CHAPTER FIVE:The Woman Who Wasn’t Supposed to Come Back20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLf31THt0rw
(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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FQ5NiOVtX
But because she wanted too much.
What kind of woman kisses a stranger just because he touched her kindly?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuPly9ImzX
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJA0UDnuW1
That’s what she thought.
But the problem was…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmptrs7hyl
She didn’t feel broken anymore.
She felt alive.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdYM5LfFNo
Uncomfortably. Unapologetically. Tragically alive.
The days passed like a fever.
She worked. Smiled at people. Ate her salads. Wrote her reports.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPqzXaGn3o
And every time she blinked, she saw him.
Matteo.
Not just his face.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21B6ZztYUt
But his hands. His voice. That silence he sat in like he owned it.
That kiss.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjZFreD4ZK
God, that kiss.
"Tell me to stop," he’d said.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zrDFzJjDq
And she didn’t.
She didn’t even think.
And now, every mirror she passed felt like a lie.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDc7bLRYFe
She wasn’t the same woman anymore.
Not the one who curled her hair into place.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfDJvb2tV2
Not the one who shrank when men stared too long.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH97TC4LhvP
Not the one who’d numbed herself for the sake of surviving.
No.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXodYZn7jK1
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAifyxTuxZ
That this was a phase. That she didn’t need this.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5MLRcWuIk
That he didn’t feel it, too.
But he did.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHpma1zfaP
She saw it in his eyes.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4T6GnYmlv
Right before he kissed her like it meant something.
She opened the app again.
Scrolled.
Found his name.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDyxpyB8to
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsgfHaiEqs
CONFIRMED.
She stared at it, heart pounding.
She didn’t smile.
Didn’t cry.
Just… breathed.
Because deep down, she knew:
ns216.73.216.239da2She wasn’t going back for healing anymore.
She was going back to burn.
