MY MOON

CHAPTER 30: ALYA

As I reached the lobby, I noticed the weather outside mirroring the turmoil in my heart. Heavy rain lashed against the windows, each drop a testament to the sinking feeling inside me. The rhythmic pounding of the rain matched the erratic beat of my heart, each drop echoing the tears I was struggling to hold back.

"Alya," came a voice from behind, familiar and filled with urgency.

I didn't need to turn around to know it was Alex. His presence was like a shadow that clung to me, inescapable and omnipresent. Without a word, I marched outside, desperate to get away from him and the suffocating emotions threatening to overwhelm me.

"Alya, wait!" he called, running after me, his steps splashing through the puddles forming on the ground. He caught up with me just as I stepped off the curb, and he grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Where are you going? It's raining. Come inside, Let's talk," he urged, trying to take my bags from me.

"Give me my bags back," I demanded, yanking them from his grip.

"Alya, please," he insisted, his voice breaking with concern.

"Then keep them!" I shouted, leaving the bags with him as I stepped further into the downpour, trying to hail a taxi through the sheets of rain. My vision blurred—not just from the rain but from the tears that mingled with it, cold and relentless.

Alex ran after me, desperation etched on his face. "Please, Alya, at least listen to me."

"For what?" I screamed over the rain, my voice hoarse with anger and sorrow. "So you can manipulate me again?"

"Alya, I wasn't manipulating you," he pleaded, his eyes wide with a mixture of regret and frustration.

"It was so tough to forget everything you said to me and to trust you again. To feel comfortable around you, I convinced myself that it wasn't me you left that night, there must be a reason. But no, I was a fool. Again!" I screamed, my voice breaking as tears streamed down my face.

"Alya, let's go inside. You'll get sick," he said, his voice soft but firm, trying to steer me back towards the hotel.

"Sick? You know exactly how to handle me, don't you? You act concerned, you cry in front of me, you smile at me, and here I am, my mountain is crushing down for you again!" I cried, each word heavy with the weight of betrayal and heartache.

"Alya," he tried to reach for my hand, but I shook him off, my heart pounding with a mix of rage and despair.

"Shit, man! I'm such a smart person, but when it comes to you, I don't think. I'm just a fool. To the extent that I feel stupid." I paused, my voice quivering. "You came back into my life after two years, you made my world spin again for you and again you betray me. How many more years of my life will I waste on you, Alex?" I shouted, my voice raw with the pain I had been carrying for so long.

"You sit here and manipulate me into coming back into your life. You gain my trust again and toyed with it, over and over. Since you re-entered my life, everything has been on pause—a pause that refuses to continue. But you always show up with a new manipulation."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, his voice barely audible over the rain.

"How is this sorry different from all the others?" I asked, my tears mixing with the rain, my voice trembling with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

"I didn't manipulate you or break your trust. I wanted to tell you, but I was waiting for the right moment. All I wanted was to give us—give you—a chance to move on," he said, his eyes filled with tears.

"Move on from what, Alex?" I demanded, my voice cracking with tears.

"From everything that's holding you back from life. Holding you back from me. I wanted to erase your self-doubt and give you a chance to be happy. I wanted to be close to you again, to ask for your forgiveness properly," he explained, his voice thick with emotion.