Chapter Ten_ The kiss

“Where would I even go?”

The rain poured down relentlessly, drenching me as I stepped outside the estate gates, but I didn’t care.

I was getting away from Matteo, from his estate, from Caterina and all her rules.

Each drop of the rain pelted my skin like tiny needles, a reminder that the world would never be fair to me, no matter what.

“At this point, I can hardly think.” I muttered to myself as I stepped onto the gravel path, the darkness pressing in around me.

I walked faster, driven by a need to escape the weight of it all.

“Don't let me find you in my wing without being called again, or you’ll discover there are limits to my kindness.” Matteo’s cold words echoed in my mind, his commanding presence looming over everything like a storm swirling above me.

I knew this path was unfamiliar, and I didn’t care. I just needed to be far from him as best as I could. The further I went, the more the estate disappeared behind the trees, and soon I realized I had where I was anymore.

But I di