In Her Words

chapter 14

Alice's POV :

She said I was going to pay.

She said that I was going to see her other

face, the side of her that didn't forgive

easily, not until she felt it was enough.

After that night, Adele changed

completely. The warmth, the love, the

gentle touches-all of it disappeared. She

moved her room into the next room,

leaving the bed we'd shared so many

nights, and started sleeping there alone.

The absence of her body next to mine

was a cold, unbearable emptiness that

gnawed at me every night.

She wouldn't kiss me, wouldn't touch

me, and whenever I tried to reach for

her, even just to hold her hand, she'd

pull away as if my touch burned her. She

wouldn't speak to me unless it was

absolutely necessary, and when she did,

her voice was flat, devoid of the affection

it used to carry.

I felt like a prisoner in our own home.

The silence was suffocating, her coldness

a constant reminder of how deeply I had

hurt her. It was unbearable. Finally, one

night, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Adele," I said, my voice cracking from

the strain, "if you don't want me

anymore, I'll-"

She cut me off sharply, her eyes flashing

with something dark and unyielding.

"No, Alice, you won't go anywhere. As I

said, you belong to me. You will never

leave me, I won't let it happen. You'll stay

here like this until you fully understand

what you've done. Every action has a

consequence, and yours weren't simple."

Her words hit me like a physical blow. I

knew then that I was exactly what I

feared-a prisoner. And worse, I knew

deep down that I deserved it. I had

betrayed her trust, and now I was paying

the price.

As the days passed, I grew weaker. I

couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. The thought

of food made me nauseous, and every

time I tried to force something down, it

wouldn't stay. The emptiness inside me

wasn't just emotional anymore-it was

physical. I was losing myself, piece by

piece.

Adele was everything to me, and now she

was pulling herself away, leaving me

with nothing.

She noticed my deterioration; she wasn't

blind to my condition. One morning,

after watching me push away another

untouched plate, she forced me to the

doctor. I didn't have the strength to

resist. I let her guide me, her grip firm

but devoid of any tenderness.

The doctor ran a series of tests, checking

my vitals and asking questions I barely

registered. I was too numb, too lost in my

own despair to care about the answers.

When the results came back, the doctor's

expression changed to one of concern.

She pulled Adele aside to speak privately.

Adele's face was unreadable as she

listened, her lips a thin line. I couldn't

hear what they were saying, but I could

see the tension in her posture, the way

her shoulders stiffened. After what felt

like an eternity, she turned back to me,

her expression no longer cold but...

complicated.

"Get dressed," she said curtly, tossing me

my clothes. "We're going home."

I didn't understand what was happening,

but I knew one thing for sure-whatever

the doctor had said, it had changed

something. Maybe, just maybe, the

punishment was coming to an end. Or

maybe it was only beginning.