chapter 7- "smiles and suffocation"

Chapter 7 (Reign’s POV)

The tension in the room was unbearable. After everything, the silence that hung in the air felt suffocating. Liliana was standing there, looking at me with that same blank, unreadable expression. I had just confessed to betraying her trust, and yet she didn’t react. No anger, no tears, nothing.

“I’m hungry,” she said, her voice flat. “Can you at least treat me to lunch?”

Her words were so calm, too calm for the situation. I could feel my chest tightening, the weight of the guilt crashing over me like a tidal wave. How could she ask for something so normal, something so trivial, after everything we had done?

“Pizza?” she added, as if it were no big deal. A casual request after everything that had happened between us.

I didn’t respond at first, my mind still spinning from the overwhelming emotions I was struggling to hold back. How was she this... detached? Wasn’t she angry? Wasn’t she devastated? But all I saw was emptiness.

Ethan and I exchanged a glance. He didn’t know what to do either, and neither did I. It was like we had lost the ability to speak to each other properly, to communicate anything real.

Without saying much more, we ordered the pizza. The whole situation felt surreal—sitting there in silence, watching Liliana eat without a word, without any emotion. It was like she was already gone. She wasn’t here with us anymore, not in the way she used to be.

My mind raced, heart pounding in my chest. How could things have come to this? How could we have hurt her so much, and yet... she just sat there, eating pizza like we were nothing more than acquaintances. My hands trembled as I reached for my phone

“Can we have some time alone?” I said, her eyes still distant. “You can leave.”

. Ethan looked at me, uncertainty written all over his face. But I knew this was what I needed. I had to talk to her alone. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance I could reach her. Maybe if I spoke to her one-on-one, I could somehow make her feel something, anything.

“I need to talk to her alone,” I said, my voice shaky. “Please, just... let me talk to her.”

Ethan hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded, standing up and walking toward the door. As he left, he gave me one last, questioning look. But I couldn’t afford to focus on that. I had to focus on Liliana.

The moment he left the room, I walked over to where she sat, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. The weight of the silence was crushing.

“Liliana...” I started, my voice cracking slightly. “I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to fix what I’ve done. But I need you to understand... I never wanted to hurt you. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

There was no response. She didn’t look at me, didn’t acknowledge anything I said. It was as if I wasn’t even there.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, barely able to choke out the words. “I never wanted to lose you. I don’t know what happened to us. But I’m sorry.”

Her head turned slightly, her eyes finally meeting mine, but there was no emotion in them—nothing but cold indifference.

“I don’t feel anything,” she said flatly. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel. I don’t know how to react to this.”

The words cut through me like a knife. It was as if everything I was feeling—everything I thought I understood about Liliana—had shattered in an instant. She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t crying. She was just... nothing. Numb. Detached.

“Please,” I begged, my voice trembling. “I can’t take this. Please, say something. Please, tell me how to make this better.”

But she didn’t respond. She didn’t do anything. She just sat there, her eyes empty, staring off into the distance.

A wave of frustration and anger swept over me. I couldn’t handle this. I couldn’t stand seeing her like this, so cold, so broken, so unreachable. And yet, at the same time, I was terrified. Terrified that maybe I had lost her forever.

In that moment, I couldn’t think straight. The anger, the guilt, the confusion—it all collided into one overwhelming force. I was angry at myself for betraying her, angry at Ethan for not stopping this, angry at everything that had led to this moment.

Without even realizing what I was doing, I reached for the vase on the nearby table. It was a heavy, ceramic piece, something that had been sitting there, forgotten, just like everything else in this house.

I didn’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the guilt, the frustration, the crushing sense of loss. Maybe it was the desperate need to make her feel something—anything.

But in an instant, my hand swung, and the vase crashed into her head.

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