Chapter 67

Chapter 67
Elise's POV:

I walked downstairs.

Liam was standing in the open space at the entrance of the dormitory building. His suit was wrinkled, his tie askew, and his hair disheveled as if someone had just dragged him out of bed. He was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling noticeably.

When he saw me, his eyes lit up.

I knew that expression too well. Like someone who had lost something and finally found it again. Relief mixed with a hint of "everything is under control" certainty.

He thought that just by showing up, everything could be fixed.

"Elise." He walked toward me, his voice slightly hoarse. "I'm here to pick you up."

Pick me up.

When those words came out of his mouth, they carried a tone of matter-of-factness. As if I were his possession, and now that something had gone wrong, he was here to take me back.

I didn't stop walking. I continued down and stood still about two steps in front of him.

"What are you doing here."

Not a question. I just wanted to know what script he had prepared.

"I already know what happened today." His speech was rapid, as if afraid I wouldn't give him a chance to speak. "Benjamin, that bastard—someone sent me photos. It's already spread online. But I'm telling you, I'll handle this. The Sterling family's legal team—"

There it was.

This was Liam.

His first reaction to any problem was always: throw money at it, suppress it with power and influence, smooth everything over with the Sterling family name. He probably thought this demonstrated his capability, his protectiveness, his responsibility.

With a condescending attitude.

"Not necessary."

I cut him off.

His brow furrowed slightly. Probably didn't expect me to speak up so quickly. Based on his understanding of me, I should first be silent, then my eyes would redden, and finally I would soften under his consolation. Just like every other time in the past five years.

"Elise, just hear me out." He took a step forward, reaching out to grab my arm.

I stepped back half a step. Avoided it.

His hand hung in midair, froze for a moment, then withdrew.

"I know you're angry with me. I was wrong." He said, his tone becoming earnest—at least he thought it was earnest. "I've been thinking a lot these past few days. About what happened at the party that night. About Isabella. About all the ways I failed to protect you."

That night at the party.

I was blindfolded, stripped naked, tied up, left alone like livestock in that silent room for a long time.

When I recalled these things, there was surprisingly little turmoil in my heart. It used to hurt. Used to feel wronged. Used to replay in the dead of night over and over again, wondering why he didn't help me then.

But not anymore.

Not because I had forgiven him. But because I no longer cared.

"So I made a decision." Liam took a deep breath. "I won't get engaged to Isabella. I've already rejected her, and rejected my father. Edwin gave me a three-day deadline, and it expires tomorrow, but I don't care. I can give up my position as heir, I can fall out with the family—but none of that matters. What matters is you."

When he said these words, his eyes stared at me unblinkingly. There was something almost fervent in them.

He was waiting for me to be moved.

He was waiting for me to cry. Waiting for me to throw myself into his arms. Waiting for me to say "I forgive you" like before, and then everything would return to normal.

Because he had given up so much for me. The heir position. The family. The marriage alliance. Every halo and resource that a Sterling family young master possessed.

What a great sacrifice.

But what he didn't know was that every "sacrifice" he mentioned sounded like nothing more than a string of meaningless nouns to me.

The heir position? I never cared whether he was the heir or not.

The family? That family where his mother said to my face that "an orphan's child isn't worthy of marrying in"?

The marriage alliance? The matter between him and Isabella had nothing to do with me from beginning to end—when did he ever truly ask if I was willing?

He laid all his chips on the table, thinking he had played an ace.

But there was no game on the table at all.

"Liam." I finally spoke. "Are you done?"

He froze.

"Done?" I gripped the handle of my suitcase tighter. "Then move aside."

"Didn't you hear what I said?" His voice rose, tinged with incredulous anger. "I said I won't get engaged to Isabella! I rejected the entire family for you! What more do you want?"

"I don't want anything."

When those words came out of my mouth, even I found it strange. Because they were too calm. Too calm to sound like saying goodbye to a man I'd been with for five years. More like an impatient response to some passerby asking if I needed a product they were selling.

But that was exactly how I felt in that moment.

I didn't want anything. From him, I wanted nothing.

Liam's expression changed. That confidence showed a crack. He probably realized for the first time that things weren't going according to his script.

"Elise, I know you're angry." He tried to lower his voice. "What happened at the party that night—the SM room—I can explain. It was a tactic to deal with the family, you know that. Edwin has been pressuring me about the marriage alliance with the Sinclair family. I was just trying to find a way to buy time. I didn't really want to hurt you. If I had known you would get caught up in it—"

A tactic to deal with the family.

Buy time.

He didn't really want to hurt me.

Listening to these words, I suddenly found them funny. Not a cold laugh, not a bitter laugh. Just a very pure, absurd kind of funny.

Five years. Five years with him.

After every hurt, he had a perfect explanation. Every apology sounded sincere. Every promise would be broken, and then the next time he would use an even better explanation to cover the previous one.

And I had believed it for so long.