Chapter 18 #2
"I should have never let you into my life," he continued. "I don't even understand how I allowed myself to become this attached to someone like you."
The words were cruel, and somewhere deep inside, he knew they weren't true. Elise had cared more than anyone. She had given him everything without asking for anything in return.
But fear had turned into anger, and anger made him say the one thing that could hurt her the most.
"This relationship was a mistake from the beginning."
Elise's eyes changed slightly.
The sadness that appeared on her face was brief, but Xavier saw it. He saw how deeply his words affected her, and the sight of her hurt expression made his own chest ache.
He wanted to take it back.
He wanted to tell her he didn't mean it.
But he stayed silent.
After a moment, Elise looked away from him and turned around. She walked toward the car, opened the door, and stepped inside without saying another word.
The very next second, the car engine started.
Before Xavier could even process what was happening, Elise's car began moving down the driveway, slowly at first and then disappearing through the gates of the mansion. Within moments, it was gone from his sight.
The cold morning air surrounded Xavier, biting against his bare skin, but he didn't feel it.
He was still standing there without a shirt, his upper body exposed to the freezing air, yet the cold was nothing compared to the numbness spreading through him.
The pain inside his chest was so overwhelming that it seemed to drown out everything else—the cold, the anger, even the sound of his own breathing.
He couldn't feel anything.
As the last glimpse of her car disappeared from view, the fury that had been burning in his eyes returned. His face twisted with anger, and before he could stop himself, he turned toward the nearest car parked in the driveway.
His fist slammed against the hood.
The loud impact echoed through the silence of the morning.
Layla and the other staff members standing nearby flinched at the sound, their faces immediately filling with shock and concern as they watched Xavier. His chest rose and fell heavily, every breath coming out harsh and uneven as he stood there, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
A moment later, he turned toward Layla.
"Bring me the fucking car keys."
His voice was sharp and commanding, but beneath the anger was something far more desperate.
Layla immediately froze.
"Mr. Chen..."
"Now!"
The urgency in his voice made her move instantly.
She turned around and rushed back inside the mansion, hurrying to get the keys. Her hands trembled slightly as she searched, and the moment she found them, she ran back outside.
But she barely had time to reach him.
Xavier was already walking toward her, his expression unreadable as he snatched the keys from her hand before pressing the button to unlock the car.
The loud beep of the car unlocking echoed through the driveway, and Xavier immediately got inside, starting the engine before anyone could stop him.
He didn't even wait for the gates to fully open before driving out of the mansion, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he followed the same direction Elise's car had disappeared into.
He kept looking ahead, searching every road and every passing vehicle, convinced that he would find her if he just drove a little farther. He didn't know where she was going, but he couldn't accept that she was simply going to vanish from his life.
But no matter how far he drove, there was no sign of her.
The emptiness of not finding her only made the pain in his chest grow worse. His breathing became heavier, his vision blurring slightly from the exhaustion and the emotions consuming him. He continued searching until the thought of one place finally crossed his mind.
Her parents' house.
If Elise needed somewhere to go, somewhere she felt safe, then surely she would go there.
He drove straight there, his heart pounding with a mixture of fear and hope, but when he arrived, there was nothing waiting for him. Her car wasn't parked outside. There was no sign that she had been there.
Still, Xavier parked near the entrance and waited.
Minutes turned into hours as he sat there, staring at the large doors, expecting them to open at any moment. He convinced himself that she would come back, that she would walk through those doors and he would finally be able to talk to her.
But she never came.
The early morning slowly turned into afternoon.
The cold air that had surrounded him earlier had faded into the warmth of the sun, but Xavier barely noticed.
He remained sitting there, still wearing only his trousers, his body exposed to the changing temperature as exhaustion slowly began to take over.
His head started to feel heavy, and his vision became slightly blurred. The burning in his body grew stronger, but the pain in his chest was far worse. After six hours of waiting, he finally had to accept that Elise wasn't coming.
With a defeated breath, Xavier started the car and drove back to the mansion.
The moment he stepped inside, he didn't bother looking around. He tossed the keys toward the living room table, but they missed and fell onto the floor with a sharp clatter that echoed through the quiet house.
His steps became slower as he walked through the mansion, his body struggling to keep going. The fever that had been building inside him burned through his skin, and his head throbbed painfully, but he pushed himself forward until he finally reached the bedroom.
The moment he stepped inside, exhaustion overwhelmed him.
He fell onto the bed, his heartbeat pounding violently in his ears as dizziness consumed him. His body was burning, his mind was exhausted, and the pain of losing Elise was the last thing he remembered before darkness finally took over.
***
The high-rise apartment was covered in darkness, even as the bright lights of Manhattan continued to glow outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The city was alive beneath the evening sky, with countless lights flickering across the skyline, but inside the luxurious apartment, everything remained silent and still.
The apartment, once filled with warmth and carefully chosen details, sat untouched.
Soft pastel tones covered the interiors, with floral accents on the walls, elegant paintings, and natural decorations scattered throughout the space, creating an atmosphere that was gentle and inviting.
But tonight, none of its beauty reached the woman lying inside one of the bedrooms.
The only sound in the apartment was the quiet sound of breathing.
The room remained completely dark, with even the glow of Manhattan outside unable to reach through the heavy curtains. In the middle of the bed, Elise lay curled up beneath the blankets, her body still, her eyes wide open as she stared into the darkness.
It had been three days since she had left Xavier's mansion.
Three days since she had walked away from the life she had built with him.
And in those three days, she had barely moved.
She had tried.
The moment she returned to her apartment, she had changed into her pajamas and attempted to unpack the suitcase she had brought with her. She had tried to put her clothes away, to organize her things, to convince herself that this was her home now and that she had to start again.
But she couldn't.
She had stood there in the darkness, staring at the suitcase for what felt like hours, unable to move or even think. The reality of what she had done had become too heavy, and eventually her legs had given out beneath her. She had collapsed onto the bed, and since then, she had barely left it.
Her mind refused to let her rest.
Over and over again, it replayed everything Xavier had said.
The way he had looked at her when he made the omelette for her. The way he had confessed that he loved her. The desperation in his voice when he told her he couldn't breathe at the thought of losing her. The way he had held onto her as if she was the only thing keeping him together.
And then, the words that had shattered everything.
That their relationship was a mistake.
That he should never have let her into his life.
The more she remembered, the tighter her chest became.
She felt physically sick from the pain.
The fear she had buried deep inside herself for so long had finally surfaced. The fear that no matter how much she loved someone, eventually they would realize she wasn't enough. That eventually, everyone she cared about would decide she had disappointed them.
It wasn't just Xavier anymore.
Her mind turned toward her parents.
What would they say when they found out?
They had always wanted her to have a successful marriage. They had wanted her to find happiness, to build the kind of life they dreamed she would have. But now she had failed at that too.
Would they be disappointed in her?
Would they think she had made another mistake?
Would they look at her the same way Xavier had and decide that she wasn't the daughter they had hoped for?
The thought alone was enough to make Elise feel like she couldn't breathe.
She remained curled up in the darkness, lost inside her own fears, until suddenly, a sharp beeping sound broke through the silence of the apartment.
Her entire body froze.
The sound came from the front door.
Someone was entering the security code.
For a moment, Elise couldn't move. The exhaustion and sadness that had consumed her vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden rush of fear that jolted through her entire body.
Someone was getting inside.
Her heart started pounding as she pushed herself upright on the bed, listening carefully.
The sound of the lock clicking open echoed through the quiet apartment.
No one knew the security code except her.
Fear completely took over her senses.