Page 4 of Sweet Venom

There’s that sharp pain in my chest again.

Don’t come back, Poe.

My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t understand what I did wrong. I wanted to ask why, but the words got stuck in my chest, and all I could do was stare at him, holding out the card, waiting for him to take it, waiting for him to say something kind. But he didn’t.

Instead, he slowly grabbed the card from my hand, his fingers brushing mine for just a moment. But it’s not a touch that made me feel warm or light. It felt… ugly.

Then, he did something that made my heart break into a thousand tiny pieces.

He tore it. Right in front of me. The card I spent hours making, folding it just right, writing his name in a neat,perfect line with tiny black hearts around it. He ripped it with such force that the sound of it filled the air, and my stomach dropped. My breath went shallow, my chest tight, as the pieces fluttered into the air like confetti, falling all around me.

The wind picked them up, whirling them around us, spinning the little scraps of paper into the night, as if they never mattered at all.

The card drifted away, lost in the garden, vanishing into the dark. And just like that, I felt like my heart vanished with it.

You should go.

You don’t belong here.

Don’t come back, Poe.

His words hurt me over and over again.

He didn’t say anything more. He didn’t look back as he walked away, the sound of his footsteps muffled by the damped earth.

I stood there for a long time, staring at where he stood, the broken pieces of the card caught in the branches of the roses, the wind carrying them farther and farther away.

I couldn’t breathe. My heart felt like it’s been shattered into pieces, scattered just like the card.

Maybe love is a lie. Maybe it’s just something Mommy and Daddy said to make the world feel prettier, make it feel like it’s all worth something. But right now, standing in the cold and dark night, feeling the sting of his cruel rejection deep inside my heart, I couldn’t believe in it anymore.

Stupid Valentine’s Day.

It was all a lie.

A lone tear fell down my cheek as I watched the tiny broken pieces of the card. Stupid love. What a lie.

Crack.

My chest hurt while I wiped more tears from my eyes.

After what felt like hours, I turned away from the roses and where my heart lay on the grass, walking back toward the mansion, my feet dragging. The party inside was still alive, the laughter and music filling the air, but it all felt so distant now. Like none of it mattered. Like it was all just noise, and I’m standing in the middle of it, broken and alone.

I don’t think I’ll ever write a Valentine’s card again.

Not for anyone.

Especially for that heartless prince.

Chapter

One

BLOODY ROSES

Poe

“Roses are red, violets are blue, love bites, and so do you.” – P

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