Chapter 226 Chapter 226.

Chapter 226 Chapter 226.
Luca. 

The sound of the door slamming shut echoed far louder than it should have, or maybe it was just my head that turned it into something violent and permanent, something final that refused to stop reverberating inside my chest as I stood there staring at the empty space she had just occupied, my lungs refusing to cooperate, my body frozen between running after her and collapsing right where I stood, because Bella had just walked out on me without even looking back, without even hesitating, and the worst part of it all was not the anger or the words we had thrown at each other like weapons, it was the certainty that had settled deep into my bones that she had already let go long before she said it out loud.

I wanted to move. I wanted to go after her, to grab her wrist, to pull her back into me, to drop to my knees if I had to and beg her not to leave, because that was what I always did when it came to her, I bent, I broke, I did whatever it took just to keep her with me, but this time my feet refused to follow through because something inside me kept repeating the same brutal truth that refused to soften.

She didn’t love me anymore.

She loved someone else.

That guy.

That fucking guy who touched her. 

A harsh breath tore out of my chest as I dragged my hands through my hair, gripping hard enough to hurt, my fingers curling like I could rip the thoughts out of my own head if I just held on tight enough, but it did nothing, absolutely nothing, because her voice kept echoing, her face kept flashing in front of me, the tears in her eyes, the way she still said she loved me while walking away from me like I was nothing, like everything we had built together could just be discarded because things got difficult.

“Fuck… fuck… fuck…”

The words fell out of my mouth in broken repetition as my knees finally gave in, my back sliding down the wall until I hit the floor, the cold surface grounding me just enough to remind me that this was real, that this was actually happening, that Bella had broken up with me.

Blood dripped from my knuckles, slow and steady, staining the floor beneath my hand, but I barely felt it, the pain too distant compared to the way my chest felt like it was being crushed from the inside, like something vital had been ripped out of me and I was left there trying to function without it.

“She broke up with me…”

My voice sounded foreign, hoarse and uneven as I whispered it out loud, like saying it might somehow make it make sense, like maybe I had misunderstood something, like maybe if I repeated it enough times it would stop feeling so impossible.

“She broke up with me… she broke up with me…”

I couldn’t breathe properly, each inhale shallow and useless, my head spinning as I tried to piece together how the hell we had ended up here, because this wasn’t supposed to be us, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go, we were supposed to fight and argue and still choose each other at the end of it all, not… this.

“How…?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it, my voice cracking under the weight of it as my thoughts spiraled uncontrollably.

“How did we get here…? How the fuck did this happen…?”

My jaw clenched painfully as anger began to mix with the hurt, a dangerous combination that made my chest burn even more.

“Why did she lie to me…? Why did she deceive me like that…?”

A bitter laugh forced its way out of my throat, hollow and broken.

“She really did this to me…”

My chest tightened painfully as I shook my head, disbelief still clinging to me like a second skin.

“She really broke up with me…”

Was I not enough?

The question hit me harder than anything else, cutting deeper than the insults, deeper than the accusations.

“What haven’t I done?”

My voice rose slightly, frustration bleeding into every word as I stared blankly at the floor.

“Was I not good enough for her or something? I was trying… I was actually trying…”

And that was the part that hurt the most, because I had tried, I had fought against every instinct, every darkness inside me, I had pushed my demons aside just to be better for her, just to love her the way she deserved, I had gone out of my way to learn, to understand, to change things about myself that I never thought I could change, all for her.

“I did everything…”

My voice dropped into something quieter, more broken.

“I made fucking researches on how to be a good boyfriend… I tried to be soft for her… I tried to understand her… and she still dumped me…”

A sharp exhale left me as I shook my head again, anger creeping back in.

“I knew it… I fucking knew it…”

I had felt it, somewhere deep down, that something was off, that something was changing, but I had ignored it, I had chosen to trust her, to believe her words, to believe that we would get through this engagement mess together.

“I gave her the benefit of the doubt…”

My jaw tightened.

“I trusted her… and she broke me…”

The door suddenly flew open, the loud sound snapping me out of my spiraling thoughts as

Jun’s voice cut through the heavy air.

“Luca!!”

I shut my eyes briefly, exhaling sharply before looking up at him, irritation flickering through me instantly.

“Shit, fucking hell. I’m so fucking tired of you both.”

Jun stepped closer, his eyes scanning me quickly before narrowing when they landed on my hand.

“What the hell happened to your knuckles…? Luca, they are bleeding badly.”

I didn’t answer him immediately, my gaze hardening as he continued, his voice laced with confusion.

“I just saw Bella getting into Archer’s car and she said you guys broke up… seriously…? You let her go…?”