CHAPTER FOURTEEN : The Threat Breaks In15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9sBlgawxt
(Her POV)
She hadn't answered his last message.
Not because she didn’t want to.
But because she didn’t know how.
How do you love someone whose truth scares you?15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vpdArQl2j
How do you stop missing the hands that lied to you—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKv8sPQym28
but never hurt you?
She slept restlessly that night.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JQ6AYQJoj
Kept the lights on.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpoo2FPkOn
Kept her keys under her pillow.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4Y6SLwhyC
Kept the journal under her bed.
Matteo's voice echoed in her head.
"That if you knew everything... you'd never kiss me again."
She would’ve kissed him anyway.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSySQeIabp
Hard.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5SinxiCkC
Long.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcJiu7hM0Y
Until he believed he was worth loving.
But she needed time.
Just a little more time.
She was brushing her teeth when it happened.
A sound.
A sharp, metallic snap.
The door.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAgpb69Rku
Unlocked.
But she hadn’t moved.
She froze.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BzE5kO5HM
Toothbrush still in hand.
Then footsteps.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaftodIyMRE
Slow. Confident. Male.
“Matteo?” she called, heart hammering.
No answer.
Then a voice—feminine, smooth, cold:
“He won’t come for you this time.”
She dropped the toothbrush.
Ran to the drawer—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwx2alywVN
Too late.
A man grabbed her from behind.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCkCZnoNOd
Pressed something cold against her temple.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYFcj2viYs
Another tore her phone from her hand.
A woman stood in the corner.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjp7gdTvV3u
Long hair. All black. Red lipstick like blood.
Evangeline.
“You should’ve left him when you had the chance,” she said.
Her knees buckled.
But they didn’t give her the chance to fall.
They didn’t tie her up.
They didn’t need to.
Fear was enough.
They made her sit.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHVqR5wofK
Turned off the lights.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLy8tz5fTHS
Just the hallway bulb flickering above.
Evangeline circled her like a slow-moving curse.
“He burned everything,” she said. “His past. Our files. Our work.”
“But he forgot the one thing he should’ve burned...”
You.
She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming.
Because she knew if she screamed, she wouldn’t stop.
“I don’t want him,” Evangeline said simply.
“But I won’t let him be happy either.”
She heard a sound then—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOT15Y5JKmE
Distant. Familiar. Matteo’s voice.
Yelling.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVKve715BQ
Desperate.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVrj9H63Ih
Coming closer.
“LET HER GO!”
A gun cocked beside her head.
Evangeline didn’t even flinch.
But her captor did—looked toward the window.
Too late.
Glass shattered.
Matteo burst through.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WvMmqeBJr
Blood on his knuckles.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtXkE0Ihso
A look in his eyes she’d never seen before.
A man no longer asking to be saved.
A man choosing to save.
He took down the first guy without a word.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuthYx72Wl
Just fists. Just fury.
The second tried to run.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7mdmi6UcS
Didn’t make it past the stairs.
Evangeline?
She stayed.
Smiling.
Clapping slow.
“Bravo, Matteo.”
He pointed the gun—her gun—right at her.
“You’re done.”
She only tilted her head.
“So are you.”
Police sirens in the distance.
She looked at him—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChsDwSYPwS
Shaking. Bleeding. Alive.
“Matteo...”
He didn’t move.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYypoiIjLTT
Didn’t speak.
Until her hand touched his.
Only then did he breathe again.
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