Chapter 2

DECEIVED

Fiore retrieved a bag from a nearby cabinet, as if it had been prepared for departure and was waiting for someone to claim it.

"Please, F-Fiore," I pleaded, abruptly standing up to prevent him from leaving. "D-Don't abandon me..." I wrapped my arms around him from behind. "P-Please, Fiore, I love you. I never had feelings for anyone else. You're the only one I love. Those moments you witnessed were misunderstandings. When I closed my eyes, it was your face I saw. Fiore, it's always been you..."

He simply wrested my hands away and walked away. My heart and eyes burned, but I followed him like a desperate child.

"F-Fiore, please... Don't leave me." Fiore turned and looked straight at me. I met his handsome face, his remorseful eyes focused on me. The same eyes I fell in love with when we first met. I recognized them, but they lacked the spark, the colors. The love that was once mine had vanished. I was no longer the apple of his eye, the most cherished person in his life. It was all gone.

"Miranda, I forgive you. Both you and Xylon. You have the option to be with him. If you prefer him, I'll be willing to let you go..."

"I don't want him. I want you, Fiore."

He gently tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. He was still tender and incredibly kind, the qualities in Fiore that I admired.

"But you still betrayed me, Mir. You didn't love me." I shook my head firmly.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need. I'll explain to my parents and to your aunt why a wedding won't work for us anymore."

My chest constricted, threatening to unleash agonizing pain. Fiore caressed my tear-stained cheek.

"They'll understand. They won't judge you. I'll take care of it." He glanced at Xylon, who stood there, his jaw clenched and fists tightened. He had no right to unleash his suppressed anger.

God, he's despicable! He's the demon responsible for all of this. Why didn't he speak up? Why didn't he express his thoughts? His silence was driving me mad. He's a beast!

"F-Fiore..."

"Goodbye, Mir."

Fiore stepped further away from me. With every attempt to follow him, my trembling feet betrayed me. I could no longer move. The folded blanket fell upon me as the door closed, a white canvas on which my infidelity was revealed. The splattered red blood resembled a painter's brushstroke. Beside the blanket lay the red handkerchief I had used to cover my eyes. I had been willing to offer my virginity to Fiore. He had expressed his desire for it to be passionate, intense, wild, and seductive. So I undressed in our bedroom, blindfolded myself, surprising him with my willingness to give myself to the one I cherished the most. But then... Tears welled up in my eyes once again. Fiore was no longer by my side. He was gone.

"Miranda..." I was on the verge of bursting when I looked at Xylon. He still wore his boxers, his hair disheveled, and his lips stained bright red. If I had known it was him I was intimate with, I would have bitten his lips until they swelled, silencing him.

"You're worse than a beast, Xylon. I hate you. Curse you!"