Descent - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter forty

Lucia

June 22nd, 9:45 p.m., Ancient Library

Betrayal is a strange thing—like the sharpest of knives, it pierces through the most vulnerable part of you, without a sound, without warning. It starts as a cold emptiness that spreads from the heart to the mind, numbing every thought, every sensation. And yet, it burns too. A fire that devours your trust, your hope, your belief in others. There's no greater agony than realizing the person you thought you knew is nothing but a mask, and you, blind and foolish, trusted them with everything.

It isn't something you see coming. No one expects the people they care for to turn on them. No one anticipates the cold, twisted irony of giving someone your heart only for them to break it with their hands. Betrayal is a lesson in how deeply you can be wounded by someone you would have sworn, only moments ago, would never hurt you.

I had never known betrayal like this before. I never thought I would. My family—my parents, my siblings—none of them would ever turn on me. We were not only bonded by blood, but by something deeper. And until now, I hadn't let anyone else in. There were no close friends or confidants to be wary of. I'd lived my life guarded, isolated. And I was thankful for that now, for the solitude I had once cursed.

But Mattheo... Mattheo had changed that. I had opened myself to him, little by little, until it felt like he had carved out a piece of me, one I'd willingly handed over. And now, as his words echoed through the ancient room, that same piece of me felt shattered—ripped apart, piece by fragile piece.

It was him. I recognized his voice immediately, the familiar rasp that I had come to know better than anyone's. It was him behind me, the one I'd trusted with everything.

Mattheo.

The weight of his name alone seemed to crush the air from my lungs. My body felt frozen, a numbness creeping up my spine, paralyzing me in place.

I had trusted him. How could he betray me? How could he do this, after everything we had gone through, after all the moments we had shared? I had just started to let him in, really let him in, letting him see me for who I was, trusting him in ways I never thought I could. And now... this?

My heart felt heavy, like it had been torn from my chest and cast aside. A gaping hole where warmth and trust had once been, now filled only with a raw, agonizing pain.

There's something about betrayal that makes the world tilt on its axis, like everything you thought you knew was wrong. It makes you question yourself—how could I not see this coming? How could I be so blind? How could I let myself trust him so easily?

I turned slowly, my breath shallow, my entire body trembling with a mixture of confusion, pain, and anger. I needed to see him. I needed to see the face of the person who had shattered me in an instant.

My gaze locked onto him as I turned fully, his dark silhouette standing against the flickering glow of the runes. His expression was shadowed, unreadable, but I didn't need to see his face clearly to know who he was. The familiar outline of his body, the way he held himself, even the casual arrogance in his stance—it was all unmistakably Mattheo.

But everything about him felt different now, distorted, as if I were looking at a stranger. My mind raced, memories of him flooding my thoughts—his touch, his whispered promises, the way he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world. It all felt like a lie now. The weight of betrayal crashed down on me like a tidal wave, pulling me under, suffocating me with its intensity.

"Mattheo..." I whispered, my voice trembling. The pain in my chest tightened, constricting like a vice as I spoke his name, my mind still unable to fully comprehend that he was the one standing here, threatening me, with his wand grabbed tightly in his Hand and his usual attack stance.