The walk back to her apartment felt endless, though MK would later admit she remembered almost none of it. Her body moved on instinct; her mind was somewhere shattered and trembling.
She didn't cry this time.
She had run out of tears.
Instead, everything inside her had… quieted.
A frightening, numb quiet.
She reached her building, walked up the stairs barefoot on one side, missing a shoe on the other. A neighbor stared, concerned, but MK didn't even register him. She opened her apartment door, stepped inside, and let her back slide down against the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
That was where Jesse found her thirty minutes later.
Jesse froze at the sight of her — MK sitting silently, eyes red-rimmed, still wearing only one shoe, clothes dirty, face blank.
"MK?" Jesse's voice shook.
MK lifted her head slowly.
"I'm fine," she whispered.
She wasn't.
And Jesse knew it.
MK never cried in front of people — not even when her marriage ended, not when her world collapsed, not ever.
But her eyes looked like they had cried rivers.
"Come here," Jesse said, kneeling and pulling her into her arms.
For a moment MK didn't move.
Then her fingers curled into Jesse's shirt, and she collapsed against her, body trembling.
"It hurts," MK whispered. "Jesse… it hurts so much."
Jesse held her tighter, pressing her chin onto MK's hair. "I know. I know. I'm right here."
MK's breath broke in stuttered waves.
"I trusted her… I trusted her more than anyone… and she—"
Her voice cracked.
Jesse didn't tell her it would be okay.
She didn't lie.
She simply held her friend as MK cried so quietly it barely made a sound — the kind of tears born from a wound deeper than heartbreak.
---
Meanwhile… Across the city
Shriya walked home in a blur, tears blurring her vision.
Peach and Leah stayed close behind, but neither spoke — for once, the two loudest people Shriya knew had no jokes, no comments, no opinions.
Shriya's steps grew small, unsteady.
Her breath kept catching.
Her chest hurt.
When she reached her own apartment, she pushed the door open, stepped inside, and finally let herself fall.
Her legs folded.
Her sobs tore loose.
She cried into her hands until she could barely breathe.
Her phone buzzed.
She ignored it.
It buzzed again.
And again.
Leah's hesitant voice broke the silence.
"Shriya… the boss sent a message."
"I don't care," she whispered brokenly. "Not tonight."
Peach knelt beside her. "Shriya… MK is alive, okay? You didn't lose her like—"
"Don't."
Shriya's voice cracked.
"Don't talk like she's coming back."
Neither spoke again.
Because they knew.
Shriya knew.
MK wasn't coming back to her.
---
Days Later
MK had not returned to the office.
She barely ate.
She barely slept.
Rebecca brought files and updates.
MK stared at them but couldn't read.
Jesse stayed with her almost every night, sleeping on the couch, making sure MK didn't wake up screaming or crying or shaking.
Meanwhile, Shriya tried to distract herself with work — but even her partners saw the difference.
She wasn't focused.
She wasn't smiling.
She barely spoke.
The boss's complaints grew louder.
But Shriya didn't care.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw MK's face when she whispered, "Did you even love me?"
That was the sentence killing her.
She wanted to run to her.
Explain everything.
Fall on her knees if she had to.
But MK wouldn't open her door.
Wouldn't pick up her phone.
Wouldn't answer the intercom.
Jesse once swung the door open and punched Shriya so hard she saw stars.
The punch wasn't what hurt.
The words after were.
"She doesn't want to see you. Don't come back."
Shriya stumbled back, nodded, and left.
She would try again and again.
---
Three Weeks Later
MK was thinner.
Her voice quieter.
Her eyes lifeless.
The company files piled untouched.
Jesse snapped.
"You can't live like this!" she shouted. "You haven't gone to work, you haven't showered in two days, you haven't eaten anything solid—"
"Please stop," MK whispered. "I'm tired."
"MK, the world is still moving," Jesse insisted. "But you're stuck. And if you don't move now, you'll drown."
MK didn't argue.
Didn't defend herself.
She just… looked empty.
Jesse froze — she had never seen MK like this.
Not even during the worst days of her life.
Desperate, she grabbed her phone and dialed Mike.
"Get here. Now."
Mike arrived within twenty minutes.
He saw MK and paled.
"Jesse told me you're being stalked," he said, lying smoothly, trying to give MK a reason to leave.
MK blinked, confused — then realized what Jesse was doing.
She didn't fight it.
Mike continued, "The new branch overseas still needs a CEO. If you want—"
"When can I leave?" MK asked.
Mike and Jesse stared at her.
"MK… you don't have to rush—"
"When," MK repeated, voice flat and hollow, "can I leave?"
Mike swallowed.
"I'll arrange everything. Flights, housing—"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow isn't possible—"
"Tomorrow, Mike," MK said quietly. "Or I swear I'll jump off the balcony tonight."
Both of them froze.
MK wasn't joking.
Mike immediately called the board.
Called travel agents.
Called everyone he had to call.
Finally —
"One seat. Day after tomorrow. It's the earliest."
MK nodded.
"Good."
Then she whispered something so small Jesse almost missed it.
"Thank you."
Jesse forced a shaky smile.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm moving there with you."
MK blinked.
"You… are?"
Jesse froze — she hadn't meant it, but the moment she saw that spark of hope reappear in MK's eyes, she knew she couldn't take it back.
"Yeah," Jesse said softly. "Who else will bully you if not me?"
MK's expression softened — the first real softness since the heartbreak.
"When you joke too much," Jesse whispered, "you trap yourself."
Jesse forced a laugh.
"You don't say."
---
Departure Day
It came too fast for everyone else.
Too slow for MK.
Jesse drove her to the airport.
Rebecca handled the company transition.
Mike managed the paperwork.
MK stood at the departure gate, suitcase in hand, eyes still swollen, heart still broken.
"Will you be okay?" Jesse asked.
MK gave a ghost of a smile.
"I'm not a baby, you know."
But even Jesse heard the hollowness.
MK took a deep breath.
She didn't cry.
She didn't look back.
She simply stepped forward.
Out of the country.
Out of Shriya's reach.
Out of the life they built.