A Journey from Bitterness to Truth

“Just remember…” Matilda’s voice, a playful whisper, tickled Yvan’s ear with a sly chuckle. “You better not regret this?”

Yvan tett a flicker of emotion dart through his heart, elusive and fleeting, before it faded into the ether. Gazing at Matilda, he found himselt slightly dazed.

Why… why did their reunion have to be like a scene straight out of a High Noon standoff?

Five years had ground down all the love to nothing, leaving only desperate, cornered hatred. If that were to ignite, how shockingly would the flames leap?

He should hate her. She had caused Rachel’s death and the death of Rachel’s unborn child. But why did Matilda look at him with that same intensity?

“Matilda, you murderer, what right do you have?” He yelled inwardly.

A dull pain throbbed in Yvan’s chest as he stepped forward and grabbed Matilda’s collar fiercely. “A woman like you – I wouldn’t bat an eyelid even if you were handed over to another’s bed.”

“I know, right?” Matilda laughed, a hollow sound. “I experienced your cruelty five years ago. These things don’t touch me anymore.”

With those words, she opened her eyes and looked at Yvan with a gaze that was tired and numb.

How much more could her battered soul take of love and hate, of all these human passions? Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“Yvan, I’m already broken in this life, so I wouldn’t mind if everything shatters even more,” she thought.

Yvan’s deep gaze hid emotions she couldn’t decipher, and she didn’t want to try. His eyes were like those of an alpha wolf, pinning her down. Matilda felt like she had died countless times

under that stare.

She straightened her back, though her shoulders were still shaking, and stormed out of the

office.

Outside, heads turned as a beautiful woman, disheveled and with reddened eyes, strode out of the CEO’s office, leaving behind a faint trail of perfume as she passed them, her slender shadow receding into the distance. Whispers and speculations about her identity filled the air.

“That silhouette looks so familiar…”

“Yeah, feels like we’ve seen her somewhere before.”

“Given how she stormed out… could she be the boss’s new fling?”

“Tsk, her expression, though, looks like she just fought with the boss.”

“Probably just another D–list influencer who thought she could play her cards with the boss.”

“Let’s not dwell on it: Mr. Boyd’s heart still belongs to Ms. Archer.

Matilda hurried into the elevator, effectively shutting out the background noise of scattered conversations. When the elevator reached the ground floor, and the doors slid open, she saw Chase grinning as he wrapped an arm around Yvan’s executive secretary.

“Mr. Johnson,” Matilda said politely.

“Leaving so soon?” Chase asked, releasing the secretary and smiling at Matilda.

“Do you think I was there to tell Yvan bedtime stories?”

There was a breezy, almost fragile quality to Matilda’s response as if the words could be blown away by a mere puff of air. As she turned to leave. Chase reached out and caught her wrist.

“What do you want?” Matilda turned to see Chase hop out of the elevator, leaving the secretary behind, bewildered.

As the doors closed, Chase winked at the secretary, his smile blooming like a cheeky flower. “See you next time, gorgeous, ta–ta!”

No sooner had Chase bid farewell to the secretary than he turned to Matilda. “I’ve changed my mind. I was supposed to see Yvan, but it seems I’d rather deal with you directly.”