uoıʇıɹɐdsıᗡ

ꜱᴇꜱꜱᴀɴᴛᴀᴛʀᴇ : ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛ

"Perhaps they were right putting love into books. Perhaps it could not live anywhere else." ~ William Faulkner.
***

Valentin Morelli.

"Leonessa."

Every ounce of oxygen left my body.

"Valentin."

There he was - leant against the door frame. Worry laced his angular features - an unforeseen expression.

My hands tightly fisted the bedsheets beneath me - my mother quickly noticed the immediate motion.

She looked between me and him, with a look of inquisitiveness smothering her face. My father, however, had a look of displeasure, oblivious to my reaction around this man.

"I just want to talk." He spoke softly.

I refused to meet his eyes as I felt his burning stare.

"Okay." I breathed, just wanting to get this over with and to avoid the scolding looks I was receiving off my parents.

"Leave." Valentin snapped, without looking at either of my caregivers.

They left without question. Something which left an unsettling feeling within me. My father has never submitted to anyone.

How long have they known him? The question stuck with me.

"Valentinia." I heard him pronounce. A sudden chill enveloped me.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you here? Couldn't you have just let me be?" I questioned, exhausted with this constant cycle of grief.

"You left me. You had to learn the consequences. I had to set an example. People do not fear me out of mercy or love Valentinia - they fear me out of ruthlessness." He stated, with no ounce of expression upon his face.

"I was never yours to keep! I did not leave; I took my life back before there was nothing left of it! I took the consequences, Valentin, ones I did not deserve."

"I love you Valentinia. The only consequence was for you to love me too!" He insisted.

"You could never love someone more than you love the control you have over people. People like you do not deserve love. I could never love someone like you." I spat, disgust riddled me.

"Words will not solve what I have done to you Valentinia, what I have embedded in your memories. But, I want to prove to you I can change, that I can be the man you deserve. I just need one chance to prove to you." He begged.

Upon hearing his response, I laughed.

Shaking my head, I replied,

"A chance? I tried to give you a chance, to see if you could change. But you, Valentin, are a man incapable of change."

"Let me prove it -"

"Prove what?" I demanded, cutting him off.

"I love you!"

"Love is not enough! How can you love me if you cannot even love yourself?" I questioned; my tone flat.

Love? It is not love. It is infatuation. An obsession. I am his manifested addiction - his harmful consequence.

"I took the jump - I sacrificed - I did everything for you!"

"You took everything from me!"

"I used to look at you and feel hope, now I look at you and feel numb." He mumbled, whilst looking down.

"Let me go then! Leave me, forget I exist!" I huffed, frustrated.