Chapter 120

Chapter 120
It was night.

Not just night... but the kind that crawled beneath your skin and whispered things you didn't want to hear.

The kind of night that stared at you with empty eyes, waiting for your heart to finally break.

Everything outside was still, too still.

No breeze. No distant car sounds. Just thick, deafening silence.

Even the birds that chirped earlier, those restless stubborn creatures that usually refused to sleep had gone quiet.

Like they knew something I didn't. Like they knew this night wasn't like the others.

Inside the house, the cold felt alive.

It wasn't just cold, it was hollow.

A kind of cold that wrapped around your chest and squeezed without mercy.

I could hear it... My breathing. The quiet ache in every inhale. The loud, fast thump of my heart like it was running from something I couldn't see.

And still... I couldn't sleep.

I tossed to one side, pulled the duvet tighter, turned again.

It didn't help.

This bed didn't feel like mine tonight. It felt like a grave.

Donald and Joshua were fast asleep in the other room, safe and unaware.

And me? I was wide awake, drowning in silence, alone.

My eyes flew open.

Sleep wasn't coming. Not with my thoughts eating me alive.

That message. That damn message. The one I got earlier.

A few lines from an unknown number, but each word carried a knife.

Why did it have to come now? Why now, when I was finally trying to hold myself together?

My mind ran wild, chasing shadows and names.

Who the hell sent that message? Why refuse to reveal yourself? Why rip me open like that and then disappear?

Jayden.

His name echoed in my chest like thunder in a small room.

What does that message even mean?

How is Jayden behind everything that has happened to me?

What game is this? How did he even know Godfrey?

When did they meet?

Where?

Why?

How the hell did he manage to pull this off behind my back?

I clenched the duvet as the weight of the realization settled in.

All this time... I thought he was the only one who had my back.

He touched me like I meant something. Looked at me like I was magic.

He told me I was safe with him.

That I was home.

And all of it was a lie?

My chest caved in with a sob.

I sat up slowly, dragging the duvet with me. My back hit the headboard. My heart was breaking in real time.

"Why, Jayden?" I whispered into the dark.

"Why did you do this to me?"

My voice cracked.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?"

He never loved me.

He said it himself.

The message said it all.

He never loved me.

But how can that be true?

When he kissed me like his world was ending?

When he held me like he was afraid I'd disappear?

I buried my face in my hands. The tears slipped through my fingers.

I wiped them away, angry. Angry at myself.

"Stop crying," I muttered. "Stop it. He doesn't deserve your tears. Not after this."

But the ache didn't listen. It tore through me.

I got out of bed, needing something, anything to distract myself.

The room felt like it was suffocating me.

I checked the jug beside my bed. Empty.

I sighed heavily.

I walked out, barefoot. The hallway was cold and dark.

The hallway light buzzed slightly as I turned it on. The house was too quiet, the kind of quiet that makes you want to scream just to break it.

I reached the kitchen.

The kitchen smelled of silence and dust.

I grabbed a glass, opened the fridge and poured water.

My hands were trembling.

The water tasted like nothing, but at least it cooled the heat in my chest.

I put the glass back and walked slowly back to my room, carrying the bottle with me.

I placed it on the cabinet, climbed into bed again, and curled under the duvet.

But the cold had gotten worse. This time it was inside me.

I rolled over. Then again.

Pulled the duvet up. Threw it off. Pulled it back again.

I sat up with a gasp, nearly crying from the frustration alone.

"Ugh!!!" I groaned.

"I hate this... I hate all of this. Why can't I just sleep?!"

I slammed my hand into the pillow.

"God, not tonight. Please... not tonight."

My voice shook, even though I tried to stay strong.

"I'm so tired." I whispered.

"I'm so damn tired of hurting."

I inhaled deeply.

Held it.

Let it out.

One more breath.

Then another.

"Just sleep. Just for a few hours. Please..." I begged myself.

I curled into a ball, pulled the duvet over my head, and shut my eyes tight.

Eventually... after what felt like forever... the storm inside me grew quiet.

And sleep, the cruel betrayer, finally came.

But even in my dreams...

I knew he'd be there.

His voice.

His lies.

His touch.

His betrayal.

And I hated that part of me still longed for all of it.

He was in my dreams, smiling at me. He reached out to me, he wanted to hold me in his arms but I ran, I ran as fast as I could but he didn't come after me.

I felt free after escaping him

I was panting heavily, my heart raced so fast as though it would fall off its socket.

I tried catching my breath, then my eyes snapped open.

it was morning...

the sun rays penetrated my room and was on my face.

I laid still, blank that moment...as though the world stopped functioning.

Then I sighed and slowly sat up.

"What a night"