“You… you absolute bastard! How dare those words even cross your lips? You… you monster!” Her fingers clawed at his collar, ripping the fabric with desperate fury. “What am I to you? Don’t I warrant even a shred of basic human decency from you?”
Hot tears spilled down her cheeks without warning, carving tracks through her anguish. “Just because we shared one impulsive night and Locke exists now, you believe I’m cheap and desperate?”
“I never believed that for a single moment!” Ernest remained motionless as she clawed at him, his eyes heavy with torment. “I simply cannot lose you!”
Yet those words provided no solace to Elissa’s wounded heart. Instead, they magnified her terror tenfold.
“No, please no…” Elissa’s lips drained of all color as she recoiled from him, shaking her head frantically. “Why won’t you just release me?”
She gripped his collar and shook him with wild desperation. “Please just let me go, I’m begging you, please let me go! This is finished…”
“Elissa.” Deep lines carved themselves across Ernest’s forehead as he whispered her name, his head moving in gentle denial. “I’m truly sorry, but… I cannot let you go. I cannot marry you immediately, but eventually we will have our ceremony. You simply need to be patient with me, alright?”
“What did you just say?”
Elissa stood frozen, her thoughts scattered like leaves in a hurricane. Each word made perfect sense, yet somehow the complete sentence remained incomprehensible. What could Ernest possibly mean?
Her chest compressed as if caught in a crushing vise. How could such breathtaking selfishness and unreasonableness exist in one human being?
“I cannot endure this any longer…”
Elissa squeezed her eyes shut and released a cry of pure anguish. Was there anyone who could rescue her from this nightmare?
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“If only my mother were here…”
“Elissa,” Ernest murmured tenderly. He cradled the back of her head and pressed her face against his chest. “Do you believe this isn’t tearing me apart as well? That I’m not suffering just as much?”
As if someone like him possessed the capacity to understand genuine torment. A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
Her laughter merged with her tears in a symphony of defeat. She was trapped completely. “Fine. Execute whatever plan you’ve devised.”
“Elissa.” Hope flickered to life in Ernest’s gaze. Had she agreed?
“After all…” Elissa’s features hardened into glacial contempt, her voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. “Your decisions have always been the only ones that matter. Whether I want to be with you, whether I have any feelings for you whatsoever… none of that has ever mattered to you.”
Her laughter escalated into something wild and unhinged.
“Ah!” Elissa gasped as sudden pain shot through her jaw.
Ernest’s fingers clamped around her chin with punishing force. “Clarify that statement immediately.”
His decisions had always been the only ones that mattered? Was that so?
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