"What do I mean?" Delyth scoffed. "Don’t you know it already, Ryan?"
Ryan truly was confused. But even confused, he didn’t let himself waver. Instead of looking firmly at Delyth, he said, "I truly do not know it. If you are willing to tell me, then it’s okay. Or else, let’s not mind."
Delyth gritted. If she really didn’t want to have this conversation with him, she wouldn’t have started it. Of course, she wasn’t giving up that easily. "Ryan, do you think I don’t know what you are trying to do with all this act?"
"Act?"
"Of course, an act," she snapped. " If not an act, what would you call it? This all is just your way of making yourself look righteous. Your way of punishing me for what I did to Arwen. So tomorrow, you can parade your actions to her, showing her how I ’paid’ for her suffering."
At her mention of Arwen, his fingers clenched involuntarily. His patience snapped like a taut string and his expression turned icy.
"Punishing you for what you did to Arwen?" he repeated. "Do you think I have punished or been punishing you for what you did to her?"
"Is it not?"
Ryan let out a dark, humourless laugh. It sent a chill down her spine. "You are delusional, Delyt," he said coldly. "Seems like you are living in some fairytale where punishments are nothing more than harsh words and a cold shoulder. But the reality is not some rose-tinted storybook." He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a sinister whisper. "But believe me, the reality is no show of the world through pink glasses. Here, the punishments are far crueller than your worst nightmares. If you haven’t suffered one, then think yourself lucky enough."
Delyth flinched at his tone. He had never talked to her like that. And today his attitude as such scared her. Her hands instinctively moved to wheel back, but before she could make any distance, Ryan’s hands clamped down the armrests of her wheelchair. He jerked it forward with a force that nearly knocked her breath away.
"Ryan, don’t —" she began, panic rising in her throat.
"Shush." His voice was sharp and commanding, cutting through her words. "Don’t scream yet. I haven’t come down to punish you." His face was inches from hers now, like she had always wanted. But at this moment she couldn’t bring herself to desire it anymore. Not because she changed her mind about him, but because he looked scary.
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