A Journey from Bitterness to Truth (Matilda and Yvan) novel Chapter 352

But Matilda didn't die. She clung to life with the tenacity of a cat with nine lives, fighting to breathe, to exist. And Yvan? He seemed to take a perverse pleasure in kicking her when she was down, as if trying to crush her spirit along with her bones.

And now? His wish had come true. Matilda had a broken rib, one perilously close to her heart.

It turned out her bones weren't as unbreakable as her will, not tough enough to shoulder all the injustice and pain. She was fragile, so fragile that a mere touch could make her bleed...

Yvan was silent, swallowed up by a deathly stillness.

Keaton said, "Why don't you sit with her and talk for a bit, Yvan? Matilda can still hear you."

Yvan suddenly looked up, shocked. "Can I... go back?"

"What you need to do now is make it up to her in every way possible," Keaton clicked his tongue. "Although, it seems like Matilda isn't exactly waiting for your apology."

Right, she had said before she passed out, she wanted him to owe her, forever, nailed to a cross of guilt.

Did she shield him from those blows with that thought in her mind?

Yvan's eyes reddened. How could she be so cruel! Preferring to bleed and get hurt just to make him owe her! Wasn't she afraid of dying!

Keaton, observing Yvan's expression, suddenly felt pity for the man in front of him.

Blinded by what he believed was the truth for so long, that when the layers started to peel away, he seemed as fragile as a paper doll, disintegrating into dust upon touch.

He had clung to a notion of justice that turned out to be a lie.

The person he had loathed so deeply over the years was not the one who deserved it.