Chapter 8

Just as my life was getting better and better, Adrian found me here.

When I saw him again, I felt a bit dazed.

How long had it been since I'd last seen him?

Two months or three?

Adrian now looked completely haggard, his entire appearance drastically changed.

Gone was his former elegance and refinement; his once straight back now hunched over as if deflated.

His eyeballs were bloodshot, his eye sockets sunken, his face covered in stubble, and his clothes all wrinkled.

In the early winter weather of France, he wore only a thin gray wool coat.

I wanted to pretend I hadn't seen him and walk past, but he grabbed my arm.

[Aria, let's talk properly.]

I pulled my hand away without looking at him, not wanting to see his face.

[What is there left for us to talk about?]

Suddenly, a strange sharp pain pierced my heart, like a blade etching into it stroke by stroke, deep and heavy, splattering droplets of blood along the way.