Chapter 166: _ Stand Up For Myself
Axel was gone.
I knew because the door had clicked shut behind him, and the space he had occupied was now empty.
But the moment he left, it was as though the tears I had been desperately holding back crumbled, flooding my cheeks.
My knees wobbled and gave way, and I collapsed onto the floor. I clutched my scarf so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, the pain grounding me, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough to compete with the gaping hole inside my chest.
The first sob burst out of me so violently I almost choked on it. Then another. And another. I pressed my hands to my face, but it did nothing to muffle the sounds. It was ugly. It was loud. I cried like a dying animal, like something had been ripped out of me, and maybe it had.
Axel.
The same Axel who had once told me to always stand up for myself.
The same Axel who had once beaten the butcher black and blue when the bastard dared to put his hands on me.
The same Axel who had once stormed into my father’s compound and demanded that I be treated right He had been furious then, livid in a way that made me believe... truly believe—that I mattered to him.
And now, that same Axel had just left me shattered on the floor like I was nothing.
I wrapped my arms around myself and rocked back and forth, my body trembling from the force of my cries. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair.