Chapter 489
Standing Before Love
Having locked eyes with Heather for a while, Matthias closed the distance between them. Those tired eyes that were staring at her made her feel uncomfortable. She hadnât expected that he would appear before her in such a way. Looking in another direction, she knew she shouldnât be feeling sorry for him, yet she couldnât help it.
âYou donât even dare to look at me now?â Angered, he looked at her as he continued to ask himself why he was here. Did he come to be her laughing stock?
âIf thereâs nothing, Iâm leaving.â She was oblivious as to where his anger was coming from. She could not understand his feelings, and she was failing to distinguish when he was telling the truth and when he was not.
âIâm here to ask you to abide by the contract,â he suddenly said as he pulled out a bunch of pictures from his pocket.
Taking a glance at the pictures he was showing her, she saw Leon captured in those pictures immediately. As expected, he was here because of Leon.
âHeâs my friend,â she said coldly without taking the pictures.
âDonât you want to take a look? Theyâll be the photos on the front page of newspapers and magazines tomorrow.â He seemed stubborn as he said those words. Furrowing her brow, she thought to herself, Why is he putting me in a difficult spot again?
âIâm not interested. Iâm just collaborating with him. Do I have to report that to you too?â She shot him a cold gaze.
The more he behaved this way, the more it angered Heather, which in turn only made her hate him more. Moreover, she didnât have any intentions to explain to him in the first place.
In spite of the contract between them, he had been behaving like he was her true boyfriend. It was irking her a lot, and what she loathed more was his mood swings. That was why his actions were not convincing at all.
Everytime she recalled how Matthias had liked Myra for such a long time and didnât get to be together in the end because of a series of misfortunes, Heather would remind herself that she could not fall for him.
On top of that, he was probably mentally ill! A person like him would not be her choice of partner. That was what she kept repeating to herself to persuade herself.
âIt seems like the contract doesnât really restrict you.â As he spoke, he pulled out the contract. Out of instinct, she frowned as she wondered what he was up to now.
The next moment, he was angrily tearing the contract into pieces before throwing them into the air.
Some paper shreds landed on her face, yet she remained expressionless.
No matter what it was that he would do, she would not be fazed. She had been competing with him for quite some time, so she already more or less knew his modus operandiâhe wouldnât do what most people would usually do. In other words, nobody could predict what his next step was. Looking at Heatherâs composed expression, it fueled his anger even more. He really hated her expressionless face sometimes.
âSince the contract doesnât restrict you, it can be torn. But you⦠I will be sure to make you pay for what you did.â He stiffly turned around as he could not bear to see her happy. It only felt right if her life was a havoc.
âDo you hate me so much?â After a few moments of silence, she finally voiced out. He must be still not letting go of what happened years ago.
It was her wrongdoings back then, and now she had to pay. It was only fair. With that thought, she smiled to herself with disdain.
âAll the pain Iâm going through now is caused by you,â he said word by word. It included the pain of losing Myra, and the pain he was feeling right now that was caused by her.
âYes, itâs all because of me. You are not worthy of Myra. You didnât back then, and you still donât now.â
She was pushing all the buttons that would irritate and trigger him. Myra deserved better. Matthias had his own problems in the first place, so it was good that Myra did not end up getting married to him.
âShut up!â Clutching onto her wrist tightly, he seemed like he was raging with fire.
âIn your eyes, Iâm always a class below everyone else. People like me donât deserve love. Is that it?â
He glared at her as fury filled his eyes. He hated being looked down on, and he hated it more when it was Heather who looked down on him.
âNo. Why would you be a class lower than everyone else? Youâre Director Locke whoâs at the top.
Obviously, youâre a class higher than all of us,â she said in a mocking tone, disdain evident in her voice.
Without a word about the pain, she stared back at him stubbornly. He was already using half of his strength as he squeezed her wrist. Typically, even a grown man could not bear with such pain, yet there she was, not even wincing one bit.
âDo you know how much I hate your eyes? I want to gouge them out so badly.â He pointed at her eyes as he spoke. He loathed the gaze she was using to look at him. He loathed them to his bones.
âIf youâre scared of being looked at by me, you can always look away,â she retorted effortlessly. She didnât want to show him that she was struggling. What he was doing right now was really low, and she hated him for that.
âDonât you think that you can fool me like you did back then.â He released his clutch on her wrist, and a dark shade of red could be seen on the spot he had forcefully held on.
Taking on all his anger, she bore with his hatred as it was payback from him. Henceforth, she would be at ease, and she could do whatever she wanted then.
âIâve already paid back whatever I owed you. If youâre still not satisfied, thereâs nothing else I can do,â
she said in an exhausted tone. She really did not want to go against him. Must she be enemies with him?
âYou couldnât even abide by a simple contract, yet you say youâve paid me back.â He scoffed. He shouldnât have listened to her words.
âChange is good. I donât want to pretend to be a couple with you anymore.â As usual, she didnât show any expression when she said that. Back then, she signed the contract as she was persuaded and threatened into it. She didnât want to be his pawn, and she didnât want to be restricted by a contract anymore.
âHow about you teach me how to take revenge?â Giving her a mocking smile, he didnât expect that she would still try to negotiate with him on this matter. He must admit that he was wrong about her.
âWhat do you want? I can give it to you.â Staring intensely into his eyes, she was determined to fulfill his wish as long as it was something she could do. All he had to do was to name it.
âI want you. Can you give me that?â As he spoke, he took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
Hearing that, Heather felt speechless. She did not know what he meant by that.
Seeing how she stayed quiet, he simply pulled her into an embrace and said domineeringly before she could resist, âIf you donât want to be a fake couple with me, why not we become a true couple instead?â
At once, she paused her movements. He had lost it. How could he say that? It was beginning to scare her.
âImpossible,â she deadpanned. He was hugging her so tightly that it was hard for her to breathe.
âYou canât reject me.â Now that he finally said those words, he wouldnât allow her to reject him.
âUs? Together? Do you want us to torture each other?â she said coldly while she was still held against his chest. It was impossible that she would agree to such a crazy proposal.
âEven if we would torture each other, I still want to have you.â As if he had no control, the words that left his mouth surprised himself too.
âYouâre so childish.â Trying her best to calm herself down, she reminded herself that she didnât want such a selfish confession from him, if it could even be considered a confession at all.
âHeather, youâre the one who said you would give me what I wanted, so give yourself to me.â This time, he was exceptionally persistent.
âTrue couples are together because of love, but is there love between us? How could we be considered a true couple without love?â Heather bombarded him with a few questions of her own as she tried to calm herself down before replying to him. She was afraid that she would agree to his proposal if she was emotional.
âYou took away my relationship from me. All I want is to take it back. Donât you think you should give it back to me?â he said with a serious face. How could he think of a relationship as a trade?
âGod is the one who took away your relationship.â She thought that his current words and actions were childish. He was acting like a kid who was trying to steal another kidâs candy just because he didnât get some.
âItâs you, and itâs unrelated to God. I donât want to hear about fate or mistakes. If it wasnât for you, I wouldnât have broken up with Myra. The person by her side now would be me.â He was still hung up on Myra, but in fact, even he himself could no longer tell if it was because he loved her.
âEven if Myra and you became each otherâs first love, do you think you would end up marrying her?
How many first relationships end up being forever? Youâre just not the right person for her. Even if you did get together with her back then, there was a chance that you might have broken up.â Heather was trying to reason with him as he was beginning to be irrational. If this argument went on, she no longer had to go home as it would be time to go to work already.
âOnce Iâm set on someone, I will not easily change my mind,â he made a solemn vow. There were countless times where he had imagined that he would be having kids with Myra already by now if he was together with her back then.
At once, Heather mocked him. âYou will not easily change your mind, huh? Then what are you doing right now? Youâre asking to be in a relationship with me, but you still canât get over Myra.â She felt that Matthiasâ words were so ironic. Despite saying how he couldnât forget about Myra, he wouldnât let go of Heather either.
He did not pause before he said those words to Heather. No matter what his motives were, she was not going to comply with him.
âYou shut up.â It rendered him speechless. That was when he finally registered what he had doneâhe had asked Heather to be with him. He must be possessed.
âPeople like you do not deserve love. I will not let you be together with anyone else as you have no right to like anyone, much less be loved by anyone,â he exclaimed as he tried to mask his humiliation with anger. Heather was the reason why he was like a walking dead today, so he would not let her end up with someone else too.
âMaybe I should try having a normal relationship with someone else,â she mumbled against his chest.
He was hugging her so tightly that it was almost suffocating her. It only fueled her desire to trigger him more.