Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 341

"Don't be afraid."

His lips pressed against hers, swallowing her trembling sobs with undeniable force.

In the empty music room, the broken, discordant notes of the piano echoed for what felt like forever. If you listened closely, you could still hear the girl's shattered cries woven through the chaos.

Her pale, delicate skin was pressed against the black and white keys, the music dissolving into a wild tangle of sound. She was gasping, eyes glazed, as if something vital had been torn from her chest and cast into darkness, leaving her nothing but a blurry shadow of herself. She didn't love the piano anymore.

After that day,

For a long time, Mila was afraid whenever she saw a piano. Even when the fear faded, she never touched the keys again. Her aversion was etched into her very bones.

...

And after that,

She stopped going to that dark room as often.

But in its place came something stranger-Lysander's obsession. He'd press her up against familiar and unfamiliar places alike, chasing fleeting moments of pleasure.

On the balcony, in the kitchen... sometimes even in a private theater or an empty amusement park-places she and Forrest had once visited together.

Those pure, happy memories were overwritten, replaced by desire, until even recalling them left her feeling unspeakably ashamed.

She found herself recoiling from the memories they'd shared.

How humiliating.

Gradually, those days faded into the past.

Time slipped by in a blur of chaos, until New Year's Eve arrived. Mila sat curled up

window seat, staring blankly at

burst across the sky. Families gathered

A new beginning.

A new life.

had

the heating turned high. She wore nothing but a sheer white dress, and without thinking pressed her hand to the cold glass, her breath fogging up a

weight settled suddenly on her shoulders. Short, dark

She froze.

holidays? Why

to turn, but his hand held her still. His voice was low, almost pleading. "Don't

So she didn't move.

at once, Mila stiffened. She felt something

Lysander was crying?

always seemed in control,

She didn't dare move.

finally heard his muffled voice. "My mom's sick again. Why does she treat me like this whenever she gets ill? She

didn't answer, but her eyes were blank

ever heard Lysander talk about his family, as strange and unreadable as

even he

only lasted a moment before fading away. No matter how beautiful,

fireworks lit up the sky, and she heard his voice, sharp and raw, exploding

me, Mila. Please just

"I'm so tired."

she was feeling-fear? Habit? Loneliness on New Year's Eve? Or something

was a

She didn't know.

Slowly, Mila turned,

cupped his face in her hands. The kaleidoscope of fireworks cast his