Chapter 71 CALL ME HEARTLESS
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AUTHOR’S POV
Adeline’s breathing was uneven, her heart pounding in her chest as reality sank in.
The warmth of Luciano’s lips still lingered on hers, the taste of him still fresh, but instead of comfort, it brought a suffocating weight pressing down on her. She stepped back, blinking rapidly, trying to ground herself, but her vision blurred as unshed tears welled in her eyes.
Luciano noticed the shift immediately. His hands, still hovering near her waist, twitched as if aching to hold her again, but something in her expression stopped him. His brows furrowed, his dark eyes scanning her face with growing concern.
“Adeline?” His voice was softer now, laced with confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
She let out a shaky breath, shaking her head as if trying to rid herself of the emotions clawing at her chest.
Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, her body stiff with restraint.
Luciano took a step closer. “Talk to me,” he urged, his voice dipping lower.
“Please.”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips, and when she looked at him, her gaze was filled with something he hadn’t seen before—something that made his stomach twist.
“You want me to talk?” she scoffed.
“Fine. Let’s talk about how you took your revenge on me.”
Luciano’s entire body went rigid.
“Revenge?” he repeated, his voice slow, measured, as if he wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly.
She held his gaze, her chin lifting slightly, daring him to deny it. “Whatever my father did to you,” she said, her voice unsteady but firm,
“you took your revenge by playing with me.”
His breath caught in his throat, shock flashing across his face before it was replaced by something darker—something wounded.
“Playing with you?” he echoed, his voice dropping an octave. His jaw clenched, and he took another step forward.
“Is that what you think?”
Adeline’s throat tightened, but she refused to back down. “What else am I supposed to think?” she challenged.
“You knew who I was from the beginning, yet you never told me about Elena. You never told me about what my father did, about any of it! You let me fall for you, knowing damn well—”
She cut herself off, pressing her lips together to stop her voice from breaking.
Luciano exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair.
“I never hid Elena from you. I never even thought—” He inhaled, trying to steady himself.
“I never told you because she wasn’t important. Not anymore. You are, Adeline.”
A fresh wave of emotion crashed over her, but she refused to let him see how much his words affected her.
“Oh, right,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I’m important. Until when, Luciano? Until you decide otherwise?”
Luciano’s frustration finally snapped.
“Damn it, Adeline, you don’t get to say that!” His voice was sharp now, rough with emotion.
“You think I played with you? You think I wanted revenge?” He took a step closer, his presence towering over her.
“You really believe I would ever do that to you?”
Adeline swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
Luciano’s face softened for a brief moment before he exhaled heavily.
“My father ruined everything,” he said, his tone quieter now but no less intense.
“He was the reason Elena and I ended. And I never once blamed your father for it. Never.”
Adeline looked away, her chest rising and falling with each shaky breath.
“I never betrayed you,” Luciano continued, his voice raw.
“Not once. Whatever you think, whatever anyone told you, know this—I never, not for a second, played with your heart.”
She let out a breathless laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Luciano.”
His brows pulled together.
“Of course it matters!”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, her voice calmer now, but distant.
“Whatever we had—it’s in the past.” She swallowed hard, her next words feeling like daggers in her own chest.
“And the past is meant to be forgotten, not carried into the present or dragged into the future.”
Luciano’s body tensed.
“You don’t mean that,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
She forced herself to nod, to look at him with the same resolve she had built around her heart like armor.
“I do.”
His hands clenched at his sides. “You’re running,” he accused.
Adeline exhaled sharply. “I’m moving on.”
Luciano shook his head.
“You can’t just erase everything like it was nothing.”
“I have to.”
His jaw worked, his frustration evident. He reached for her wrist, not to pull her back but just to make her stay a moment longer.
“We need to talk.”
She yanked her hand away before he could touch her. “I have nothing to say to you,” she whispered.
“And I have no time to listen to you.”
Luciano’s chest rose with a heavy breath, but before he could respond, Adeline took a step back, turning slightly as if she was about to walk away. But then she hesitated.
She looked over her shoulder, her voice calm, almost too calm. “Be ready.”
Luciano stiffened.
“For what?”
“For the news I’m going to announce.”
Something about her tone made his stomach tighten.
He wasn’t afraid for himself. No, the fear twisting inside him was something else entirely.
It was the fear of what she was about to do. The fear of how far she would go just to push him away.
As she turned and walked away, the cold air between them felt heavier than ever. And Luciano knew—no matter what it took—he wasn’t going to let her go.
He had to know what was wrong