A Journey from Bitterness to Truth (Matilda and Yvan) novel Chapter 495

Matilda had stayed out late that evening, and Criss, having had a bit too much to drink, clung to her, repeating with drunken seriousness, "I'm telling you, seriously telling you, you can't go back to Yvan."

Matilda couldn't help but laugh at Criss's solemnity, "Why bring this up now? It's been ages. I divorced him, remember?"

Criss, slightly slurred from the alcohol, insisted, "I just worry about that jerk... coming back to bother you! And you, all heart and no brain, will just believe him again... That would just, just kill me..."

His stumbling words made Matilda burst into laughter.

"Come on, you're drunk, always harping on the same thing."

Criss, with a seriousness only a drunk could muster, gazed at Matilda with damp, earnest eyes. "Dawn, I mean it. Don't go back to Yvan, promise me."

His suddenly gentle tone caught Matilda off guard, and then Criss, shifting from his earlier drunken antics, pulled her tightly into his embrace.

Matilda was stunned by his sudden move, but then laughed, gently pushing him away, "Hey, you're not trying to fall asleep on me, are you? Don't lean on me..."

His warm breath tickled her ear.

With a raspy voice and a mischievously curved lip, Criss's eyes sparkled with naughtiness. He pulled Matilda closer and gently kissed her forehead, "You'll always be my darling."

Matilda, patting his shoulder like a parent comforting a child, said, "Alright, alright, I'll always be. Can we not do this now? I'll listen to you, I won't get involved with Yvan anymore..."

She paused mid-sentence, suddenly stunned.

Criss hugged her, chuckling lowly with his chin resting on her shoulder.