No strings attached |(UNDER REVISION)

Chapter 40- Trapped love

And maybe... maybe she was happy now.

Maybe she had truly moved on.

And if she had, then I had no right to pull her back into my world.

Even if I still loved her.

Even if I never stopped.

The morning I left Mikha was the worst day of my life.

I didn't sleep the night before. I spent the hours memorizing her face, the way her lashes fluttered in her sleep, the soft rhythm of her breathing. I traced every line of her features with my fingertips, committing them to memory, because I knew-I knew this would be the last time I could hold her.

I had written her a letter.

"Mikha, mahal ko..."

My hand trembled as I wrote, but I forced myself to continue. I told her I loved her, that I always would. I told her she was my world, my everything, and leaving her was killing me. But I had no choice.

"Find another man...hold his hand, and make me jealous. Let that jealousy eat me alive."

I folded the letter, placed it on the bedside table, and pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead.

Then I walked away.

I walked away even though my heart was screaming at me to stay. Even though every step felt like I was tearing myself apart.

I was already outside when I heard it.

"Mahal?"

Mikha's groggy voice made me freeze. I didn't turn around. I couldn't.

Then I heard rustling. Sheets being thrown aside. Footsteps.

And then-

"AIAH!"

Her voice was sharp, panicked.

I clenched my fists and forced my feet to move. Faster. Before she could reach me.

But Mikha was relentless.

I heard the front door slam open. The next thing I knew, she was outside, barefoot, running after me.

"AIAH, PLEASE!"

Her scream shattered something inside me.

I didn't dare look back.

She chased after me, her voice breaking, sobs shaking her words.

"Don't do this! Please don't leave me!"

I shut my eyes, biting my lip so hard I tasted blood.

I wanted to stop. I wanted to run back to her, to tell her I was sorry, to tell her I loved her more than anything.

But I couldn't.

I couldn't drag her into the nightmare my family had forced me into.

So I kept walking.

Then I heard it.

A choked sob.

A painful gasp.

I turned my head just enough to see her.

Mikha had fallen to her knees on the pavement, her face buried in her hands, her entire body trembling.

She was crying.

She was begging.

And I-

I killed her in that moment.

I killed the light in her eyes. I destroyed the love she had so freely given me.

But I had no choice.