...
❝He was the poison I was dying to taste on my lips.❞
...
I was a coward.
The coward who wanted to leave behind the wreckage of her life for the man who had tormented her for as long as she could remember. The boy who had spit venom at me gro...
‼️: a very long chapter (6200+) ahead. get your popcorn and snacks ready.
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FRUSTRATION CLAWED AT ME as I tossed and turned for possibly the hundredth time that night, sleep so completely far-fetched that it was a little ridiculous. The night was silent, expected for three in the morning, but I hadn't gotten a twitch of sleep and my sighs felt loud enough to wake up the entire mansion.
Meaning, my father, my grandfather, Soha, her son and most of our entire extended family who were over for his engagement in ten days. Because apparently, they needed such an extensive length of time to plan and ensure this was a grand ceremony to make up for postponing it, since it had initially been planned for the week of my interview instead.
It was great to have so much family over, but what wasn't was how there'd been radio silence from River ever since the Christmas break had started four days ago. Not a single phone call, not even a text. I doubted he was that ridiculously busy at their company.
Asshole.
I was attached, but I was beyond caring at that point.
Deciding that trying to reach for sleep was a pointless waste of time, I switched my night lamp on and got up, rummaging through the last drawers for the couple of letters I'd taken from Gulzar's study in a bout of idiotic boldness. That was at least a week ago, but they'd been nearly forgotten about as a result of my obsession with a certain ocean-eyed boy.
Unrolling one, my eyes found the familiar writing.
Darling,
I know you don't like when I send multiple letters to you in the same month, but I couldn't help myself and I'll keep this short. I know how delicate our plan is, but what's in a more precarious state is my heart. You simply will never understand the pain that implores me to reach out, to trace the sharp contours of your face and to lie by your side, listening to your heartbeat, whenever your presence eludes me for far too long. It's been a year, my love. An entire year since you left with that bitch and over a year since I chained myself to Satan. For you. For us. For the hope that one day we will be one as in the painting I had drawn the other day. It's of the two of us, darling, and I know you will love it if you simply took the time to meet me just once. But it's dangerous and I will continue to live in my fantasies until the metaphorical sword is lifted from my neck and you can embrace me again. As the sole owner of my heart.
Yours always, E. L
My hand shot to my mouth. E? That had to stand for Esther. It had to.
Something about the description of the portrait she described sounded familiar. It niggled at the base of my brain, whispering something frantically. But it was incoherent and my sleep-deprived brain was missing something vital.
