Page 53 of Waiting Game

I smirked, “of course you do. How could you not?”

He rolled his eyes, but his smirk gave him away.

“I’m going to bed, you’ll be okay?”

I nodded.

“If you need to talk about what happened today…”

“Yes, Toni, I know,” I sighed, walking into the room and sitting in the chair next to Ren.

I didn’t want to talk about it.

I wanted to forget that it ever happened.

Antoni’s footsteps receded down the hallway, and I leaned forward in the chair.

Ren was snoring lightly, and the machines were beeping in a slow but steady rhythm. I tilted my head to the side, studying his face. After everything that he had been through today, he still looked so peaceful. His lips were pouted slightly, and thick lashes hung heavy on his cheeks.

I smiled, reaching forward and pushing his hair out of his eyes.

The more I watched him, the more I recognised the boy that I used to love. I saw him with chubby cheeks and freckles, even though they weren’t there anymore.

I could see the real him so clearly. I once thought that I’d never be able to look at him the same. But he still looked like Ren to me.

Even after witnessing him kill a man right in front of me.

Because of me.

For me.

16

Chapter 16

Ren

Iwoke up once the drugs wore off.

When I opened my eyes, I saw her. She was asleep in the small chair, her body limp and her head resting on her hand.

Valerie had kept her promise this time, and honestly, I was surprised.

After yesterday, I had expected her to run as far away as she could. I knew that she left because she didn’t want to watch me turn into a monster, but yesterday, she saw it with her own two eyes.

She saw the real me, the version of me that I had hoped to keep secret from her for as long as I lived. Now she had seen the darkness. She had witnessed the sinner in me with her own two eyes, and there was no going back.

Maybe Valerie was right all along in staying far away from me.

I felt like I was getting so close too, so close to finally winning her back after ten years of playing the waiting game. But now, I didn’t know what she would be thinking about me. Would it have confirmed all of her fears? Or would she understand why I had done what I did?

It was hard to regret my decisions.

I didn’t have a sliver of sympathy for the bastard that I had killed. Something else was in control of me when I fired the gun, something that took over once I heard Valerie’s scream. The sound set off something in my brain, and I couldn’t handle it.

I never wanted to hear that sound again.

When I saw the look of fear and terror on her face, I knew that he had to die.

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