Scarlett's POV
My knees buckled. I grabbed the nearest chair to keep from falling, my heart beating so fast I thought it might explode right out of my chest.
"This isn't real," I whispered. "You're not here. You can't be here."
But Kai stepped closer, and I could see every detail of his face in the soft pool lights. The same warm brown eyes. The same crooked smile that used to make me feel like the most important person in the world. Five years older, but still him.
Still the man I'd loved more than my own life.
"Surprise," he said quietly, but there was no joy in his voice. Only pain.
"How?" The word came out like a croak. "How are you here?"
"I could ask you the same question." Kai sat back down, picking up his guitar again. "Though I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Reality TV seems like the perfect place for you now."
The words hit me like a slap. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Come on, Scarlett. We both know why you're here. Jake Morrison made it very clear what your job is."
My stomach dropped. "Jake told you?"
"He told me everything. How you're being paid to break up couples. How you're the villain this season." Kai's fingers moved over the guitar strings, but he didn't play. "I have to admit, it's perfect casting."
"That's not fair."
"Isn't it?" Kai looked up at me, and I saw years of hurt in his eyes. "You destroyed our relationship without a word of explanation. Now you're here to destroy other people's happiness. Seems like a pattern to me."
I wanted to run. Every instinct screamed at me to turn around and sprint back to the safety of the house. But my feet wouldn't move.
"You don't understand," I said weakly.
"Then explain it to me." Kai stood up, guitar still in his hands. "Five years, Scarlett. Five years I've wondered what I did wrong. Five years of thinking I wasn't good enough for you."
"You were perfect," I whispered. "You were everything good in my life."
"Then why did you leave?"
The question hung in the air between us like a bomb waiting to explode. I'd dreaded this moment for five years. Imagined what I'd say if I ever saw him again. But now, faced with the reality of his pain, words failed me.
"I... I can't do this," I said, backing away. "Not here. Not with cameras everywhere."
I turned to leave, but Kai's voice stopped me cold.
"Still running away when things get hard, I see."
I spun around, anger flaring in my chest. "You have no idea what I've been through."
"Because you never told me!" Kai's calm mask cracked, revealing the fury underneath. "You just vanished one day like I meant nothing to you."
"You meant everything to me!"
"Then why?" His voice broke on the word. "Why did you throw us away?"
I opened my mouth to tell him the truth. About his manager's ultimatum. About the choice between his dreams and our love. About the sacrifice I'd made to protect his future.
But before I could speak, voices drifted out from the house. Madison and some of the other contestants were looking for me.
"Scarlett? Where did you go?" Madison called.
Panic shot through me. If they found us together like this, with Kai looking devastated and me on the verge of tears, questions would start. Jake would have his drama, but our private pain would become public entertainment.
"Please," I whispered to Kai. "Not like this. Not in front of everyone."
For a moment, I thought he might refuse. His jaw was tight with anger, his hands gripping his guitar like he wanted to throw it into the pool.
Then he saw the terror in my eyes and something in his expression softened.
"Fine," he said quietly. "But this conversation isn't over."
"Scarlett! There you are!" Madison appeared at the edge of the patio, followed by Ryan and Marcus. "We were worried about you."
I forced a smile onto my face, hoping they couldn't see how badly I was shaking. "Sorry, I just needed some air."
Madison's eyes moved between me and Kai, clearly sensing the tension. "Everything okay?"
"Perfect," I lied. "I was just meeting..." I gestured toward Kai, realizing I had to introduce him like we were strangers.
"Kai Sterling," he said smoothly, standing up and extending his hand to Madison. "I'm the late arrival Jake mentioned."
Madison's face lit up. "The musician! I'm such a huge fan of your work."
"Thank you," Kai said, flashing that charming smile that used to be just for me. "I'm excited to get to know you better."
My heart twisted as I watched him turn on the charm. This was the Kai the world knew now - confident, successful, magnetic. Not the broken college boy I'd left behind.
"We were just about to watch a movie," Ryan said. "You should both join us."
"Sounds great," Kai replied, but his eyes found mine. "Scarlett? Coming?"
I knew it was a trap. Sitting next to him for two hours, pretending to be casual acquaintances while my heart bled all over again. But I couldn't refuse without raising suspicion.
"Of course," I managed to say.
We all walked back into the house together. The other contestants were gathered in the living room, and introductions were made. Kai was instantly popular - charming the men with his down-to-earth attitude and making the women swoon with his smile.
I sat on one end of the couch while he took the other, as far apart as possible. But even across the room, I could feel his presence like electricity in the air.
The movie was some romantic comedy that I couldn't focus on. All I could think about was Kai sitting ten feet away, pretending I was just another contestant instead of the woman who'd shattered his heart.
Every laugh, every casual comment, every moment he spent getting to know Madison felt like a knife twisting in my chest. This was my punishment for leaving him. Watching him fall for someone else while I played the villain on the sidelines.
During a particularly funny scene, everyone burst out laughing. Everyone except me and Kai. Our eyes met across the room, and for just a second, the masks slipped. I saw the boy I'd loved in his eyes. He saw the girl who'd broken his heart in mine.
Then Madison laughed at something he whispered in her ear, and the moment was gone.
When the movie ended, people started heading to bed. I tried to escape to my room, but Kai caught my arm as I passed his chair.
"We need to talk," he said quietly, so no one else could hear.
"Tomorrow," I whispered back. "After filming."
"Tonight," he insisted. "Meet me by the pool in an hour. When everyone's asleep."
I wanted to refuse. Seeing him alone would only make everything harder. But I owed him an explanation. I'd owed him one for five years.
"Fine," I agreed. "One hour."
Back in my room, I paced like a caged animal. How was I supposed to explain the choice I'd made? How could I make him understand that leaving him had been the hardest thing I'd ever done?
And how was I supposed to survive six weeks of this torture, watching him fall for Madison while my own heart broke all over again?
An hour later, I crept out of my room and headed for the pool. The house was dark and quiet, with only the security cameras' red lights blinking in the shadows.
Kai was already there, sitting by the water's edge with his guitar beside him. He looked up when he heard my footsteps.
"I didn't think you'd come," he said.
"I almost didn't."
"But here you are."
"Here I am," I agreed, sitting down a safe distance away from him.
We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of five years hanging between us like a wall.
"Play something," I said finally.
"What?"
"Your guitar. Play something. It might make this easier."
Kai picked up his guitar and started playing a melody I didn't recognize. Something soft and sad that made my chest ache.
"I wrote this last month," he said as he played. "It's called 'The Girl Who Disappeared.'"
My breath caught. "Kai..."
"Want to hear the lyrics?"
Before I could answer, he started to sing. His voice was deeper now, richer than I remembered, but still the same voice that used to sing me to sleep.
The song was about a girl who vanished without explanation. About love that died in silence. About wondering if she ever really cared at all.
Every word was a dagger to my heart.
When he finished, tears were streaming down my face.
"That's what you think?" I whispered. "That I never cared?"
"What else was I supposed to think?" Kai set down his guitar and finally looked at me. "You were everything to me, Scarlett. And then one day, you were gone."
"I cared," I said through my tears. "I cared so much it was killing me."
"Then why—"
But before he could finish the question, the guitar slipped from his trembling hands and crashed to the concrete with a horrible sound that echoed through the night.
We both stared at the instrument lying broken between us, its strings snapped and wood cracked.
"Scarlett?" Kai's voice was barely a whisper.
And that's when I heard it. Footsteps. Voices. Flashlights cutting through the darkness.
The cameras had found us.