21.

A shiver runs through my body, and I close my eyes tighter, momentarily losing my breath, with an unexplainable emptiness inside me. I never understood how people who lost other people felt; now I could imagine, and it was horrible. It was as if my heart were being ripped out of my chest.

When I come to my senses, I'm on my knees on the floor, with water falling on my back, in a cry that seemed like it would never end. I hug my own body, hoping that this "pain" would decrease, even though I knew it would never go away, lingering inside me somewhere, surfacing every time I thought it necessary.

I definitely didn't know how to deal with what I was feeling. I was failing without even trying, and I didn't want to try again, but I also didn't want to suffer anymore. I just wanted the pain to stop.

When I couldn't cry anymore, the sobs continued, and my body trembled with them. Gradually, unintentionally, I made my inevitable decision, imagining that this way, I would also be able to lessen that pain I was feeling. At least I would be close to him, and that seemed to be enough for me.

Having taken a shower and dressed in clothes that were much too loose on me, I crossed the kitchen heading for the stairs, climbing the steps with all the determination that was in my body at that moment. As I approached the room, I could hear both of them talking intimately, and I felt bad for interrupting whatever might be happening between them at that moment.

I knocked on the door as gently as possible, taking a few seconds for it to open, and she appeared before me, smiling without showing her teeth when she saw me clean and presentable.

Lying on the bed with his arms under his head, Klaus didn't react the same way; I felt surprise cross his face, but he quickly recovered, and his expression automatically turned serious.

"What do you want?" he asked in the harshest tone he could muster. I instantly regretted being there in front of him.

"...I wanted to talk to you," I murmured, moving my hands in front of my body.

"You're already talking, Hailey," I ignored Elijah's still fixed gaze on me, lowering my own.

"Privately," I added. A brief silence settled in until he sighed, sitting up, then standing and passing by his girlfriend, giving her a pat on the butt. She gave him a brief smile before looking at me again. I followed Klaus without making eye contact until we reached the living room, where he stopped in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest, looking at me with his cold gaze.

"Spit it out; what do you want?"

Since I had first seen him, I felt nervous; I didn't know how to act in front of him, and even the words were lacking.

"I accept," I murmured.

"Accept what?" He asked in his severe voice.

"To marry."

Brief silence followed until he took a step in my direction, and I unconsciously stepped back, not trusting what he might do to me.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No," I said without hesitation, even though my response was different.

He approached me again, and this time, I didn't step back; I just kept fidgeting my hands in front of my body.

"Tell me what you want."

I swallowed hard, realizing what he wanted to hear.

"I want to marry you."

"Say it louder and look me in the eyes." I hesitated to lift my head, but when it happened, I felt a cold chill run through my body. His pupils were dilated and fixed on me.

"I want to marry you, Klaus," I said aloud.

A smile slowly appeared on his face as he raised one corner of his mouth. "But I don't want to marry you." I furrowed my brow when those words came out of his mouth. "You're not good enough for me."

"Klaus..." Tears welled up in my eyes.

"Look at yourself, Hailey. I can have any woman I want; do you realize who's in my bed right now? Do you really think I would marry someone so far below my level?" He looked me up and down, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You're not suitable for me. You're only good for the kitchen, doing what you're doing around here." He walked past me with heavy steps, whistling as he went up the stairs, leaving me shattered in the middle of the room, tears streaming down my wide-open eyes. His words had pierced me like arrows, hitting my heart directly, which slowly stopped beating as I was rejected in that way.