𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 [18+]

Extra Chapter: He Who Killed his Heart

“Sadly enough, the most painful goodbyes are the ones that are left unsaid and never explained.”
― Jonathan Harnisch,Freak

Ardent’s POV:

My vision blurred as I stared at his seething form.

Anger oozed off him, he was looking monstrous. Just how Madeline described him.

My little brother.

My hands were tied behind my back, ropes cut into my skin, numbing my wrists. My eyes struggled to adjust themselves- my glasses probably rested at a corner of this grotesque, dark basement.

I was already numb. Broken.

As if the light had left me, leaving me into the chaos of darkness. A darkness so consuming, so mesmerizing….. so inviting.

I gave him a slow smile, my breaths coming out in short pants.

My body burned from dehydration.

But it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart, the pain that was my doing.

I killed her.

With my own hands.

I killed my Madeline.

My gaze slowly traveled to his crutch. I forced a smile on my face, the one I knew would irk him.

I needed him to kill me.

So that I can meet her.

“Not so stout are we?” I mocked him.

His glare turned glacial, if gaze could freeze, it would freeze this whole room by now.

So that I can apologize.

“Now, as you can see I am not stout-” His voice grumbled through the dark and hollowed space, echoing on the stinky walls, “It would be a matter of time before I kill you and finish that lowly life of yours. I am not in the mood for tortures.”

Somehow the situation presented itself as a dark cruel joke in front of me.

Whatever he had, it was supposed to be mine but hey, I never complained about that. I was always happy with what life had to offer. I didn’t need the luxury of the extravagance Victors had to offer nor their powerful nickname.

I was content with what I had.

As my younger brother practically rubbed salt on the wound called ‘Family’ and ‘Nicknames’- I could only seat here, wounded, pained- and witness the cruel joke life played on me.

“Lowly life?” My gaze turned cold as I stared into his icy eyes. A dry laugh escaped me despite my best efforts to hide the storm of emotions that raged within me.

A smirk lit up his face, it seemed like he took notice of my little sore spot.

“You know nothing of me….” I slowly uttered through the cacophony of the pain that rang in my ears, “So, do not speak of me like that….”

His little cold smirk widened as he discovered my weakness. I guess monsters like him fed off weakness.

“So… family is a touching subject to you?” he looked menacing, “But Ardent you yourself said you slept with Madeline. Then how come you claim to have belong from a noble family? I thought nobles don’t have other’s sloppy second?”

Rage boiled within me as my suspicions were confirmed.

He saw Madeline as a prize.

She was just a showcase for him.