Chapter 108 Exhaustion

Chapter 108 Exhaustion
I pushed past him, running down the emergency exit stairs and bursting through the hotel's side doors onto the main street.

Where do I go? Who am I without his lie?

I didn't know where I was going. My feet just kept moving, stepping off the curb and onto the slick road, my breaths becoming unstable.

“No… no, no, no.”

What was my existence without Vince?

If he had written the beginning of my story… Who was I before that?

Who was I now?

A wretched sobbing left my lips, clutching my heart when I found nowhere left to be.

I began walking mindlessly down the center of the road, the rain stinging my eyes, my mind completely detached from my body.

Suddenly, the dark street was flooded with a blinding illumination.

HONK!

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t react. All I saw was the white light.

Someone screamed in the corner but I was too heartbroken to react. 

My body refused to cooperate. Strong arms slammed into me from the side abruptly. The impact sent both of us crashing, away from the car.

“Alyssa!”

His voice. Of course it was his.

The one voice I wanted most.

The one voice I never wanted to hear again.

Saving my life again. 

“Where was your mind?”

Vince's hands were shaking, searching me frantically for any wound.

“Are- Are you hurt?”

I glanced at his hands and back to his face. The panic in his eyes tightened my chest, causing my lips to quiver. 

What was the point of this? 

My features slowly hardened. Without thinking, I shoved him.

Hard.

"Don't touch me!"

He released me immediately, stumbling back. 

“You weren’t looking—” He tried to explain softly. 

“I said don't touch me!”

He didn't listen. 

Ignoring my screams, Vince scooped my freezing, soaked body and carried me straight back into the hotel.

Ignoring the startled gasps of the lobby staff as he marched up to my room. How did he know I was staying here? 

"Get away from me!" I screamed, my mind completely snapping.

“Let me go!” 

“Alyssa, you are soaked–”  

The moment my feet touched the carpet, I raised my hand and brought it senseless across his face.

SLAP!

“LEAVE.” 

The sharp sound echoed against the walls. Vince's head snapped to the side. My instinctively flinched, retreating a step.

I panted, my body shivering violently, waiting for the monster to strike back. 

But he didn't move. 

He didn't even raise a hand to his reddening cheek.

Glaring at him for the next five seconds, I turned to leave, to walk back into the destruction he adored only to be stopped by him.

“Let me go.” I hissed, yanking my arm away.

“Is…” He drew a slow breath. “Is this enough?”

His voice was too low, stopping mere inches from my face. 

I could feel the intense heat of his breath against my skin as he leaned down, hovering over me.

“Or do you want to hit me more?” 

Vince raised his brows, his dark eyes burning into mine, completely undone. 

“Do it. Strike me until your hands bleed, Alyssa. But you are not stepping one foot back out that door."

The warning made my blood. 

I didn’t think twice and hurled at him again. 

"I hate you!" I sobbed, stepping forward and slamming my fists into his chest. "I hate you! I hate you!"

Slap!

I struck him again, the impact stinging my own palm. 

I hit his chest, his shoulders, throwing every ounce of my heartbreak, my shattered trust, and my utter despair into every strike.

“How could you do this to me?”

“I trusted you! And you lied!” 

“I loved you!” 

He never raised his own hand. Never even tried to catch mine.

He simply let me empty my heart by hitting him until exhaustion began to take over me.

Each blow was weaker than the last.

Another.

My fists finally curled into his soaked shirt, pressing my burning forehead over his madly thumping heart.

"I hate you, Vince Lysander…"

The words dissolved into sobs.

His breathing trembled, his fingers hovering above my head.

“I know.”

I released another tear.

“I… hate you…” 

My voice was barely audible, loosening my grip on him, the sting becoming unbearable.

“Please... just let me disappear…”

“I can’t.” 

Vince’s face stopped mere inches from me, tugging a strand behind my ear, refusing to look away.

“I had made incredible efforts to make you all mine.” His knuckles brushed against my cheek.

“If I let you go now.” His voice grew possessive.

“I will be destroying everything I have built.” 

My face slowly twisted into rage, landing a powerless strike on his chest.

“I…” My voice began to fade.

“Hate…” Before I could complete the words, everything blackened.



VINCE’S POV:

“Alyssa…?” I called her worriedly, my fingers slowly caressing her limp body. 

She had passed out. 

I lifted her effortlessly and laid her on the bed before calling the doctor. My mind was bursting with stress. 

Not at her. But from what I heard.

Infuriated, I called her father, “Vince?” He answered, sounding more annoyed than concerned. 

“Have you found Alyssa? Is she finally coming to her senses?”

I looked at the unconscious woman sleeping only a few feet away.

My jaw clenched.

Maybe Alyssa was right. He never loved her. He was never worth the effort. It was futile to fix what was non-existent.

“...She came to you.”

“Yes.”

“And you threw her out.”

Another pause.

"I told her to stop behaving like a child and return home.” He exhaled impatiently.

“Married couples argue. It wasn't my place to indulge her dramatics.”

"She arrived at your doorstep seeking shelter, some space. Would that have killed you to give her a room to stay for the night?” 

Silence.

“She was crying.”

Another silence.

“She begged you to let her stay.”

Arthur didn't answer.

I closed my eyes for one brief second.

“You had abandoned your daughter a second time.” 

“She… should have thought before.” He justified his actions.

“You should have thought too.” I warned him.

The slumbering rage inside me began to awaken. 

“You threw away your daughter,”

“I—”

“No.” My voice turned stone-cold, the urge to teach him a lesson began to evoke. 

“You don't get to explain.”

I didn't care that he was family. 

“You are a stain on the name of father, Mr. Whitlock.” I enunciated.

“If this is how you treat your own child…”

My eyes drifted back to Alyssa.

“...then you never deserved one.”

Without waiting for a reply, I ended the call.