All In No Regrets Except Losing Her Chapter 05
[Zane’s POV]
Zane doesn’t even grab his jacket.
Just a thin button-down, and he’s tearing out of Sinclair Manor into the parking lot.
He’s calling Quinn while he runs. Over and over.
Busy. Busy. Busy.
He gets to his car. Yanks the door open.
A hand slams it shut.
Ivy shoves herself between him and the door. Hair a mess. Out of breath.
“Zane! Where the hell are you going?!”
“Back to school!”
His eyes are bloodshot. He shoves her hand off.
“Get out of my way!”
“Are you insane?!”
Ivy grabs his arm. Digs in hard.
“The Legacy Game starts tomorrow morning! Everyone pooled their entire trust allowance for this! You bail now and we’re all done!”
Behind her — Kai and Keller and the rest, spilling out of the front door.
“Dude, just stop. Talk to us.”
“I don’t care about any of that!”
Zane whips around. Face red. Neck tight. Voice ripped raw.
“She’s doing the ceremony! Tomorrow!”
“And Silas — that fucking — I’ll kill him.”
He’s shaking. Slams his fist into the car roof.
The sound cracks through the night.
Kai flinches.
Ivy grabs the front of his shirt. Gets right in his face.
“Listen to yourself!”
“You think a Promise Ceremony just happens in two days? The invitations, the families, the school — you really think that’s possible?”
“In three years, has Quinn ever once treated Silas like anything more than a friend? Ever? What if this whole thing is just to get you to come running back?”
That stops him cold.
Zane freezes.
His chest is still heaving. But his eyes go from wild to blank.
Then slowly sharpen again.
Right.
Quinn… suddenly doing a ceremony with Silas?
Two nights ago she was curled against him at the party. Happy. Soft. Excited to be his.
Nobody changes that fast.
Yeah.
That’s what this is.
She wants the ceremony that bad. She’s that scared he’ll really make her wait. So she’s pulling this to drag him back.
Ivy watches his face shift. Then she pulls out her phone. Dials. Right in front of him.
“Hey, Silas?”
Her voice is calm. Easy. And to Zane right now, it sounds like the most reasonable thing in the world.
“Mm-hm. Yeah. I figured. That’s what I thought.”
She hangs up. Turns the screen toward him.
Call log. Silas Reyes. 47 seconds.
She looks at Zane. Half scolding, half pitying.
“You always do this. Lose your head first, think later.”
“I already checked with Silas. Quinn’s post was for you. To make you come running. You seriously don’t see that?”
Zane lets out a long breath.
He steps back from the car.
Night air on his face. And somehow — he feels lighter.
It all makes sense now.
Three years. Quinn never once gave Silas so much as a signal. Never looked at him that way. Not once.
No way she’d actually go through with a ceremony.
He turns around. Sees Kai, Keller, the rest of them standing there. Tense. Worried.
And it hits him — how unhinged he just looked. Over a fake post.
Shame. Embarrassment. Anger at himself. All at once.
He forces a half-smile. Waves them off.
“Sorry. Got you all worked up over nothing.”
His voice is steady now. Easy. A little self-deprecating.
“I’m exhausted. Wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Let’s head back inside.”
Everyone exhales. Someone slaps him on the back.
They walk back into the manor.