Sweet Hatred-Chapter 466: Breaking Point

SARAH

"Why are you doing this? Why won’t you just leave me alone?"

The words hit me like physical blows.

Aria’s voice was breaking. Tears streaming down her face.

And all I could feel was this quiet, simmering rage building in my chest.

"Why can’t you let me be happy? Why do you have to destroy everything?"

Happy.

She wanted to talk about being happy.

While I’d spent weeks rotting in that disgusting apartment. Alone. Desperate. Watching my entire life fall apart.

"I was your friend, Sarah. I trusted you. I loved you."

Loved.

Past tense. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"And you... you... "

She couldn’t even finish. Just dissolved into sobs.

I stared at her, feeling something cold and hard settle over me.

I’d tried being nice.

I’d brought her a fucking birthday cake. Sang to her. Tried to make her understand that this wasn’t about hurting her... it was about saving us. Saving what we had before Kael poisoned everything.

But she didn’t see it.

She’d never see it.

Because all she cared about was him.

"You don’t love me anymore," I said.

Not a question. I already knew the answer.

I could see it in her eyes. In the way she looked at me like I was something diseased.

"How can I?" Aria choked out. "After everything you’ve done? How can you expect me to... "

"Because I never stopped loving you!"

The words exploded out of me before I could stop them.

Raw. Desperate. True.

"Not for a single second, Aria. Not when you chose Kael. Not when you pushed me away. Not even when you looked at me like I was a monster."

I was on my feet now, pacing because I couldn’t stand still.

Couldn’t contain the energy crackling through me.

"I tried to let you go. I tried to accept that you’d moved on. That you’d replaced me. But I can’t."

My voice cracked.

"I can’t watch you build this perfect life with him while I’m left with nothing. While I’m discarded like trash. Like I never mattered."

"So you kidnapped me?" Aria’s voice was incredulous. Horrified. "Tied me to a chair? How is this supposed to fix anything?"

"I don’t know!"

I spun to face her, and I knew my eyes must look wild.

Unhinged.

I didn’t care.

"I don’t know, okay? I just... I needed you back. I needed to make you understand. To make you see that we belong together. That he’s the problem, not me. He’s the one who came between us. He’s the one who ruined everything."

"You’re insane."

The word hung in the air between us.

Insane.

Like I was the crazy one.

Like I was the one who’d thrown away years of friendship for some man.

"I love you!" I said, the words tearing out of my throat. "I have loved you for years, Aria. Years. And you never saw it. Never noticed. You just kept talking about boyfriends and crushes and eventually Kael... always fucking Kael... and I had to smile and pretend I was happy for you while it killed me inside."

Every. Single. Day.

Listening to her gush about him. Watching her face light up when he called. Pretending I was supportive when all I wanted to do was scream.

"I had to watch you fall in love with him," I continued. "Watch you choose him over me. Over everything we had. And now you’re having his baby. Building a life with him. And I’m supposed to just... what? Accept it? Move on?"

"Sarah..." Aria’s voice was careful now. Cautious. "That’s not love. What you’re feeling... what you’re doing... that’s obsession. It’s not healthy. You need help. Professional help. Please, just... "

"Don’t."

My voice went cold.

Ice cold.

"Don’t talk to me like I’m crazy. Don’t psychoanalyze me. You don’t get to do that."

"Then what do you want from me?" Aria asked, her voice breaking again. "What do you expect? That I’ll suddenly realize I love you too? That I’ll forget about Kael and the baby and everything else?"

"I want you to stop pretending!" I shouted. "Stop pretending you’re happy with him! Stop pretending you don’t miss what we had!"

"I don’t miss it."

Her voice was quiet now. Firm.

Final.

"Not anymore. Not after learning it was all a lie."

The words sliced through me.

Clean. Precise. Devastating.

Not anymore.

All a lie.

Something inside me cracked.

Not the loud, dramatic kind of breaking.

The quiet kind.

The kind that happens when you finally accept that the person you’d burn the world down for doesn’t feel the same way.

Has never felt the same way.

Will never feel the same way.

The hurt was so profound I couldn’t even process it properly.

It just sat there in my chest like a stone.

Heavy. Cold. Permanent.

Fine.

If that’s how she felt.

If I was just a monster to her. A villain. Something to be feared and pitied and psychoanalyzed.

Then I’d stop trying to make her understand.

I’d stop trying to be reasonable.

I picked up the gag from where I’d set it aside earlier.

"Wait... Sarah... "

I shoved it back into her mouth, cutting off whatever plea she was about to make.

I couldn’t listen to her anymore.

Couldn’t stand the sound of her voice saying things that hurt worse than any physical pain.

"I’m done trying to be reasonable," I said.

My voice sounded distant. Like it belonged to someone else.

"I’m done trying to make you understand. If you won’t come back to me willingly, then I’ll just have to make you."

I turned toward the door.

Behind me, Aria made muffled, desperate sounds through the gag.

Probably begging. Pleading.

I didn’t look back.

Couldn’t.

If I looked at her face... saw the fear and disgust there... I might actually break completely.

My hand was on the door handle when I paused.

"Don’t worry," I said, still not looking at her. "I’m not going to hurt you. Or the baby. I’m not a monster, Aria. Despite what you think of me."

The lie came easily.

Because of course I was going to hurt the baby.

That thing growing inside her... Kael’s child, his claim on her, the final proof that she’d chosen him over me... it had to go.

Once she lost it, once that connection to Kael was severed, maybe she’d finally see clearly.

Maybe she’d finally understand that he was the problem.

That we could go back to how things were before he ruined everything.

I opened the door and stepped through.

Locked it behind me.

The sound of Aria’s muffled screaming followed me down the corridor.

But I kept walking.

One foot in front of the other.

Away from her terror.

Away from her rejection.

Away from the truth I couldn’t accept.

That I’d already lost her.

That maybe I’d never really had her to begin with.