Ghosted My Onlinemate Chapter 08

Ghosted My Onlinemate Chapter 08

I frowned.

Elias liked Yvette because of that?

But then he said he’d been wrong about her.

I turned off my phone.

Forget it. No point spiraling over this.

I was a damn good soldier now.

I was never going to be anyone’s Luna.

One day, on my way back from the base to the barracks.

I’d just unlocked my phone when a message popped up.

[Sia, you actually recovered your account.]

The most recent ones:

[Sia, I was in a car accident. Nothing too serious, but lying in the hospital, I’ve been thinking a lot.]

[I don’t really have many real friends. But just now, the first person I thought of was you.]

[I wish you could come see me.]

My hands started shaking.

Elias was in an accident? Why hadn’t we gotten word on base?

I set the phone down and took several deep breaths.

Then I unlocked it and sent him a message.

[Which hospital?]

The reply came almost instantly.

[Sia?! You’re finally online!]

[St. Mary’s Hospital. VIP wing, room 602.]

[Are you really coming?]

I didn’t reply.

The next day, I put in for leave.

Rode the subway for over an hour to the hospital he’d named.

But when I actually stood outside his room, I couldn’t make myself go in.

Would Elias even be okay with me being Sia?

I’d come a long way. I was more outgoing now, more sure of myself. But the pain and the humiliation from high school had never fully gone away.

Even running into Elias a month ago, my first instinct had been to feel small.

I stood outside the door, phone clutched in my hand, knuckles white.

The door was slightly ajar. It was quiet inside.

I took a deep breath and was about to leave when the door swung open from the inside.

I froze.

Elias stood in the doorway.

He was wearing a hospital gown, his left leg in a cast.

But he looked alert, almost energized, with the faintest trace of a smile on his face.

“Sia. You came.”

His tone was easy. Natural.

Like he wasn’t the least bit surprised that I was Sia.

I stared at him.

“You aren’t surprised?”

“No,” Elias shook his head. “I’ve known for a while.”

I said nothing.

“After the qualifying exams, I asked Maya.”

He leaned back against the edge of the bed, his voice unhurried.

“She told me your username on that anonymous app was Sia. I wasn’t hearing things that day in class.”

“And that moonstone pendant. You said you bought it online, but Sienna, did you know your face and your ears both turn red when you lie?”

I had no words.

But all I felt was something bitter and absurd.

He’d known all along.

He was certain I’d never let go of that account. Certain I’d come.

He knew all my secrets.

And I’d been walking around like a fool, thinking I’d hidden everything so well.

“Then why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“I was waiting for you to tell me yourself.” He looked at me. “I figured if you hadn’t brought it up, you had your reasons. I didn’t want to force it.”

My voice edged with anger.

“But you used this to lure me here.”

“Because I had no other option.”

He said, “You won’t take my calls. You won’t answer my texts. You ran into me at the pack hall and wouldn’t even give me a second glance.”

Elias paused.

Something helpless flickered across his face.

“Sienna, I don’t know how to reach you anymore.”

The room went quiet for a few seconds.

I looked at him, and for the first time, I didn’t look away.

“Elias, do you know how long it took me to stop loving you?”

His expression finally changed.

I let out a breath.

“And now you tell me all this. What am I supposed to do with it?”

I looked at Elias.

He didn’t feel like the boy I remembered anymore.

“Go back in time and fall for you again?”

“Or pretend your ex-girlfriend never slapped me across the face and humiliated me in front of everyone?”

A wave of exhaustion crashed over me.

“Elias, honestly? Sometimes I wish I’d never met you online.”

I turned and walked out of the room.

Elias didn’t follow.

Outside the hospital doors, the wind was strong, whipping hair across my face.

Back at the barracks, I uninstalled the app again.

Download, delete, delete, download.

I almost laughed at myself.

Then I did laugh, just once, and threw myself back into training to become the best damn elite warrior I could be.

As for Elias, he was nothing more than a dream I’d had when I was young.