Chapter 150
How I’ll manage to look at him again, after hearing those words, I’ll never know.
Entering his office, I find him already seated, his expression carefully neutral, his eyes guarded. My heart stutters painfully, and my emotions swirl chaotically. Silently, I extend the documents required for my departure. As he reaches for them, our fingers accidentally brush.
“Enter,” Raiden barks as I step into his office, finding him already seated, his expression deliberately cold, eyes like shards of ice.
My heart stutters painfully, emotions swirling chaotically within me. Silently, I extend the documents required for my departure.
“Took you long enough,” he says, voice clipped. “I expected these yesterday.”
“They’re complete now,” I manage, my voice smaller than intended.
“Let’s hope so,” he replies with a dismissive glance, reaching for them. Our fingers accidentally brush.
An electric current jolts sharply through our damaged bond, intense and undeniable. Our eyes meet briefly.
“Careful,” Raiden snaps, jerking his hand away as if burned.
“Sorry,” I respond automatically, both of us masking surprise beneath practiced facades, though my heart pounds traitorously in my chest.
“Is this signature supposed to be illegible?” he asks, examining the pages with obvious disdain.
“It’s valid,” I reply stiffly.
“Barely acceptable,” he mutters. “Like most of your work recently.”
Frustration swells inside me, fierce and bitter. “Will that be all, sir?” I ask, eager to escape.
For now,” he says dismissively, not bothering to look up again. “Close the door on your way out.”
After everything–after years of rejection, months of careful healing–how can I still respond to him so viscerally when he treats me with such calculated coldness?
An electric current jolts sharply through our damaged bond, intense and undeniable. Our eyes meet briefly, both quickly masking surprise beneath careful neutrality, pretending not to notice despite the frantic pounding of my
heart.
He has not changed, not in any sense of the word.
Frustration swells inside me, fierce and bitter.
Without another word, I leave quickly, desperate to escape the lingering tension.
Outside, the crisp autumn air offers gentle comfort as I move instinctively toward Windhowl’s memorial garden -a refuge created long ago to honor our fallen warriors.
Coming here was a huge mistake.
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Chapter 150
+25 Bonus
Stepping carefully into the quiet clearing, peace settles gently around me. Flowers bloom vibrantly, their fragrance sweetly soothing.
My heart swells softly with strangely fond memories as I approach a familiar memorial stone. My fingers brush gently against the smooth surface, tracing my father’s name etched carefully into the granite.
Beside the stone grows the small, delicate plant I placed years ago, now flourishing beautifully. Tears blur my vision gently, grief mingling softly with quiet joy. Here, amidst memories and loss, I finally find clarity and strength in the decisions I’ve made to get myself here.
Siena, remember you are free.
I kneel slowly, breathing deeply, allowing the tranquility of this sacred space to fill me.
Raiden’s words still ache softly, yet here, amidst quiet remembrance, something shifts subtly within me- acceptance. His feelings, his rejection, no longer define my worth, my choices, my future.
Remember who you are.
Rising slowly, I gaze thoughtfully toward the distant horizon, determination solidifying gently inside me. Life moves forward, shaped by choices and defined by strength forged through pain.
Raiden may have hurt me and rejected me, but my worth exists independently of his validation.
He cannot take that from me.
As evening approaches, the sky gently painted with hues of gold and crimson, I pause once more, gazing quietly across Windhowl territory. Despite pain, despite lingering heartache, something hopeful stirs gently inside me.
Moving forward doesn’t require forgetting the past–only making peace with it.
And for tonight, beneath the beauty of twilight skies, that’s more than enough.
P
