Chapter 120 REMINDERS OF HIM
MERRIELYNN.
I lay in bed, staring at the laptop screen, the bright colors flashing across my face in the dark room.
It had been three days since Cormac practically and quite literally shattered my heart, and I hadn’t moved much since.
My eyes were glued to One Piece, a show I never would have thought about watching until I met him.
It was ironic, really. He was so stupidly obsessed with it, and now here I was, watching it alone, drowning in the painful reminder of him.
Was I trying to punish myself?
Maybe.What other reason could there be for sitting through episode after episode of something that screamed him?
Reminded me of him.
Of us... and what we had.
Or what I believed we did.
I should have known better. The voice in the back of my head wouldn’t stop whispering it to me. You should have known, Mere.
I never should have trusted Cormac, not after the way he treated me when I first came toPinnthorpe.
He was a bully. Ruthless and cold. And I let myself forget that. I let myself believe that he had changed.
But he hadn’t.
All the softness and kindness I thought I saw in him—it was just pretense. A mask. He used me, played me like a fool, and when he got what he wanted, he tossed me aside like I was nothing.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them tightly, trying to hold myself together.
I had never felt so…raw in my entire life.
I thought I meant something to him. I thought we were more than just a fling. But now I knew the truth.
He only wanted me for one thing, and the second he didn’t need me anymore, he walked away.
The cold metal of the necklace he gave me was missing from my skin. I had taken it off that night. I wanted to burn it, destroy it—destroy everything that reminded me of him. But I didn’t know how to let go.
Every memory, every touch, every whisper still clung to me, refusing to fade.
I blinked hard, feeling the pressure of tears behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall again.
I had cried enough over him.
A knock on the door broke through the silence of my room, but I didn’t move. I knew it was Emorie. She was the only one who would come looking for me.
I figured she probably thought I was with Cormac these past few days. She didn’t know the truth, not yet. She didn’t know that I went to find him, and he tore me apart with just a few cruel words.
I didn’t want to see her. I didn’t want to talk.
But then I heard the jingling of keys.
My brows furrowed slightly, but I still didn’t move. A second later, the door unlocked from the outside, and Emorie stepped in.
The light from the hallway spilled into the room, casting a long shadow across the floor. I blinked against it, my eyes stinging from the sudden brightness.
“I had a gut feeling you’d be here,” Emorie said softly, closing the door behind her.
I didn’t answer. I sank further into the pillows, pulling the blanket up higher, wishing I could disappear beneath it. Maybe if I stayed still enough, she’d leave.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she walked over and sat down on the edge of my bed. “Mere,” she murmured, reaching out to touch my arm gently. “What happened?”
Her voice was soft, filled with concern, and just like that, my resolve broke.
The tears came faster than I could stop them.
A sob ripped from my chest, and before I knew it, I was crying into my hands. I felt the bed dip as Emorie moved closer and wrapped her arms around me. She held me tightly, rocking me gently as I fell apart in her arms.
“Shh,” she whispered, stroking my hair. “It’s okay. Just let it out.”
I knew she was confused, but still, her priority was making sure I was okay.
Making sure to let me know I could confide in her.
And I did. I cried until my body shook, until my throat felt raw, and my chest ached from the force of it.
When I finally managed to catch my breath, I sniffled and wiped my face with the sleeve of my hoodie. Emorie didn’t say anything. She just sat there, rubbing slow circles on my back, waiting.
I swallowed hard and whispered, “He broke me, Emorie.” My voice cracked, and fresh tears slipped down my cheeks. “I thought… I thought he cared about me. But it was all a lie.”
Emorie didn’t interrupt.
She just listened as I poured everything out—the way he ignored me at school, how he told me I was just a fling, how he used me to get back on the football team. How he looked me right in the eye and told me I was nothing to him.
When I finished, Emorie was silent for a long moment. I couldn’t bring myself to look at her, too afraid of what I might see on her face.
Pity. Anger. Maybe even disappointment.
But then she hugged me again, tighter this time. “I’m so sorry, Mere,” she whispered.
I leaned into her touch, feeling comforted but still hollow inside. “I should have known better,” I said bitterly. “I should have ended things the second his rut was over. But I thought… I thought he was different.”
“You loved him,” Emorie said simply, like that explained everything.
And maybe it did.
I let out a shaky breath, pressing my forehead against my knees. “I don’t know how to move on from this.”
“You will,” Emorie assured me, but there was something in her voice—something hesitant. I frowned and lifted my head to look at her.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
Emorie chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes flickering away for a moment. “I… I heard something,” she said carefully.
“What do you mean?”
She shifted uncomfortably, then reached out to hold my hand. “Mere, I don’t know how to tell you this, but… there’s been news going around.”
My stomach twisted. “What news?”
Emorie took a deep breath, her expression heavy with something I couldn’t quite place. And then, in a quiet, somber voice, she said, “The queen is dead.”
I stared at her, my heart stuttering in my chest.
“What?” I whispered, barely able to process the words.
“Cormac’s mother,” Emorie said softly. “She passed away a few days ago.”
I felt like the air had been knocked out of me. The world tilted for a moment, and I clutched the blanket tightly in my fists.
Cormac’s mother was... dead?