One Night Stand With Alexander Blackwood-Chapter 88 — Eighty-eight

While Serena was contemplating the new phase she was about to step foot into, Maya and Cody were busy ’getting to know each other.’

Maya finally let her guard down after finding out that Cody wasn’t an enemy, but Alexander’s best friend.

"Miss, I don’t know your name again. I’ve told you my name." Cody paused, staring at Maya who had a blank expression from the corner of his eyes.

Maya didn’t reply, instead she had her eyes focused on the road.

Cody wasn’t bothered by her lack of response. Instead, he was determined.

"Miss, you know I can get your name even without trying. I only respect your privacy which is why I decided to ask from you."

Maya finally turned to him. "Cody or whatever your name is, just because I’m riding in your car, against my will by the way, doesn’t mean I’m entitled to give you my number."

She scoffed then faced the window.

Cody’s lips curved upwards. "Now, this is the feisty woman I know. Not the scared cat from earlier."

Maya’s eyes widened as she slowly turned to him. "Who are you calling a scared cat?" She demanded.

"You, Miss. You and your friend were really scared."

Maya sneered. "Wouldn’t you feel the same when someone unknown approaches you and tells you he has been watching you?" She snorted, then added. "Only a fool approaches a woman with such a tactic."

Cody’s smile froze on his lips. "Miss is really... blunt."

Maya rolled her eyes.

Silence fell in the car. Cody didn’t ask for her name anymore.

The car finally pulled up in front of a residential building.

"Thank you for dropping me off." Maya said, and exited the car before he could answer. "The name is Maya, do not forget it." She thought to herself before finally giving him her name.

She practically skipped to the gate. Cody watched her leave with a smile dancing on his lips.

"Maya." The name rolled off his tongue as he watched her till she got to her apartment.

"We will meet again." He murmured under his breath with conviction as he ignited the car, and drove off, leaving only the fading sound, a sign that he had been there.

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When Maya walked into the apartment, silence... cold silence was what welcomed her in.

Maya locked the door the moment she stepped inside, then bolted it once more, something which she never did.

She stood there for a few seconds longer than necessary, her back pressed against the door as she listened to the sound of her breaths, the faint hum of electricity in the walls and the distant bark of a dog outside.

Only when nothing happened did she move.

She kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag by the couch, and walked straight to the window. The city lights blinked lazily below, indifferent to her gnawing problems. She tugged the curtain shut, then checked the window latch twice before stepping away.

Just as she walked into her room, her phone buzzed causing her to stop in her tracks.

Her fingers trembled as she pulled it from her pocket. Fortunately, there was no new message. It was just the screen lighting up from her tight grip. She let out a shaky breath and sank onto the edge of the bed.

"This is stupid," she whispered to herself.

But her chest still felt constricted, tight and unable to breathe.

She lay back, staring at the ceiling. The cracks there had always looked like maps to her. These were places she could disappear into when her thought became too loud. Tonight, they offered no escape.

Then, the message replayed in her mind.

"I’m coming for you."

She turned onto her side and hugged a pillow to her chest, gripping it like an anchor. She had faced men twice her size without blinking. She had broken bones, outrun danger, stared violence in the eye and dared it to blink first. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

So why did this still have the power to reduce her to this?

Her throat burned as tears gathered in her eyes. It was times like these she knew she was nothing but a... weakling..

"I left," she murmured to herself. "I survived. I did everything right. So why? Why is he back to haunt me?"

Her eyes stung anyway.

The tears came quietly at first. They were hot, frustrated, and she wiped away with the back of her hand.

But they kept coming, sliding into her hair, soaking the pillow. Her shoulders began to shake, the control she wore so well in daylight finally slipping in the dark.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

The room was smaller then.

Bare walls. A single light overhead. The smell of sweat and metal.

"Again," a man’s voice commanded.

Her younger self which was leaner, softer, and more desperate lifted her fists with aching arms. Every muscle screamed, but she moved anyway. That was she always did.

"Good," he said when she didn’t hesitate. "Pain teaches discipline."

She remembered the way praise had felt like oxygen. How his approval filled spaces in her she didn’t yet know were wounds.

"You’re special," he had told her once, handing her a bottle of water after training. His hand lingered too long. She hadn’t known that was wrong, at least not then. "I see potential in you. Don’t let anyone distract you from it."

She had nodded eagerly then, gratitude had filled her eyes.

She hadn’t seen the cage he was forming around her.

The rules came slowly. Who she could talk to. Where she could go. What weakness looked like in his eyes. Every mistake met with punishment disguised as lessons. Every boundary blurred under the guise of care.

"You owe me," his voice echoed, sharper now. ’I made you strong.

Her younger self had believed him. Until her strength stopped feeling like strength.

Until survival meant learning when to stay silent.

Maya gasped and jerked awake, her chest heaving. The room was dark. She sat up, dragging in air like she’d been underwater too long.

Her cheeks were wet and her pillow was soaked with tears.

"No," she whispered hoarsely. "Not tonight."

She swung her legs over the bed and stood, pacing the room barefoot. Her reflection in the mirror caught her eye, and she took a deep breath.

"You don’t control me anymore," she said to it, her voice trembling but firm. "You don’t get to decide who I am."

Maya wrapped her arms around herself and leaned against the wall, sliding down until she was seated on the floor. She stayed there for a long time, breathing through the ache, letting the tears come without shame this time.

Because survival didn’t mean forgetting.

It meant remembering, and choosing to keep going anyway.

Somewhere across the city, the night carried on as if nothing had shifted.

But for Maya, something had.

And whatever was coming for her next... she would not face it as the girl she used to be.