Chapter 265 She Wants to Leave Him
Athena froze as Byron’s lips brushed against hers. Despite the alcohol clouding his judgment, there was something unmistakable in his touch—a tenderness mixed with desperation that she couldn’t ignore. Her heart raced, but not for the reasons she expected. She was supposed to be angry, to push him away, to hold on to her resolve. Instead, she felt a flicker of something long buried inside her.
Byron’s kiss was gentle at first, as if he were testing the waters, unsure of what to expect. Athena remained still, caught in the storm of her own emotions. She had wanted freedom, wanted to leave him and the life he had entangled her in. But here he was, clinging to her like a man drowning, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow for him.
“Byron…” she whispered, pulling away slightly to look into his eyes. His gaze was unfocused, but there was still something there—a depth, a vulnerability that she rarely saw. “You’re drunk.”
Byron let out a small, breathless laugh, his forehead resting against hers. “Does it matter? I’m only asking for you, Thea. Just… don’t leave me.”
Athena’s breath hitched. She had seen him vulnerable before, but never like this. Never with such raw need. She wanted to escape, wanted to run far from the pain and the heartache, but part of her—the part she tried so hard to suppress—wanted to comfort him. She reached up and gently brushed his hair back from his forehead, a quiet gesture of affection that startled her as much as it did him.
“Byron, this isn’t the way,” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “You can’t keep holding onto me like this.”
But Byron wasn’t listening anymore. He leaned in again, his lips pressing against her with a new urgency. It was messy, clumsy, but there was something undeniably real in the way he kissed her. He wasn’t just a man trying to possess her. He was a man afraid of losing everything, grasping at whatever was left.
Athena closed her eyes, torn between the woman she once was and the one she had become. She had tried so hard to distance herself from him, to shut off the parts of her heart that still cared. But no matter how hard she fought, she couldn’t ignore the fact that this—this complicated mess they shared—wasn’t something she could walk away from so easily.
She pushed against his chest, gently this time, her hands resting on his arms as she looked at him with a mixture of pity and resolve. “Byron, I can’t stay in this… this cage anymore.”
Byron’s eyes flickered with confusion, but there was a deep sadness behind them, too. “I don’t want to lose you, Thea.”
The words hung in the air between them, fragile and unfinished. Athena swallowed the lump in her throat, unable to answer him with the finality she wanted. Instead, she stepped back slowly, her gaze falling to the floor as she turned away from him.
“Go to bed, Byron,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “You need to sleep.”
He didn’t move right away, still standing in the bathroom, his hands hanging at his sides as if he didn’t know what to do with them. Finally, he nodded, his steps unsteady as he made his way back to the bed. Athena watched him go, her heart breaking in ways she didn’t understand.
She didn’t know what was going to happen next. She didn’t know what kind of life awaited her after this. But one thing was certain: she was trapped in a cycle of love, guilt, and pain, and no matter how much she wanted to escape, she wasn’t sure if she could ever truly break free.
As she closed the bathroom door softly behind her, Athena couldn’t help but wonder if, deep down, she still loved him. Or if she was just holding on to the past.