Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 169

Clara's shoulders jerked. His unhinged words drained the color from her face, leaving her paralyzed with terror.

"No! Stop! We aren't doing this! Julian, are you out of your mind? Let me go!"

But the man was fully enraged. He hauled her over to the mattress and pinned her effortlessly beneath his massive frame.

Clara had zero room to maneuver. Overwhelmed by the sheer injustice of it all, she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

In the past, she had loved him so much she craved his touch.

But in this moment, all she felt was raw, suffocating fear.

She didn't know when the man who had once been her warm, protective sanctuary had transformed into the brutal hurricane tearing her life apart.

Julian dragged his lips across her tear-stained cheek. It was the first time he had kissed her so tenderly. The velvet softness of her skin elicited an involuntary, ragged groan from his throat.

Beneath his overwhelming rage and dominant aggression, a strange, tangled emotion began to bloom in his chest.

He didn't realize it was love.

Before he could fully process the feeling, the hot wetness of her tears seared his lips. He froze, bracing his weight on his forearms to look down at her.

She lay perfectly still, like a dying fish washed ashore, her face a portrait of absolute despair. The sight struck him with the force of a physical blow.

He couldn't even begin to describe the sensation tearing through him.

Reaching out, he wiped her tears away with uncharacteristic gentleness. His voice was rough with strain. "Clara, just listen to me. I don't want to do this..."

"Don't leave. Let's just go back to the way things were, okay?"

"Didn't you... used to love me so much?"

...

Clara's body was still trembling from the residual terror. Hearing those words, the dam holding back months of silent agony finally shattered.

She wailed, staring up at him through a blinding haze of tears. Her voice was thick with bitter sorrow. "Why would I ever come back? Why would I ever want to love you again?"

Julian's fingers froze against her cheek.

Clara slapped his hand away, tears streaming down her face as she laid bare every agonizing truth. "You bullied me! You abandoned me! When I was injured, you didn't care! When I was wrongfully thrown in jail, you didn't even check on me! All you ever see is Seraphina! You never see me! Why should I keep loving you?!"

Julian's face went completely ashen. Staring into those devastated, tear-filled eyes, the words died in his throat.

After a suffocating silence, he forced out a ragged whisper, "That's not..."

Clara choked on a sob, violently shoving his chest. "You only treated me like this because you knew I didn't have a family to protect me!"

He must have looked at her—an orphan with no connections, no money, and no safety net—and decided she was the perfect, gullible target.

And he had been right. She had fallen for his lies completely.

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