The Reunion

Scarlett's POV

The guitar case hit the floor like a bomb exploding.

Kai's face went white as paper. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. We stood frozen, staring at each other across twenty feet of marble floor that felt like twenty miles.

"Scarlett?" he whispered again, and this time my name sounded like a question he'd been asking for five years.

I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. My heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought everyone could hear it.

Madison touched my arm. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm fine," I lied, but my voice shook.

Ryan whistled low. "Okay, what am I missing? Because you two are looking at each other like—"

"Like they have history," Jake finished, appearing beside the cameras with that terrible smile plastered across his face. "Very interesting history."

Kai finally tore his eyes away from me to glare at Jake. "You planned this."

"I produce reality television," Jake said smoothly. "I plan everything."

"You told me she wouldn't be here." Kai's hands curled into fists. "You specifically said—"

"I said a lot of things." Jake shrugged. "But let's be honest, would you have come if you'd known?"

The question hung in the air. Kai's jaw clenched tight, and I saw the answer written all over his face.

No. He wouldn't have come. He would have run as far away from me as possible.

"Someone please explain what's happening," Madison said, looking between us with growing concern. "You said you dated in college?"

"We did more than date." The words burst out of me before I could stop them. "We were engaged."

The room exploded.

Madison gasped. Ryan's eyes went wide. Marcus nearly dropped his coffee mug. Even David, who never showed emotion, looked shocked.

But Kai's reaction was worse than all of them combined. His face went from white to red, and something dangerous flashed in his eyes.

"Engaged," he repeated slowly, like the word tasted like poison. "That's what you're calling it now?"

"Kai, don't—"

"No." He stepped toward me, and everyone moved back to give us space. The cameras circled closer. "If we're telling stories, let's tell the whole story. Let's talk about how you disappeared three weeks before our wedding. How you packed your bags while I was at band practice and vanished without a word."

My throat closed up. I couldn't breathe.

"Three weeks before the wedding?" Madison's voice was small and horrified. "Scarlett, how could you?"

"You don't understand," I managed to say. "It wasn't like that."

"Then what was it like?" Kai demanded. His voice cracked, and I heard the pain underneath the anger. "Because from where I stood, the woman I loved destroyed me and never looked back."

Tears burned my eyes. "I looked back every single day."

"But you never came back." Kai's words hit me like punches. "You never called. Never texted. Never explained. I spent months wondering what I did wrong. What wasn't good enough about me."

"You were perfect," I whispered. "That was the problem."

"What does that even mean?"

But before I could answer, Jake clapped his hands together like he was at a show.

"And cut! Perfect! That was absolutely incredible television."

I'd forgotten about the cameras. Forgotten we had an audience. Forgotten this wasn't a private conversation but entertainment for millions of people.

Kai spun toward Jake, fury radiating off him in waves. "Turn those cameras off. Now."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Jake said cheerfully. "You both signed contracts. Your personal drama belongs to the show now."

"This isn't drama," Kai said through gritted teeth. "This is our lives."

"Same thing in my world." Jake gestured to the other contestants, who were all staring at us like we were animals in a zoo. "Now, I think everyone deserves to hear the full story. Scarlett, why don't you tell us exactly why you left this poor man at the altar?"

My legs felt like they might give out. "No."

"No?" Jake raised an eyebrow. "That's not how this works, sweetheart. America wants answers."

"I don't care what America wants," I shot back. "Some things are private."

"Nothing is private anymore." Jake pulled out his phone and scrolled through something. "In fact, I have some very interesting photos here. Old social media posts from your college days. You two looked so happy together."

He turned the phone around, showing a photo I'd tried to forget. Me and Kai at twenty-two, arms wrapped around each other, smiling like we'd won the lottery. We were standing in front of a tiny apartment that used to be ours.

Kai made a choking sound.

"Please stop," I begged. "Don't do this."

"Do what? Show people the truth?" Jake swiped to another photo. This one showed Kai down on one knee, holding up a ring while I cried happy tears. "This is the proposal, right? Very romantic. Makes what happened next even more tragic."

Madison looked like she might cry. "I don't think we should—"

"Oh, but we should," Jake interrupted. "This is exactly what reality TV is all about. Real emotions. Real pain. Real consequences."

He turned to address the entire room. "Now, I think our couple here needs to have a proper conversation. But first, let's get everyone's reaction. Madison, how do you feel knowing that Kai might still have feelings for his ex-fiancée?"

Madison's face crumpled. "I... I don't know what to say."

"And Ryan, does this change how you see Scarlett? Knowing she's capable of abandoning someone she promised to marry?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably. "Look, man, that's personal stuff—"

"Everything is personal stuff!" Jake's eyes gleamed with excitement. "That's the point. That's why people watch."

I felt sick. This was worse than I'd imagined. Jake wasn't just using our past for entertainment—he was weaponizing it. Turning our pain into a spectacle.

Kai must have felt the same way because he suddenly grabbed his guitar case and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jake called after him.

"Away from you. Away from these cameras. Away from this nightmare."

"If you leave, you're in breach of contract. That's a hundred thousand dollar penalty."

Kai stopped with his hand on the door handle. His shoulders sagged like he'd just realized he was trapped.

"That's what I thought," Jake said smugly. "Now, here's what's going to happen. Scarlett and Kai, you're both going into separate interview rooms. My producers are going to ask you questions about your relationship, and you're going to answer them honestly. On camera. For the world to see."

"No," I said firmly. "Absolutely not."

"Then you're both off the show." Jake's smile disappeared. "And you both owe us significant penalty fees. Money I'm guessing neither of you can afford to pay."

He was right. I didn't have a hundred thousand dollars. I barely had a hundred dollars.

"This is blackmail," Kai said quietly.

"This is television." Jake pointed toward two separate hallways. "Interview room A for Scarlett. Interview room B for Kai. You have five minutes to decide if you're staying or going. If you stay, you talk. If you go, you pay."

He walked away, leaving us standing in the wreckage of our reunion.

Kai finally turned to look at me. His eyes were full of hurt and anger and something else I couldn't name.

"Why did you really leave?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "And don't lie to me this time."

I opened my mouth to tell him everything. About his manager's ultimatum. About choosing his dreams over my heart. About sacrificing our future so he could have his.

But Madison was watching. Ryan was watching. The cameras were watching.

And I couldn't do it. Couldn't expose the truth in front of everyone.

"I can't," I whispered. "Not here. Not like this."

Something in Kai's expression hardened. "Then I guess nothing's changed. You're still running away."

He picked up his guitar case and walked toward Interview Room B without looking back.

I stood alone in the middle of the living room, surrounded by people who now saw me as the villain who broke a good man's heart.

They had no idea that breaking his heart had destroyed mine too.

A production assistant touched my shoulder. "Miss Rose? They're ready for you in Interview Room A."

I followed her down the hallway like I was walking to my own execution.

Because that's exactly what this was. Jake was going to force me to relive the worst decision of my life, on camera, for the entertainment of millions.

And if I refused, I'd lose everything.

The interview room door closed behind me with a click that sounded like a prison cell locking.