Saving the Villain

Note: This chapter is a narration of the original timeline. It's not a memory being recalled by any of the characters as it was part of the end of Volume 3.

"Enjoy your time tonight. Don't forget to use protection."

This was the first time Cosette asked 'Maxen' to stay with her after many times of trying but failing to voice that word out. But now that she did, the result was just as she feared; he just stayed silent. Probably, if Cosette asked the real Maxen, she wouldn't feel so disheartened, but alas, she mistook someone else for him.

This wasn't because of the wine. At this point in her life, Cosette could hold her liquor well. This was an honest mistake because of the shrinking part of her brain.

Just as Cosette walked past him with a heavy heart, a hand grabbed her wrist to stop her. Her brows rose as her heart skipped a beat. Did he change his mind? She wondered. Would he stay with her now?

"Until when…" Asher's grip around her wrist tightened, speaking through his gritted teeth. "... will you toy with me?"

Cosette looked back at him, eyes shimmering with the thin layer of tears coating her eyes. Her greed for him, especially after watching Asher and Mia being so lovey-dovey in front of everyone while Cosette had to be content with her secret meetings with Maxen, fueled that greed to be with him.

"I… never played you," she confessed, words that were meant for Maxen but were now being delivered to another man. "Everything I said, and everything I did… do you think they're all nonsense blabbering? There's a limit to a person's playfulness… and so was a person's denseness."

Cosette slowly faced him, feeling the tension in her throat. She knew her days were numbered, and she shouldn't be confessing now. However, she missed him so much and wanted to be with him so terribly bad she felt like something within her died after their breakup.

"I… really am deeply, madly, and devotedly in love with you." She breathed out a jagged breath. "And it kills me every time you seem to not get that."

"How can I know that?" Asher's eyes flashed with bitterness that never appeared in his eyes. "You… were never serious."

"I was scared." Her response was quick and unfaltering.

"If you were scared, why would you say this now?"

"I... don't know." Cosette drew a deep breath and shook her head. "I told myself over and over I am satisfied with what we have, but… I don't know. Maybe I was bitter? Or I am just being consumed with jealousy — I am losing my mind."

Asher gripped her wrist tighter and then loosened his grip, but didn't let her go. For Cosette, these words were the words she had always wanted to tell Maxen, and was slightly relieved to express them after a long time. Yet, dropping these words now still breaks her heart because she knew, at the end of the day, she would still die and leave him devastated.

It was nothing but an act of selfishness.

It was the same for Asher. He might not know these words weren't meant for him, but the pain she felt was just as intense as the pain slicing through his heart.

Why now, of all times, would this woman… who brought nothing but the longing in his heart would confess to him? Just when he thought he could open his heart to another — to Mia, his contractual fiancee — would Cosette say all these words when she ignored him for years?

"You… are driving me crazy, Cosette Blac," he breathed out, pulling her wrist into his embrace. "I hate you… for forgetting about us and still have the audacity to act so coy, yet… just one word, and here I am, like a dog wagging his tail for the master who abandoned him."

Asher tightened his embrace, almost clutching her back.

"If I know you're playing with me again, I… will kill you, Cosette Blac," he hissed.

The pain she had cost him was far too severe. Cosette had no idea. She had no idea his admiration dates back to when they were still in high school, attending the same academy, and then they also attended the same university.

Who doesn't know Cosette Blac? Not only she was a beauty but also, she was smart and wise, being the heiress of the Blac family.

Asher had admired Cosette for a long time, even though nothing ever mattered to her aside from topping the class and proving herself worthy to inherit their family business. They had a few encounters before, but they were not anything worthy to remember.

His admiration for her remained as a mere admiration for years because Cosette was arranged in an arranged marriage and had a fiance.

Initially, Asher felt bitter about her engagement with Ezekiel Stone. The Quinn family was a far better option, but there was nothing he could do.

Until years later, after her engagement was announced, Asher and Cosette coincidentally met again in a high-end club in another state. She might've not recognized him, but he did at first glance.

That night, while Cosette was highly intoxicated, the two of them had a memorable time together. However, Asher woke up the next morning on the bed he rolled under the sheet with her all night, alone. Cosette was gone, and only days later, did he hear the news about the cancellation of her engagement, and also the reason for her state that night.

Asher felt cheated, but he let it pass. Even when he met her again under official business matters, he pretended that night with her didn't happen. He had also met Mia and his relationship with her was getting better.

But now that Asher felt like his life was back on track… Cosette had said something that seemed to leave him a mess again.

"Don't hurt me, Cosette," he said after a long silence, drawing away to look her in the eye so she could see how it would devastate him if she leave him again. He didn't know how he would start over again if she was just pulling a prank on him.

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Cosette's eyes softened as she smiled.

Asher cupped her face and brushed her cheek with his thumb. His back stiffened when she whispered.

"I love you."

His breath hitched for a moment, looking back at her wide-eyed. He was so moved that his eyes softened.

"I love you too." He bent over, claiming her soft lips, basking in this frail happiness, not knowing it was only the beginning of his nightmare.

Little did they know, the door of the balcony was slightly opened and a figure was just standing right outside. He had heard everything, making him ball his hands into a tight fist, staring at the floor blankly.

'So…' A dangerous and painful glint fastened across Maxen's eyes. '... that's how it is, huh? Cosette?'

— End of Volume 3 —