Chapter 288: Truth
"Hey, look at me. It’s just you and me here," his words cut through the chaos, a lifeline grounding her in reality. "Tell me what’s going on, Stella. We’ll figure this out together."
A glimmer of recognition ignited in her eyes, and a tremor passed through her body as her defenses faltered. She allowed herself to be enveloped in his arms, her tears staining his dress shirt like a downpour on parched earth.
"Oh, Matteo, I never thought it’d come to this," she confessed, her voice quivering with a cocktail of relief, fear, and vulnerability. As her tears flowed, he lowered himself to the floor, enfolding her within his protective embrace, offering her solace amidst the storm that threatened to consume her.
"Tell me," His voice softened, coaxing her to open up. Stella sniffled, her emotions still raw, and began her hesitant narration.
"He made me do... terrible things," she admitted, the weight of her confession hanging heavy in the air. Matteo’s intuition instantly supplied the identity of the elusive ’he’—her ex-boyfriend. Under normal circumstances, a surge of jealousy might have coursed through him, but now his concern was focused on the depth of her suffering.
"What terrible things, Stella?" he probed gently, his curiosity tinged with a hint of apprehension. The possibilities swirled in his mind, but he needed to hear it from her.
Stella hesitated, her gaze locked on a distant memory. "He made me have sex..." The words hung between them, laden with an unspoken history. Matteo’s thoughts meandered down a familiar path—oh, the dark realm of sex videos, an age-old tool of blackmail that exploited vulnerability.
He contemplated the trajectory of the conversation, a brooding silence settling over him. As much as he aimed for a measured response, the idea of another man’s touch upon Stella ignited a surge of protectiveness that he struggled to conceal.
"He would... have me tied up against my will and do... nasty things to me," she continued, her voice laced with a haunting mixture of pain and bitterness. "I would eventually succumb, helpless against his control over my wants, my choices, over my life. It felt like being manipulated by a remote. I ran away when I had the chance, but the memories clung to me like a shadow. I lived with an overwhelming fear, a constant reminder through unbearable nightmares. But you came into my life, and I started to forget. Everything got better, until now. It’s all come back to haunt me."