Chapter 27

(Author's POV)

Axel gulped down the seventh bottle of liquor, the burning liquid searing his throat on its descent; he slammed it down on the counter with a forceful thud. The pain consuming him from within seemed unyielding; refusing to fade away no matter how much alcohol he drowned himself in. He couldn't shake the image of her face from his mind, the haunting memory of her eyes etched into his consciousness like a relentless torment.

He had come here with one purpose—to seek revenge for her betrayal. But now, as he sat amidst the empty bottles and the suffocating haze of alcohol, he found himself consumed by a different emotion altogether. A single tear from her eyes had shattered the walls he had built around himself, rendering him defenseless against the flood of emotions rushing in.

How swiftly everything had changed, how easily she had dismantled his resolve with just a single tear. In that moment, Axel realized that his thirst for revenge had been overshadowed by a deeper l