Chapter 36

Chapter 36
Raelyn Pov

The light stayed on all night.

I sat on the bed with my back against the wall, the blanket wrapped tight around me. The room smelled like soap and blood and him. Every time the house creaked, my chest tightened thinking what worst could happen.

I didn’t cry. The tears came and went like passing rain, but the ache in my heart stayed. It lived under my skin, quiet and heavy.

Sofia slept in the chair by the window. She tried to talk to me when she came in she asked if I wanted water, food, anything but I couldn’t answer. My throat had locked shut.

I kept seeing Rafael’s face when he dropped the cloth in the bathroom. The way his hands shook. The way he said sorry like it was something that could fix what he’d done.

I wanted to hate him—I tried. God, I tried.

But every time I closed my eyes, I saw the man who used to hold me like I was something precious. Not the one who would hurt me, but the one who used to brush my hair from my face and call me his wife.

Maybe that made it worse.

Because I couldn’t tell where the real Rafael ended and the monster began.

The sound of the clock ticked too loud. I watched the light fade through the curtains, watching it turn from silver to gray. Sofia stirred ,whispering something in her sleep, and I slipped off the bed.

My legs were weak, but I walked anyway. The villa was quiet and the floor was freezing cold.

He was there curled on the floor outside my door, asleep against the wall. His knuckles were raw and bleeding. There was a bottle beside him, half-empty.

For a long moment I just stared.

He looked smaller somehow not the man who could fill a room with fear,who could make every one tremble. Right now he was just a man who has lost a fight with himself.

I should have stepped over him and left. I should have taken the keys and ran away but I didn’t.

I crouched down, close enough to smell the whiskey and sweat. His lips moved in his sleep saying one word.

My name.

It broke something in me I didn’t know was still there.

I reached out just for a second—then pulled my hand back before I could touch him. My chest hurt,my wrists stung. My throat burned with words I couldn’t say.

“I hate you,” I whispered, but it didn’t sound like hate. It sounded like heartbreak.

He didn’t wake up.

I went back inside, locked the door, and pressed my back to it. My heart wouldn’t stop hammering and my hands kept shaking.

I didn’t know if I wanted to run or stay.
I just knew I couldn’t do either without breaking in half.

Morning came slow and my eyes burned from not sleeping, but I couldn’t close them anymore.

Sofia woke up first. She stretched her body in the chair, rubbing her eyes, then looked at me.
“You didn’t sleep, huh?”

I shook my head.

She studied me for a moment then her face softened. “He won’t touch you again,” she said quietly. “I made him swear.”

I wanted to believe her, but the memory of his hands on me still burned under my skin. I said nothing.

Sofia stood and came closer. She touched my shoulder. “You should eat something. You look pale.”

The thought of food made my stomach twist.
“I just want to leave,” I said.

She nodded, then hesitated. “You can leave and no one will stop you. But if you go, go for your sake, not because you’re afraid.”

Her words hit harder than I expected. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave because of fear or because staying meant facing what he had turned me into.

Sofia left to get breakfast and I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Finally, I stood and turned the lock. The house was unusual quiet again. I stepped out when I saw him.

Sitting against the wall, arms resting on his knees, head bowed. The blood on his hands had dried dark. He was in the same spot as yesterday except he was awake this time.

When he looked up, something flickered in his eyes. Shame? guilt?or maybe hope.
He didn’t move closer or attempt to speak first.

“Why are you still here?” I asked,my voice hoarse.

“Because I need to be,” he said. “To make sure you’re safe.”

I almost laughed. “Safe? From who, Rafael? You?”

He winced like I had hit him. “I know,” he whispered. “You’re right. I hurt you and I might be the last person you want protection from but I can't help it.i just want to make sure you are safe"

Silence intensified between us but this time it wasn’t anger anymore—Just heavy uncomfortable surge of emotions.

I should have hated him more than I did but hate didn’t come clean it tangled with everything else.

“I don’t understand you,” I said. “You break me, then act like you care.”

He looked at the floor. “Because I do care and that’s the problem.”

My throat ached as I swallowed hard. “Then let me go.”

His voice cracked. “If that’s what you want, then you’re free.”

I took a breath that didn’t feel like mine. “I don’t know what I want.”

Something in his face shifted like hope mixed with despair. He nodded once, slow.
“Then I’ll wait until you do.”

I turned back toward my room suddenly lost my appetite. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.

When I shut the door, I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to quiet it. I didn’t know if the sound I heard was fear or longing or maybe both.

Maybe that was the worst part.