CHAPTER FIVE:The Woman Who Wasn’t Supposed to Come Back20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qxCrdlckK
(Ms. De Luna's POV)
She didn’t plan to return.
After the kiss, she swore she wouldn’t.
Not because she didn’t want to…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY1uj2jIRR
But because she wanted too much.
What kind of woman kisses a stranger just because he touched her kindly?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5y3FWdaDp5
What kind of woman sits in her car afterward, heart racing, lips burning, thighs pressed together like she could trap the heat he left behind?
A broken one.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTDa0hGkyP
That’s what she thought.
But the problem was…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3xeQWaFMa
She didn’t feel broken anymore.
She felt alive.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHc6tKS9ibQ
Uncomfortably. Unapologetically. Tragically alive.
The days passed like a fever.
She worked. Smiled at people. Ate her salads. Wrote her reports.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdqIW92oFn
And every time she blinked, she saw him.
Matteo.
Not just his face.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6i4icNxo9R
But his hands. His voice. That silence he sat in like he owned it.
That kiss.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaA7xsiun7c
God, that kiss.
"Tell me to stop," he’d said.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8Vm1QVqT1
And she didn’t.
She didn’t even think.
And now, every mirror she passed felt like a lie.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjHySzjpqR
She wasn’t the same woman anymore.
Not the one who curled her hair into place.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXCEFKDrY8
Not the one who shrank when men stared too long.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEe6ed7Xyjx
Not the one who’d numbed herself for the sake of surviving.
No.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvRhjTJEGv
That woman died in Room 3 of Matteo’s clinic.
And what rose in her place?
Someone dangerous.
She tried to delete the appointment app three times.
Her finger hovered over the screen each time.
She told herself she was being ridiculous.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRghQsWFV2a
That this was a phase. That she didn’t need this.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAcH40VqjS
That he didn’t feel it, too.
But he did.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwbBWP5n59
She saw it in his eyes.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKSl27Dfav
Right before he kissed her like it meant something.
She opened the app again.
Scrolled.
Found his name.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2amfFfDX84
Dr. M. Reyes — Private Schedule
"Last Available Slot: Friday, 5:00 PM"
Her finger trembled.
And then she tapped it.
Book Appointment.
A second later, her screen confirmed:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2fablaG1cD
CONFIRMED.
She stared at it, heart pounding.
She didn’t smile.
Didn’t cry.
Just… breathed.
Because deep down, she knew:
ns216.73.216.12da2She wasn’t going back for healing anymore.
She was going back to burn.
