CHAPTER FIVE:The Woman Who Wasn’t Supposed to Come Back16Please respect copyright.PENANAc6qd2zBWDE
(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…16Please respect copyright.PENANAXNJd5btA8p
But because she wanted too much.
What kind of woman kisses a stranger just because he touched her kindly?16Please respect copyright.PENANAVqdEtIHtFG
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.16Please respect copyright.PENANAdDHDxpWBCm
That’s what she thought.
But the problem was…16Please respect copyright.PENANAwZS9MXoTJn
She didn’t feel broken anymore.
She felt alive.16Please respect copyright.PENANAZF1lEhbM9e
Uncomfortably. Unapologetically. Tragically alive.
The days passed like a fever.
She worked. Smiled at people. Ate her salads. Wrote her reports.16Please respect copyright.PENANAryUjV0Bs66
And every time she blinked, she saw him.
Matteo.
Not just his face.16Please respect copyright.PENANADhHbDKJg5N
But his hands. His voice. That silence he sat in like he owned it.
That kiss.16Please respect copyright.PENANAoMMzhOHbSZ
God, that kiss.
"Tell me to stop," he’d said.16Please respect copyright.PENANAdyXhZFVaAz
And she didn’t.
She didn’t even think.
And now, every mirror she passed felt like a lie.16Please respect copyright.PENANAAggPnzG3Vo
She wasn’t the same woman anymore.
Not the one who curled her hair into place.16Please respect copyright.PENANAocKSonn8Ac
Not the one who shrank when men stared too long.16Please respect copyright.PENANA1KsHNnxGuI
Not the one who’d numbed herself for the sake of surviving.
No.16Please respect copyright.PENANAj9C4B49oNf
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.16Please respect copyright.PENANAufxrF8SLGW
That this was a phase. That she didn’t need this.16Please respect copyright.PENANAH7q8VgB6to
That he didn’t feel it, too.
But he did.16Please respect copyright.PENANAuzc7OzPSPH
She saw it in his eyes.16Please respect copyright.PENANAXdp7Xppn0d
Right before he kissed her like it meant something.
She opened the app again.
Scrolled.
Found his name.16Please respect copyright.PENANA63BEojLRDT
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:16Please respect copyright.PENANAEDUkN5nTh1
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.