The night was quiet, unnaturally so, ....

as if the world itself held its breath.

He wrapped his arms around me, his warmth pressing into my cold, unyielding skin. It was unnatural, this tenderness, all weird to me.....

I stood there, stiff and trembling, not from the chill of the room but from the weight of his embrace...

"Why?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, cracking with the strain of unshed tears.

"Why are you like this now?"...

He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes.

His gaze was intense, piercing through the walls I had so carefully built. "Because I've fallen for you,

" he said simply. "For everything you are. For every trap you set for me to fall into."

Trap? The word echoed in my mind, sharp and accusatory. My breath hitched, my throat tightening. "I never set any traps," I spat, my voice rising with the anger and confusion surging within me. "I never wanted to be loved. I just wanted... warmth. Vivid, burning warmth."

He tilted his head, his expression softening as if he was trying to understand the chaos inside me. But he couldn't. No one could. Not when the warmth I craved came from pain—self-inflicted or otherwise.

The sting of a slap, the ache of bruised ribs, the salty burn of tears streaking down my face. That was my comfort, my anchor.

"I love you," he repeated, like a broken record, over and over, as if the words alone could pierce through my darkness.

I didn't respond.

I couldn't. His confessions were daggers to my chest, too sharp, too raw. Love? No, I didn't deserve that.

His hands, strong yet gentle, cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. "What do you want from me?" he asked, his voice trembling with desperation.

I stared at him, my lips curling into a bitter smile. "Hate me," I whispered. "Hurt me like you always do.

Abuse me harshly. Push me away. Let me rot in this loneliness I've known all my life."

His expression twisted, pained, as if my words were knives slicing through his heart. But I didn't stop. I couldn't.

"You married me because of your parents," I continued, my voice gaining strength with every venomous word. "Because you had no choice. Don't pretend otherwise. If I had known, I never would've agreed. But now that we're here, trapped in this farce of a marriage, don't change. Don't pretend to love me."

Tears welled in his eyes, but I didn't care. I needed him to understand.

"If you want to do something good for me," I said, my voice breaking, "hurt me. Destroy me. Tear me apart until there's nothing left. Just... don't love me. I don't know how to live with that."

He let go of me then, his arms falling to his sides like they carried the weight of the world. The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.

I turned away, my hands trembling as I wrapped my arms around myself. His warmth still lingered on my skin, and I hated it. I hated him for trying to heal me, for offering me something I didn't deserve.

And as I stood there, alone in the darkness, I wished for the pain to return. It was easier than this.

Easier than facing the terrifying possibility that someone could love me, even after knowing the monster I had become....

....