23
The elevator ascended, stopping at the forty–sixth floor penthouse.
“Just here is fine. Go back and continue celebrating with them.”
I said, then turned slowly, unlocking the door.
Just as I was about to step inside, someone grabbed my wrist, pulled me forcefully into their embrace, and pushed me tumbling through the doorway.
I stumbled, and Jax Ryder and I landed on the sofa together.
No lights were on inside; it was pitch black.
<
But the city lights shining through the floor–to–ceiling windows perfectly illuminated the contours of his face in the darkness.
“Why aren’t you speaking, Sister?”
Jax Ryder spoke near my lips.
“You’re so smart, you must have guessed it long ago, right?”
“Guessed what?”
“Guessed that after your divorce from Thome was exposed, all those speculations and discussions about our relationship online were guided by me.”
He leaned in even closer, his lips almost touching mine.
I was silent for a moment, my reason gradually returning from the haze of drunkenness.
“I did guess, but I don’t understand what your objective was in doing all this.”
He suddenly flipped over, his long leg striding across my waist, straddling me.
“From beginning to end, I only had one goal: to be with you. But you’ve clearly been
avoiding me.”
“That night, you said we were just a fling, not a relationship.”
“So I decided to show you that the whole world supports us being in love.”
He continued speaking, leaning down.
The distance closed, inch by inch, as he pressed against me, rubbing his cheek against mine.
“Whether it’s making a mistake or faking it till it’s real, I just want to like you.”
“The more I liked you, the more I hated Alex Thorne. Even if you were only nominally married, how dare he possess you for four years? So I found a way to put him behind bars.”
<
2%
My fingers ran through his soft hair, tightening slightly.
The boy looked up, his neck muscles taut, his Adam’s apple prominent, beautiful yet
vulnerable.
I softly asked: “I thought you’d hate me.”
“What if I did? When I woke up, the first thought that came to mind was still wanting to be with you.”
“I looked into some of your past, and I know how incredibly difficult it was for you to even
stand before me.”
“No matter what, some basic decorum should still be-”
“Eve, there are very few people in this world as strong and determined as you.”
“I’m even grateful that when you first decided to indulge your desires, you chose me.”
“No title is fine. If you only desire me and don’t love me, that’s fine too.”
His kisses traced the lines of my body downwards, leaving a trail of broken, moist marks
that reflected the moonlight.
Everything, in this dimly lit night, flowed, just ambiguously enough.
Even the hidden wildness in his bones became less secret.
Like two train cars coupled on a track, Jax Ryder held me, and we stumbled towards the
window.
Leaning against the glass, we looked at the moon.
“Sister, hold on tight…”
After a long, wet kiss, my gaze, filled with drunkenness and desire, drifted out the
window.
in the
<
After a long, wet kiss, my gaze, filled with drunkenness and desire, drifted out the
window.
From the forty–sixth floor, it felt close enough to touch the moon, and I could take in the
entire city’s scenery and lights.
In my gradually drifting thoughts, countless past fragments flashed through my mind.
That pink light that had shone for so many years, the swaying curtain where glimpses of lewd scenes were occasionally caught.
The dense, cramped apartment building, the narrow gaps, the winter snow that lingered, not quite melting away even in spring, trampled into mud.
I had looked up from those dark alleyways, unable to even see a full moon in the night sky.
From that moment on, my heart held only a craving for power and ambition.
But when did it start, that I would occasionally long for Jax Ryder’s gaze, always so
earnest and fervent when he looked at me?
The largest wave crashed violently against the rocks, scattering white foam.
The hollowness in my chest was abruptly filled with a scorching heat. I gripped Jax Ryder’s shoulders, taking two sharp breaths.
My vision blurred with tears.
He gazed at me, raising a hand to brush my sweat–damp, messy hair behind my ear.
His voice hoarse, he spoke:
“Spring is about to end, Eve.”
“Now, I give you my heart.”
“And your heart can be forever free.”
