Together for ten years, she had never once raised her voice at me, never once shown anger.
Yet today, because of another man and his child, her eyes burned with murderous fire.
She slammed me hard against the wall, tore the knife from her bleeding shoulder, and turned the blade to my neck.
“How dare you lay a hand on a child!”
“Waylon, have I treated you too well, to the point you’ve forgotten who you are?”
“If I hadn’t protected you, you would have died long ago!”
“Now your wings have hardened, and because you can’t have children yourself, you go after someone else’s? To do something this vile, you truly are disgusting!”
Each word cut into me deeper than any blade, leaving me humiliated beyond endurance. Yet I laughed, my calm sinking into my very bones.
“Didn’t you always say, if we want to part, one of us must die?”
“Others don’t dare do it, so I’ll trouble Athena to do it herself.”
“Go on, kill me. If I don’t die, the two of you won’t have peace anyway.”
But the bloodstained knife never pierced my neck.
She looked into my stubborn eyes and gave a gentle smile.
“Waylon, I told you, we don’t need to push this into a you-die-or-I-die situation!”
“That child, whatever you choose to do with him, it’s your decision. Whether he lives or dies, I won’t interfere anymore.”
“But this matter ends here. From now on, you are not allowed to bring it up again, do you understand?”
Cold-blooded as ever, just like me.
Athena did not look at me again, nor did she sigh. She slammed the door and walked out.
Ten years, never once had I seen her back. In my memory, she had only ever rushed toward me through storms of blood and rain, using her body to shield mine. Her back now was as resolute as I had always imagined, yet if one looked closely, there was a faint trace of urgency.
I curled my lips into a mocking laugh. Turning around, I dialed the bodyguard’s phone.
“Let the kid go. I haven’t sunk so low as to lay hands on a child.”
“But the father’s information, I want it in ten minutes!”
My people searched, yet they found nothing.
With Athena’s methods, protecting someone had always been effortless.
Even I could only dig up a few scattered clues, yet even those few were enough to shatter the emotions I had struggled to hold together.
Five years ago, on the night I nearly lost my life, Athena had not been there.
I believed she had taken people to avenge me. But no, she had only been a few steps away, tangled in the arms of another man.
So the betrayal had begun that early.
When she swore she could never betray me in this life, her body and her heart had already strayed elsewhere.
I endured the sudden ache tearing through my chest, my grip tightening around the bloodstained knife, and I drove it hard through the screen.
Deep affection had long been broken; between us, only hatred remained.
The child had not even been sent home, yet her people could no longer stay still.
They came after me. The door flew open, and at once he rushed in, a dagger raised and thrust straight toward my chest.
“Bastard! You dared go after my child, I’ll kill you!”
I tilted my head instinctively, dodging the strike.
But the blade couldn’t be avoided. It scraped across my arm, leaving a long, raw cut.
Skin split open, blood streamed out.
Yet I didn’t seem to feel the pain. I shoved his head down and smashed it hard against the doorframe.
My men held him down, forcing him to his knees in front of me.
He didn’t cry, just glared at me with fierce, stubborn eyes.
The man was indeed striking, his gaze sharp and steady.
He looked much like me back when I was still young and untested.
Even the fire burning in his eyes was the same as mine now.
But sadly, he didn’t understand that with only this bit of wildness, there was no way he could walk away unharmed.
