Chapter 131

Michael's Point of View

She looked like a frightened deer caught in headlights. Her entire body screamed that she was about to bolt. That whatever was going on in that head of hers, it wasn't pretty.

All of her muscles had locked up. Face included. Screwed shut against the torrent of my words.

And there was no one else to blame for her reaction but myself.

I hated myself a bit more for causing her distress. Hated myself for having had taken away the little trust she had built in me entirely.

But if it took my entire life to get it back, then so fucking be it.

Hell, I had even bought these clothes because I thought it might make her a bit more comfortable around me. A bit more familiar. Although they made me feel like a painted whore. Pretty on the outside but rotten on the inside.

I had done it for her. For her comfort.

Maybe for myself as well. To give her the impression that I was more than willing to change anything about myself if it meant I got to spend even a morsel of time wit