Page 163 of Arianna

I know her grief will turn into anger, and the scars I gave her will fade away with time. She’s young, beautiful, with so much potential, and I’m holding her back.

I, on the other hand, I’m not sure if I'll ever be the same again.

I have my little girl, and I will always put her first, but the woman right in front of me is my dreams and nightmares, all wrapped up in a beautiful package of cunning smiles and a sweet-as-fuck heart.

I love how different she is with us. How she would let the world burn and fall but keep us safe with her. I would do the same, beautiful girl. I would do anything for you. So, fly away and spread your beautiful wings, but find me again one day. Find us once you find yourself. Because you’re our anchor.

My fucking lifeline.

She hates showing emotion, and right now, she’s doing it in front of the entire country.

The entire world.

And to think she didn’t know what love was.

This is it, darling. Love is you. Love is me breaking my own fucking heart so you can be all you ever wanted.

Free.

The rain comes down hard.

I watch her beautiful tear-streaked face contouring in anger. Anger towards me.

Hate.

Her long blonde hair is wet and running down the front of her white dress, and my heart stops because she has never looked more beautiful to me until she backs away, taking my heart with her. I feel an agonizing pain in my chest as I watch her hold her head up high and walk back toward him.

Motherfucker.

I could kill him, but I know there's no one better to keep her safe from harm.

From my enemies.

From the evil of her world.

Arianna keeps walking backward, and I dread the moment she gives me her back. This was not how it was supposed to go down, with other people around to witness her hurt.

Fuck.

This is cruel, even for me. I hate myself, but I need her to want to be here.

To choose to be here, but not like this.

Not bound to me because she feels like she has nowhere else to go.

I forced a life on her that she didn’t choose.

The scar on her temple reminds me how ugly my world can get, just like the one I took her from.

I stop myself before I reach out to her. I don’t stop her, though the pain in my heart is so excruciating it’s as though I’ve been cut by thousands of sharp knives. The black van waits for her.

My girl hesitates, her hand on Banning’s much larger one.

This is it.

The end of me.

I can feel my heart pound like a storm inside and know it’s hers calling to me. “I hate you, Sebastian,” my head pounds, and the organ in my chest beating rapidly breaks the moment her words wash over me. “You showed me how to love, and now I promise you, I will show you what it is like to hurt.” She vows coldly.

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