A Heart in Ruins

“No matter what decision you make, we will always support you. How about coming to Germany?”

The words echoed in my ear as I spoke to my parents on the phone. I didn’t answer right away. Instead, the moment the call ended, I headed straight to the embassy.

A few years ago, my parents had transferred their entire business overseas. They had moved abroad with my brother, leaving me behind to stay with Vittorio. Now, I was finally determined to leave.

“The paperwork will be ready in a week,” the officer said with a polite smile.

I gave a slight nod, took the receipt, and walked out of the embassy. The cool air hit my face, and a quiet certainty settled in my chest.

Everything was finally coming to end.

That evening, I met up with a few friends at a bar. Honestly, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d stepped foot in a nightclub since marrying Vittorio.

“Sylvia, what’s gotten into you today?” Maggie asked, grabbing my arm in sheer surprise.

“Ever since you fell for that aloof monk, you’ve been trailing after him like a shadow. I thought you’d never set foot in places like this again!”

I offered a faint, self-deprecating smile. Lifting my wine glass, I took a slow sip, letting my gaze drift into a hazy blur. “I’m done caring about him. Tonight, I’m just going to party until I drop.”

But before the words even fully left my lips, a sharp voice cut through the noise.

“Vittorio Croft.”

I turned, my eyes landing on Vittorio striding purposefully toward Silvia Croft, his adopted sister. She was in the middle of exchanging contact info with a strange man.

Vittorio grabbed her wrist, his grip tight and unyielding. “Who let you come to a place like this? And who gave you permission to hand out your number to strangers?”

Silvia froze. Her eyes instantly welled up, rimmed with red. “Why can’t I be here? Why can’t I talk to whoever I want? Vittorio, you said you were giving up on me! So why do you still care what I do?!

His knuckles turned bone-white. When he spoke, his voice had dropped to a dangerous, gravelly pitch. “Who said I stopped looking after you?”

“You did!” Silvia cried out, her voice trembling violently. “You avoid me every single day! You refuse to even see me! You used to spoil me, Vittorio. Why did everything change so suddenly?”

Hearing this, Vittorio choked on his words. “That’s because…”

Standing a few feet away, I felt my heart twist painfully, as if an invisible hand were crushing it in my chest.

I knew he couldn't answer her question. But a morbid part of me wondered what he would say. Would he confess that he loved her, and that hiding was the only way to keep from destroying them both? Or would he admit that the moment he laid eyes on her, he completely lost control?

I let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh and turned to leave. I didn't have the stomach for this anymore.

But then, Silvia’s sobbing pierced the air. “Can we just be as close as we used to be?

Vittorio murmured in a low and hoarse voice, “You know I got married. I can’t revolve around you all the time.”

Silvia suddenly snapped her head up. A dangerous, unhinged glint flashed in her tear-filled eyes.

“So… you’re saying we could be exactly like before, as long as Sylvia just disappears?”

I didn't have time to bother with their twisted drama. I had already picked up my bag, intending to walk away.

But out of the corner of my eye, I saw Silvia snatch a heavy glass bottle from the table. She was rushing straight at me.

Bang!

The bottle smashed brutally against my head. The sickening crunch of exploding glass erupted in my ears, followed instantly by the hot, sticky sensation of blood trickling down my temple.

“Sylvia!” Maggie’s piercing scream tore through the club.

I stumbled backward, my vision swimming, only to see Silvia raising another bottle high above my head, her face twisted in pure madness.

“Go to hell!”

When the second blow came down, the world went completely black.

I collapsed into a growing pool of my own blood, my consciousness fading as nothing but chaotic, distant screams echoed in my ears.