Love Games ✔️

Forty - one: Labyrinth

The feeling of betrayal grips me like an iron shackle on my chest. "Jack," I say, bitterness in my voice.

"Is this true? Is what you're telling me true? Emma is... she was my friend." I can't help but feel hurt.

"I know it's hard to accept," Jack says, his tone remaining calm, but his face slackens as if he can feel my pain. "But we have to be careful. Emma is not what you think. Her ambition has brought her into a world you don't understand. Her bond with you has been exploited for her own gain."

So many emotions stir inside me - anger, confusion, sadness.

Clearly I was just a pawn in their game. How could I have been so blind?

Every moment I trusted her was a moment she pushed me deeper into this web of lies. A sense of loneliness washed over me.

Where were all those people when I needed them? Where was Emma when I needed her to stand by me and not push me into chaos?

"I can't believe I believed her," I continue, my voice weak but determined. "I trusted her so much. I thought she meant well for me. How could she do this?"

"This is the world we live in," Jack says, his understanding reassuring me but shaking me even more. "Naivety can cost you everything you have. Emma saw an opportunity, and when it comes to money and power, there is no room for friendship. It's a brutal rule."

I sigh and look around me, surrounded by books, secrets, knowledge.

How often have I wished they would go deeper into the truth, but now that I have faced this truth, I am afraid. "And what now? How can I trust when everyone around me could be a liar?"

Jack comes closer and looks me straight in the eye. "You're not alone. I'm here. I'm not one of them. We'll fight what's coming together. And I promise you, I won't let you down."

His words reassure me a little, but I still struggle with the confusion in my head. Who can I believe, who can I trust? Every second I think about my past, I feel overwhelmed by memories that torment me. Emma was a friend, but her betrayal was just as close.

How can I free myself from these feelings if they are so deeply rooted? When will I finally be able to trust?

"How can I trust you? How do I know that you will not lie to me? How do I know that you won't betray me, that you didn't just bring me here and use me? My words sound like anger, but there is a fear underneath that I cannot suppress.

My heart beats faster and I wish I could believe it, but there has been too much betrayal.

"Because I'm going to prove it to you," Jack says, his voice calm but full of urgency.

He moves closer, but I pull away, as if to protect myself from something that both attracts and intimidates me.

His touch stuns me, but it also kills me; I have faced this and I cannot ignore it.

"I'm going to tell you a truth," he continues, his voice deep and serious, so strong that it brings me down to the solid ground of the reality I am trying to avoid.

"The reason I want you is not just passion. It is love, true love. Even if things had turned out differently, even if the world had been less cruel, I would still have fallen in love with you. I tried to forget you, God knows I tried, but you are unforgettable. Unique. You are... my destiny".

As he says it, he grips my hand with all his strength, his grip firm, determined.

I feel a wave of tension running through my body. "I've always wanted you," he whispers in my ear, his breath hot, close, as if he wants to penetrate deeper than my thoughts, into my soul. "No matter what happened around us."