Chapter 32
(1)
Matt’evour dropped to a venommin hiss, the words dripping with contempt. “You’re just like het, aren’t you?“
The question, sharp and laced with disdain, hang between them, freezing the air. Colette felt the weight of his accusation slam into her like a physical blow, The storm made him had not subsided, if anything, it had only intensified, and she could feel its fury emanating from him in wares. He was standing so close, just a breath away, his raw disgast radiating from his eyes–disgust so intense it seemed to sear her skin. Colette didn’t need to ask who he meant- the knew.
“My mother,” he spat, the bittemess in his tone cutting like a knife. This voice was a low, dangerous groul, each un led with venom. “She was the same way. Blackmailing my dad day in and day out. Anytime something didn’t go her way, she’d threaten to leave, cry, light with him until he gave in. I was only fire when she decided she wanted another child, and she did everything in her power to make it happen. She blackmailed him, fought with him every night, kicked him out of their bed until he caved under the pressure and agreed.”
Colette felt as if the flost had dropped out from under her. She hadn’t known–had never imagined the depth of the wounds Matt carried from his childhood. The anger in his voice was the anger of a man who had lived through the consequences of his parents‘ toxic relationship, who had witnessed the damage done by his mother’s mampulations and his father’s weakness.
His voice shook with the memory, the anger and pain of a lifetime bailing to the surface. “He didn’t earn enough for a bigger family, but she didn’t care. She pushed and pushed, and like a lowesick fool, he gave in. Five fucking kids later, we were living in a practically poverty–stricken house with barely enough food to survive, all because she knew how to twist him armand her finger. And he let her, because he loved her.”
The room fell inte a suffocating silence, the air thick with unspoken accusations. Colette could barely breathe, her heart pounding in her chest. She could see the pain in Matt’s eyes, the hurt that went far deeper than anything she had realized. But there was also something the–something darker, more twisted. lurking in the shadows of his gaze.
Matt’s eyes were dark with self–loathing as he added, “I guess I’m a bit like my father too. Because I love you, and I’m ready to do anything you want.” The words were a bitter confession, filled with the cruelty of a man who hated himself as much as he hated the situation he was in The cruelty in his voice as he said those words made Colette shiver violently, the sunls leaving an icy trail down her spine. “So here you go,” be hissed, his tone laced with bitter venum “I give in. Stop this blackmailing game. For the last two years, you’ve been crying for a huby, haven’t you? He was gripping her arms now, his fingers digging into her skin as he spoke “You want a baby? Fine. I’ll give you use. Cume home tonight, and til be the stud you wanted I’ll fuck your raw, for as long and as hard as you want, so you can finally have your heart’s dearest desire–a child
The words were too much, a twisted perversion of everything the had ever wanted. It was as if someone had taken her sweetest dreams and twisted them into a horror film. The cruelty in his wunds, the venom in his tone, was unbearable. It was as if he was taking every hope and dream she had ever had and shuttering it into a million pieces.
And then it happened. Before she even realized what she was doing, her hand few up and struck him across the face. The stap echoed in the tense air between them, a harsh crack that seemed to freeze time.
For a moment, neither of them moved, both shocked by what had just happened. The silence that followed was deafening, filled with the echoes of her action and the weight of their shattered relationship, Colette stared at her hand, trembling, as if it belonged in someone else. But the sting on her palm was real, and so was the burning anger in her chest. She hadn’t even been aware of the action, but it had happened with all the force of her pent–up frustration, pain,
and sorrow
Matt’s face remained tumed to the side from the impact, his cheek already reddening. The shock of what had just happened hung between them, the silence filled with the heavy realization that they bad crussed a line that could never be uncrossed
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