Chapter 121
Matilda paced down the narrow corridor, her steps quickening with each heartbeat until they crescendoed into a full–on sprint. She burst from the loud, metallic building. Its walls throbbing with electronic beats, Into the all–consuming embrace of the night.
In the solitude of the darkness, she seemed determined to exhaust every ounce of energy, running towards its unseen end. Irony swirled around her, and she let out a laugh–a frantic. wild cackle. She could hear footsteps behind her, a man in pursuit, his hand reaching out to grab her.
Matilda didn’t look back.
But his voice clung to her like sharp needles piercing her skin, sending a prickling sensation. that suddenly enveloped her entire body.
She turned, her patience shattered, and her palm met Yvan’s cheek with a resounding smack.
What a ridiculous man, she mused.
With a smirk. Matilda withdrew her icy hand and prodded Yvan’s chest–a gesture that struck him like a sledgehammer, shattering his ribs and making his heart bleed with every tick.
Cutting off his attempts at reconciliation, she dissected his defenses with her words–words that were as much a weapon as any blade.
“Any old grievances between us are far from settled, Yvan. Spare me the reminiscences of past. affections,” she said. “Henceforth, Yvan, let our love be a jest–heard and then forgotten.”
At that moment, Yvan felt a pain more acute than a thousand arrows could inflict.
Matilda hailed a cab with a swift gesture and slid into its backseat. She may have been soaked in spilled beer, her pride seemingly drenched before the crowd, but as she stood, her chin lifted with the same haughty grace she possessed five years prior, reducing everyone to a mere wisp of faint derision in her gaze.
The taxi sped away as if chased by demons, and Yvan, reaching out with an empty palm. realized he once held her wrist in that very hand. Now, there was nothing but air.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Matilda he knew wouldn’t look at him with such indifference, such mocking disdain, as if nothing remained between them.
When the realization dawned on him, a bitter laugh escaped his lips. What had they really shared?
How many times must her love–a love so fervent and unyielding–have been wounded and ravaged to transform into the cold, resistant shell she presented today?
Feeling a loss so profound, Yvan paled as it surged towards him with relentless force. He looked up at the empty street, the night breeze carrying away a sigh into the darker corners of the sleepless city.
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