Page 92 of Liam
“You need to go,” I demand, my voice harsh with fear.
“No.” Her chin lifts with that stubborn determination I usually love. “Something’s wrong. You’re acting strange. Let me help.”
“It’s not working between us, Aleria.”
“What?” She blinks, looking surprised by the sudden shift. “What are you talking about?”
“Us. This relationship.”
“No. You promised me you wouldn’t do this again. Youpromised to be honest with me, not push me away when things get hard.”
Elias shifts behind me, growing impatient. The gun inches closer to the gap in the door.
“Please,” I whisper, trying one last time to make her leave before I have to destroy everything. “Just go.”
“No.” She plants her feet firmly. “Not until you tell me what’s really going on. We can figure this out together, remember? That’s what you said. That’s what you promised.”
Elias’s finger tightens on the trigger through the crack, and my blood turns to ice. There’s no other choice.
God, how I want to pull her into my arms, to tell her everything, to beg for her help. But I can’t. I can’t. I won’t risk her life.
“This isn’t working, Aleria,” I say again, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. “We’re not right for each other. We're like a proton and an electron. When we get too close, the intensity is undeniable, but eventually, it forces us apart.”
She takes a step back, shock written across her beautiful face. “Liam, what are you talking about? Yesterday you said?—”
“I know what I said,” I interrupt, hating myself with every word. “But I’ve been thinking... You don’t trust me. You’re always pushing for more, for answers I can’t give you. And I can’t do this anymore.”
“Liam,” Aleria says, her voice small and hurt. “This doesn’t make any sense. Let me in. We can talk about this.”
I shake my head, feeling Elias’s impatience radiating behind me. “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s over, Aleria.”
Tears well up in her eyes, and it takes everything in menot to break. I try to convey the danger through my gaze, silently begging her to understand.
For a moment, there’s a flicker of understanding in her eyes. But then it’s gone, replaced by a pain so deep it takes my breath away.
“I don’t understand,” she whispers. “Liam, please. Whatever’s wrong, we can fix it. Together. Don’t run again. You promised you wouldn’t.”
The gun digs deeper into my back, a silent warning. I steel myself for the final blow, knowing it will destroy us both.
“I don’t love you. Never did. I was just having fun.”
The words burn like acid, tearing out of me in jagged pieces, each one a brutal lie. Her face crumples in confusion, in pain. It’s a look that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“You’re lying.” She shakes her head, voice trembling. “You’re lying. You don’t mean that.”
“I do.” I force the words out, even though they shred every part of me. “I was finishing what I started back in college. It was a game for me, Aleria. Nothing more.”
Her breath hitches, a tear slipping free despite her effort to hold it back. “A game?” Her voice cracks, disbelief etched in every syllable. “You’re saying this was all just a joke to you? After everything…?”
I swallow the urge to pull her inside, to shield her from the hell behind this door. But Elias shifts behind me, the threat of violence hanging thick in the air.
“You need to leave. Now.”
“Why are you doing this?” Her voice is stronger now, a mix of desperation and disbelief. “Yesterday, you said we could build a future together. Was that a lie, too? Or are you just scared?”
I look away, unable to meet her eyes, as I force the final dagger in. “I never meant it, Aleria. You’re a conquest. I don’t love you, and I don’t want you. It’s over.”
The silence between us stretches impossibly long, her stunned expression cutting deeper than any wound. She searches my face like she’s looking for the man she knew, the one who held her with such tenderness. But all she sees is the monster I’ve become at this moment.
