. Honest. "I didn't wake up wanting that to happen."
"But it did."
"Yes."
The word cost me.
A silence stretched between us.
"I regret it," I added, and I meant it. "But I won't pretend I wasn't lonely."
That landed.
His voice dropped lower. "Lonely?"
"You messed us up, Daniel."
Daniel: I made a mistake'.
'A mistake?' My laugh was sharp, hurt. You betrayed me again and expected us to survive it like it was nothing'.
His composure thinned.
His jaw tightened. 'Nuella...
'No. Don't say my name like that' my eyes burned. You broke something between us. And the worst part is... you stood there after it happened and still expected me to stay.'
That hit deeper than the kiss ever could.
For a moment, he didn't look angry.
He looked cornered.
"You think I wanted you to see that?" he asked quietly.
"You didn't stop it."
His silence was answer enough.
A group of students climbed the steps behind us, laughter spilling into the space. The world kept moving.
I adjusted my bag.
"I shouldn't have kissed him," I said. Clear. Steady. "But you don't get to act like I woke up betraying you for fun."
His eyes searched mine, something sharper beneath the accusation now, something closer to fear.
"You let him touch you."
"You betrayed me first."
There it was again.
The real wound.
Not Mateo.
Distance.
Neither of us moved.
Neither of us surrendered.
"I'm not apologizing for feeling pushed away," I said. "But I am telling you it wasn't what I wanted."
Daniel inhaled slowly, jaw tight.
"And what do you want?" he asked.
That question wasn't an accusation.
It was dangerous.
Daniel's jaw tightened at my answer.
And then he stepped back.
Not dramatic.
Just done.
I saw it instantly.
The shift.
The withdrawal behind his eyes.
"Daniel—"
"I heard you," he said flatly.
He turned before I could stop him and started down the pathway leading away from the business block.
For a second, I stood frozen.
Then anger surged harder than pride.
"So that's it?" I called after him. "You ask questions and leave before hearing the answers you don't like?"
He kept walking.
That made it worse.
I hurried after him, shoes striking sharply against the pavement.
"Daniel."
Nothing.
Students moved around us carefully now, sensing tension thick enough to avoid.
"You don't get to walk away while I'm talking to you."
That finally made him stop.
He turned slowly, expression controlled in the most dangerous way.
"What explanation is left, Nuella?"
"The part where you actually listen instead of deciding everything yourself for once."
A humorless laugh escaped him.
"You kissed another guy."
"And you emotionally disappeared for weeks."
"That doesn't justify it."
"I didn't say it did."
"Then what are you saying?"
"That you don't get to reduce this entire relationship to one moment!"
Her voice cracked through the courtyard louder than intended.
Daniel glanced away briefly, jaw flexing hard.
"You think that's what I'm doing?"
"You are."
"No," he said sharply. "I'm reacting to seeing someone I trusted with another man's hands on her."
I stopped walking too.
Students passed between us now. Real life moving around something quietly breaking.
"You think that was easy for me?" I asked, lower this time. "You think I enjoyed any part of that?"
Daniel looked at me for a long second before speaking.
"I don't know what to think anymore."
That hurt more than anger.
I folded my arms tightly across myself.
"Because of one mistake?"
His expression darkened immediately.
"Don't call it that."
"What else should I call it?"
"A choice."
The word landed hard.
"You chose to let him close to you."
"And you chose to shut me out."
Daniel exhaled sharply through his nose like he was fighting to stay calm.
"I was dealing with my family."
"And I was dealing with feeling unwanted."
"You were never unwanted."
"Then why did I constantly feel like I was standing outside your life waiting to be let in?"
Silence.
That silence told her enough.
Daniel looked away toward the parking lot, hands tightening at his sides.
When he spoke again, his voice was quieter.
"You have no idea what's been happening behind the scenes."
"Then tell me."
"I can't."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"There it is again."
"What?"
"That wall." I pointed at him "frustratedly.
"You keep saying you're protecting me while refusing to trust me enough to actually include me."
"It's complicated."
"No, Daniel. It's selective."
His eyes snapped back to mine.
"That's unfair."
"Is it?" I shot back. "Because from where I stand, your family gets honesty. Mira gets public acknowledgment. And I get silence."
"That's not true."
"You let her stand beside you."
"You think I wanted that?"
"You tolerated it."
"And you tolerated Mateo."
The second name entered the conversation again, tension spiked instantly.
I looked away first this time.
Daniel noticed.
Of course he did.
A bitter smile touched his mouth briefly.
"That's what I thought."
My head snapped back toward him. "Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Act like you already know the full story."
"I saw enough."
"You saw one moment."
"And how many moments happened before that?"
The question hit like a direct strike.
My anger flared immediately to cover hesitation.
"You really think that little of me?"
"I think I don't recognize what we are right now."
The honesty in it made my chest tighten painfully.
Daniel stepped back again slightly, creating distance this time intentionally.
"I can handle pressure," he said quietly. "I can handle family interference. I can even handle people trying to control my life."
His eyes met mine fully.
"But I can't stand there pretending seeing you with him didn't affect me."
I swallowed hard.
"It affected me too."
"Then why did you let it happen?"
Frustration finally broke through my restraint.
"Because I was tired!" I burst out. "Tired of feeling like I was begging for pieces of you while you kept everything important locked away."
Daniel's expression hardened again.
"So this is my fault."
"That's not what I said."
"It's exactly what you're implying."
"Because you only hear the parts that hurt your ego."
His stare sharpened dangerously.
"And you only admit things after getting caught."
The accusation sliced cleanly through me.
I took a step back like the words physically hit.
For a second, regret flickered across Daniel's face.
But neither of us softened fast enough.
"You know what?" I said quietly, voice trembling now. "Maybe this conversation was pointless."
Daniel didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than yelling would have.
I laughed once under my breath, wounded and disbelieving.
"You really are just going to stand there and punish me instead of talking to me."
His voice stayed controlled.
"I am talking to you."
"No," I said. "You're judging me."
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Then Daniel finally spoke.
"You want honesty?"
I looked at him.
"I don't know how to look at you right now without picturing him touching you."
The rawness of it stripped all the anger out of the space for one devastating second.
My eyes burned instantly.
"Daniel—"
"And I hate that," he admitted quietly. "Because part of me still wants to walk back over there and forget I ever saw it."
His composure cracked slightly then.
Just enough for me to see the damage underneath.
"But another part of me keeps asking why you didn't stop it."
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out immediately.
And Daniel noticed that too.
That was what finally made him step away again.
This time slower.
Final.
"I need space," he said.
My chest tightened. "Running away isn't space."
"No," he replied calmly. "Staying here and saying things we can't take back would be worse."
Then he turned again and walked away before I could answer.
And this time—
I didn't follow.