Chapter 200: Trust
"Everything was real, little mouse. Damn it." He angrily ran his fingers through his hair, yanking at the roots out of frustration.
Her stomach plummeted to the floor, a sinking feeling taking hold.
"I got scared, Beatrix. I just discovered that everything was a lie. I panicked"
She raised her hands to cover her face, squeezing her eyes shut as tears began to well up. She pleaded, "Stop it. Please. I can’t bear to listen to your lies."
It was so cruel, hearing the words she desperately wanted to hear and now finding it hard to believe them.
"I know I don’t deserve your attention," he moved closer, and although she wanted to recoil, she felt paralyzed by the internal struggle.
"But you deserve to hear this. You deserve to know how much you mean to me... Please, look at me, Beatrix. I’m begging you. Hear me out, and then I’ll retreat to my room. Tomorrow morning, I’ll leave, and you won’t have to see me again."
This wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t be saying all of this now.
"I don’t believe you, I can’t," she shook her head, trying to hold back the intensified emotions since the last time she saw him. "You don’t mean it, please leave."
"I made that mistake once—I won’t do it again," he argued, his eyes burning into her face. His voice was weak, but there was no trace of doubt in it. "I need you to look at me, so you know I mean it. You don’t have to want me back, you don’t have to say anything, but I can’t let you believe you aren’t everything to me."
Unable to refuse him while meeting his gaze, she couldn’t deny her desire for him. After these past weeks, she lacked the strength to bury her feelings and pretend they weren’t there.