My Skin Needs Touch, Their Stomachs Turn novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Arthur looked from me to Silas to the wreckage of the bed, and the pieces clicked together.

“So that’s what this has been about.”

His voice was careful, measured. “You saw the comments. You found out how the story ends, and that’s why you came to terminate the contract. And him – you saw the comments about Chloe, thought we’d actually fallen for her, and went out to find someone else.”

Arthur always was the sharper of the two.

I gave him a cold nod. “And if I did?”

Something loosened in Arthur’s posture – almost like relief. “Hazel, I can explain. We didn’t go near Chloe because we’re interested in her. The comments kept saying she’s the female lead, that she has a 99% compatibility rate with us – we wanted to know if any of it was true.”

Felix jumped in, nodding fast. “Yeah – we don’t believe in some bullshit destiny!”

“It’s always been you, Hazel.” Arthur took a step forward, and his eyes held an intensity I’d never seen there

before. “Five years. If this wasn’t about you, do you really think we’d waste our time chasing down those

comments?”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me?”

The words sliced through the room, and both of them flinched.

“You could see the comments. You read the ones that said I’d be torn apart by you. And your first instinct wasn’t to talk to me – it was to hide it, go chase Chloe, and leave me home alone until my body gave out?”

Arthur opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

Felix rushed forward and grabbed my wrist. “We were doing this for you – the comments said our ending

was set in stone. We wanted to see if it could actually be changed.”

“And it can. We proved that.” His grip tightened. “We’d never hurt you, Hazel. How could we?”

I pulled free, and the sound that came out of me was closer to a snarl than a laugh.

“If you actually loved me and this was really for me, you would’ve stayed away from Chloe. Not flirted with her and called it research.”

“You wouldn’t have blacklisted me from every clinic. You wouldn’t have made sure no therian in the city would come near me. You wouldn’t have sat in that office planning to let me suffer until I came crawling back.” My voice was shaking. “None of that feels like love to me.”

Felix’s face went white. “You heard that too? What we said in the office that day?”

I nodded.

The color drained from both their faces.

Chapter 7

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Arthur stepped forward. “I can explain that -”

“I don’t need any more explanations.” I shook my head. “Maybe you went to Chloe to test whether the ending could change. Maybe you do love me. But even if both of those things are true, the damage is real too.”

“I can’t keep living like this – second-guessing everything, waiting for the next blow.” My throat burned, but I kept my voice level. “Can you just let me go?”

“No.” Felix’s head came up fast. He grabbed my arm. “Hazel, we’re not done. You can’t just -”

Silas’s hand closed around Felix’s wrist. “Hazel said she’s done with you.” His voice was light, almost pleasant. “What part of that are you not getting?”

All Felix’s fury found a target. “Who the hell are you?”

Felix swung without thinking — a wild, full-force punch aimed straight at Silas’s face.

Silas tilted his head and let the fist cut past his ear, then drove his elbow into Felix’s chest.

Felix choked, stumbling back three steps. Arthur was already moving – a low, sweeping kick aimed at

Silas’s legs, the kind of strike that had ended careers on the battlefield.

Silas didn’t dodge. He raised his leg and met it head-on.

Bone met bone with a dull, wet crack, and Arthur’s stoic mask shattered.

His tibia snapped cleanly in half.

Silas didn’t even flinch. He used the momentum, grabbed Arthur by the collar, and hurled him across the

room.

Arthur crashed through the coffee table. Broken glass bit into his back.

Felix came from the side – claws out, white tiger instinct in full control, and slashed straight for Silas’s

throat. Silas caught his wrist mid-swing and twisted.

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