I frown. The next message makes it deepen. “I want to smash his face into the floor until his nose breaks.”
I remind myself of my mantra for dealing with him.Ignore Matleon. So I reply, “You’re insane. I’m not entertaining you. I’ll leave when my work is done. You’re only delaying me.”
His response is immediate. “Make two feet of space between you.”
I grit my teeth. “Fine! Fuck you!”
His reply follows without hesitation.
“You’re always welcome to do that, Angel. Tonight works for me.”
I want to hurl the ugliest curses at him, but all I type is, “Go to hell.” A ridiculous thing to say to the ruler of that place.
He replies, “Already living happily. Waiting for you to join me.”
I roll my eyes. “Keep dreaming.”
“I do. And you’re in each of them. Now move away from him before I make this ugly.”
I turn my phone off and slide away from Dex. He looks at me, confused. I give him an awkward smile and shift positions, sitting cross-legged on the bench, facing him. I open my tablet and place it between us, at least now it looks like I moved only to sit properly.
Damn this Matleon.
chapter 11
Iselyn
Since today is Dex’s last day, he has a lot to wrap up, final meetings with his supervising professor, handing over research data, submitting reports, and transferring access to the lab systems.
By the time we finally get free, it’s already seven in the evening. We decide to eat outside. Dex shifted the day before yesterday, so he’ll be heading to his new apartment, about ten kilometers away from here, where his girlfriend is waiting for him. He’s visibly impatient to reach there, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t delay him a little?
I laugh when he checks his watch. “Come on. You’ll be living with her your whole life.”
He chuckles. “For some things, a lifetime is a very small amount of time.”
I smile at his romantic philosophy. How lucky Aurora is to have a man who loves her this deeply. I look out the window, watching the vehicles move past in a blur. My thoughts wander to the man I once wanted to love me like this.
On my sixteenth birthday, I decided to tell him about my feelings. I sent him a gift, it was a bracelet I found on a site. I asked them to customize it with a stupid little text engraved on the back, sayingIselyn loves Matleon.
That evening, my father got a call from my uncle Maksim, telling him that Matleon had been attacked because someone sent him something through a public e-commerce platform, and his enemies traced his location through it. Papa told me everything in detail afterward and warned me to be careful about such things. He didn’t know it was me who had done that to Matleon.
I got very worried about him. As soon as I finished talking to Papa, I texted him.
“Are you okay?”
His reply came after ten minutes.
“Do not dare to contact me again. I’m hell annoyed by these childish texts of yours. Can’t you understand when someone is not interested in you? Do you know how ugly you look in this desperation?”
I felt my heart break at that moment. Even now, just thinking about it brings the pain back. That day can never grow old for me, no matter how many years pass.
After he said that, I still wanted to believe it was because he was angry.Even then, I was fooling myself.It was already clear from his actions that he was never interested in me. He never replied to my messages, but I kept telling myself it was because he thought of me as a child. After all, I was a child.
I texted him again. “But I love you, Matleon.”
His reply came colder than before. “You are just sixteen years old, what do you even know about love? Think about your life, Iselyn, and never ever text me again.”
I texted him back through steaming tears, my hands shaking as I typed.
