CHAPTER THIRTEEN : Evangeline’s Last Visit15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aLCa5DVv8
(Matteo’s POV)
He didn’t sleep.
He just sat there.
In the middle of the floor.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHvdNV0aJE
Back against the cold wall.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW358yAM7n3
Her scarf clutched in his fist like a lifeline.
Every hour that passed felt like another nail in the coffin of what they had.
He read her last message twice.
Then a third time.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAL7v7WcfJ
Then again.
Still no reply.
At 3:42 a.m., the buzzer rang.
One long, deliberate press.
He didn’t move at first.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLgKT7IGPs
Didn’t need to—he already knew who it was.
Only one woman knocked like she owned him.
When he opened the door,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSUSxAECLE
Evangeline was already halfway inside.
“Miss me?” she smiled.
He didn’t answer.
She looked around.
“No candlelight? No wine? No naked girl crying in the sheets tonight?”
“Get out,” Matteo said quietly.
But she laughed.
“You think you’re clean now, Matteo?”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3T9MHEsdiX
“You think just because one girl loved you back, that makes you human again?”
“She’s not like you.”
“You’re right,” she said. “She’s better. Which is why you’ll lose her.”
Matteo’s eyes darkened.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2GJIth9Vj
His voice dropped.
“You already took everything from me once.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMbCfK89mM
You won’t take her.”
She stepped closer, her perfume thick with memory.
“You think love saves men like us?”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVfdqlsOsV
Her smile twisted.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAhLnkms3x
“It doesn’t. It exposes us.”
She pulled a folder from her bag.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqZwKrDJ77
Threw it onto his table.
Inside: photos. Screenshots. Patient files.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHEkrHVaSM
Every illegal thing Matteo ever tried to erase.
“Do you really think the world will stay quiet when they find out what you’ve done, doctor?”
He didn’t flinch.
But his heart dropped.
“She’ll leave you. They all do.”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMVlwO8uNz
Evangeline tilted her head.
Then she whispered:
“And if she doesn’t…15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0eLFv0ZkS
I’ll make sure she’s too scared to stay.”
Silence.
Then Matteo stepped forward.
And for the first time…15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8p0oovRQ3
he didn’t look broken.
He looked like a storm.
“Try. I dare you.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Threaten her again, and I won’t just ruin you—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp1LG1TaLO
I’ll bury every trace of you in the same fire I used to burn the man you turned me into.”
Evangeline smiled…15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXEOLm7qpH
but there was something wild in her eyes now.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlgMP500kc
A flicker of fear.
“She changed you.”
“No,” Matteo said, voice low and clear.
“She saved me.”
Evangeline left.
This time without a smirk.
And Matteo?
He locked the door.
Then collapsed to the floor again—
This time not with grief.
But with resolve.
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