Chapter 15 He Didn’t Matter Anymore
Chapter 15 He Didn’t Matter Anymore
Mia’s POV
+25 BONUS
My palm stung from the force of the slap, but the pain was nothing compared to the turmoil in my chest. Kyle’s kiss still burned on my lips, a ghost of passion that meant nothing. That had always meant nothing. The taste of expensive scotch lingered on my tongue, bitter like the memories we’d shared.
“Don’t touch me again.” My voice came out steadier than I felt, ice coating each word. Inside, my traitorous heart still raced from his proximity, from the familiar scent of his cologne, from the way his body had pressed against mine, Old habits die hard, it seems. “I’m not your toy anymore, Kyle.”
His fingers touched his reddened cheek, storm clouds gathering in those grey eyes I’d once found so captivating. The slight tick in his jaw betrayed his anger. I knew all his tells by now, every minute expression that revealed the emotions he tried so hard to
hide.
“You’re being ridiculous,” he growled, taking a step toward me. “This tantrum needs to stop.”
I backed away, my legs hitting the edge of the bed. “Tantrum?”
Kyle’s jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “Mia-”
The shrill ring of his phone cut through the tension. Taylor’s ringtone – that custom chime he’d set just for her. Of course. Always Taylor. The sound felt like needles in my chest, each note a reminder of my place in his life.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. “Right on time”
“Kyle!” Taylor’s voice carried through the speaker, syrupy sweet and trembling with fake vulnerability. Even through the phone, I could picture her perfectly made–up face, the calculated way she’d arrange her features into distress. “The doctor says my leg injury is serious. From when… when Mia…” A perfectly timed sob. “The trauma from when she attacked me two days
ago…”
I walked to the window, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. The city sprawled below, lights twinkling like nothing was wrong, like my world hadn’t just imploded. Behind me, I could hear Kyle’s footsteps moving restlessly across the hardwood
floor.
“I’ll be right there,” he said into the phone, his voice softening the way it only did for her. “Just stay calm.”
“Please hurry,” Taylor whimpered. “I’m scared to be alone…”
I turned back, unable to stop myself from watching as concern transformed Kyle’s face. The same face that had remained stoic when I lay bleeding at the bottom of those stairs. “You should go,” I said quietly. “Your beloved Taylor needs you.”
His eyes snapped to mine, something unreadable crossing his features. “This isn’t finished, Mia.”
“I think it is. It has been for a long time. I was just too blind to see it. “I gestured around the half–packed room.
He took a step toward me, but his phone buzzed again.
“Go,” I said again, turning back to the window.
The sound of his footsteps retreating, quick and urgent, told me everything I needed to know. He was going to her. Again. The front door slammed, the sound echoing through the empty house like a gunshot.
A familiar ache bloomed in my chest – muscle memory of a heart that had broken too many times. But this time, something was different. This pain felt… distant. Like watching an old movie you’ve seen too many times to cry over anymore.
It’s okay, I told myself, returning to the task of emptying drawers. This is just habit. The last traces of a love that never had a chance to be real.
My hands moved mechanically through the contents – papers, old receipts, forgotten trinkets. The detritus of a marriage that had been built on lies. Each item felt heavier than it should, weighted with memories I needed to shed.
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Chapter 15 He Didn’t Matter Anymore
+25 BONUS
Then something caught my eye. A sketch, yellowed with age, tucked beneath a stack of documents. The paper was expensive, the kind Kyle used for important contracts and documents.
My hands trembled as I pulled it out. A necklace, rendered in careful detail. Not just any necklace – the necklace. The one given to me by that little boy during those terrifying days of our kidnapping. The pendant I’d treasured until Taylor had taken it, like she’d taken everything else.
The sketch captured every detail perfectly. The intricate metalwork, the unique clasp design, even the tiny scratch near the pendant’s edge. My finger traced the lines, memory overlaying the drawing. Why would Kyle have this?
But of course. Taylor must have shown it to him. Probably wore it for him, spun some story about its significance.
I crumpled the sketch, tossing it aside. It didn’t matter anymore. None of it mattered. Taylor could have the necklace, the memories, Kyle, all of it. I was done letting the past hold me prisoner.
My hand drifted to my empty stomach, an unconscious gesture I couldn’t seem to break. The flatness there felt wrong, obscene. Some losses left deeper marks than others. But even this – this deepest, most primal pain – would heal. Had to heal.
I returned to packing, each item placed in bags representing my new life. A life without Kyle’s coldness or Taylor’s cruelty. A life where I could just be Mia again.
The necklace sketch lay crumpled on the floor, a fitting metaphor for all my shattered illusions. Let it stay there. Let it all stay there. In this house of broken promises and empty love, it belonged with all the other discarded dreams.
Looking around the room one last time, I allowed myself a moment to remember. The first night I’d spent here, full of hope and dreams of love growing from our arrangement. The mornings I’d watched Kyle dress for work, pretending we were a normal couple. The nights I’d lain awake, waiting for him to come home, knowing he was with her.
But no more. Those memories belonged to a different Mia. A Mia who believed in fairytales and happy endings. A Mia who thought love could conquer contracts and convenience.
That Mia died at the bottom of those stairs, along with her babies.
I picked up my bags, leaving the sketch where it had fallen. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing about this house, this marriage, or this life mattered anymore.
