I shoved Mira hard enough that she staggered back, a sharp gasp escaping her lips.
“You’re the one who ruined me!” I cried, my voice cracking under the weight of everything. “You destroyed my life!”
I didn’t stay to hear anything else. I turned and bolted out of the apartment, tears already blurring my sight.
Behind me, Julian’s voice snapped through the air. “Aria!”
But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My chest felt tight, like something inside me was collapsing in on itself.
I barely made it to the hallway when he caught up. His hand clamped around my arm and spun me back toward him.
“What is wrong with you?” he hissed.
“I can’t—” My breath turned thin and uneven. Panic clawed up my throat. “My anxiety… I can’t be near her—”
“Your anxiety?” His eyes turned sharp, almost unfamiliar. “Or just another excuse so you don’t face what you did?”
“Julian, please—”
“Mira told me everything,” he cut in coldly. “How you treated her. How you made her life miserable back in school. And now you want to act like the victim?”
The ground felt like it shifted under me. “She told you that?”