Chapter 20: The Ending She Refused
Lily used to believe the comic was law.
Every major event followed its script.
Every emotion eventually bent back toward the "original ending."
No matter how much she resisted, the world always seemed to course-correct.
Until Noah.
It happened on a night that mirrored the comic perfectly.
Same date.
Same place.
The old riverside bridge just outside campus—the site where the original Lily died.
In the comic, this was where everything collapsed.
Amy confronted her.
The truth exploded.
And Lily fell—alone.
Dead.
Lily stood there now, fingers gripping the cold railing, breath shallow.
The world felt… tense.
Like it was waiting.
She knew this moment.
The air.
The silence.
The warning humming beneath her skin.
This is it, her mind whispered.
The story wants to end.
Her phone buzzed.
Noah.
Noah: Where are you?
Her chest tightened.
In the comic, she hadn't told anyone where she was going.
She typed back with trembling fingers.
Lily: The bridge. The one near the river.
The reply came instantly.
Noah: Stay there. I'm coming.
The wind picked up.
A figure appeared at the far end of the bridge.
For a heartbeat, Lily's body went cold.
Not Noah.
A shadow.
A memory.
The comic's version of events pressing in on her.
Her legs felt weak.
The railing felt too close.
You already know how this ends, the world seemed to murmur.
Lily closed her eyes.
"No," she said aloud.
Her voice shook—but it didn't break.
"I'm not her anymore."
She turned away from the railing.
Away from the ending.
Footsteps pounded across the bridge.
"Noah!"
He reached her breathless, hands gripping her arms like he was afraid she'd vanish.
"Why are you here alone?" he demanded, fear raw in his eyes.
She laughed softly—tears slipping free.
"In the comic," she said, "this is where I die."
His face drained of color.
"What?"
She took a steadying breath.
"I've been living my life trying to avoid becoming the villain. Trying to outsmart the plot. But tonight, I realized something."
She reached for him instead of the railing.
"I don't want to run from the story anymore."
His hands tightened.
"I want to choose you."
The wind died down.
The pressure lifted.
Like the world exhaled.
No dramatic collapse.
No force pushing her forward.
Nothing happened.
The ending didn't come.
Noah stared at her, realization dawning.
"You broke it," he whispered.
She smiled through tears. "Guess the comic didn't plan for mutual devotion."
He pulled her into his arms so tightly it knocked the breath from her lungs.
"You don't ever face fate alone again," he said fiercely. "I don't care if the universe itself objects."
She laughed, face pressed to his chest.
"Relax, CEO Blackwood. We already beat the plot."
Later, as they walked away hand in hand, Lily glanced back once.
The bridge looked… ordinary.
Just concrete and steel.
No death flag.
No ominous glow.
Just a place she no longer feared.
That night, Lily deleted the comic from her phone.
Not because she hated it.
But because she didn't need it anymore.
She had chosen her ending.
And it was walking beside her—alive, stubborn, devoted, and undeniably hers.