CHAPTER 274: GET. OUT!

The small clink of the ring against the fabric was a death knell for something that had once felt so vital. Adrien’s eyes, already full of a tempest of emotions, widened in disbelief, then devastation. The fierce resolve that had flickered moments before seemed to extinguish, leaving behind a raw, exposed vulnerability.

He didn’t speak for a long time, the silence stretching between us, thick with unspoken accusations and the crushing weight of our shared loss. His gaze was fixed on the ring, then slowly, agonizingly, lifted to meet mine. There was a flicker of something I couldn’t quite decipher – a desperate plea, a broken question.

"Bella—"

"I can’t keep living like this," I said, my voice cracking halfway through. "Adrien, I can’t keep surviving around you. It’s always pain, it’s always something. I just... I want to breathe again. Without fear. Without waiting for the next blow."

"Belle—"

"I want a divorce."

The words fell out of me like stones.

He went completely still. For a moment, I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me. Then his breath hitched, sharp and fragile.

"No," he said softly. "You don’t mean that."

"I do." My voice was small but unwavering. "Let’s go our separate ways. You stay in your world, I’ll return to mine. And I hope, with everything in me, that you never cross my path again." I met his eyes then, my throat closing around the words. "Don’t ever show your face to me again, Adrien. I mean it. You can keep your empire, your world of control, your secrets. I’m done."

"Princess—"

"I’m resigning too," I said quickly, before he could say anything else. "From the job, from the marriage, from everything that binds me to you. I’m done being your assistant, your lover, your liability."

"Bella, please. You don’t mean that. You’re in pain, and—"

"Don’t you dare tell me what I mean!" I shouted, the sound raw and animal. "Just leave me the hell alone..."

His jaw worked, his voice dropping to that low, steady tone he always used to soothe chaos. "Izzy, please, calm down—"

"Don’t." I snapped, shoving his hand away when he reached for me. "Don’t touch me!"

He tried again, gentler this time, his palm grazing my shoulder. "Please, sweetheart, just—"

I shoved harder. "I said don’t!"

The tears came again, hot and shaking. gosh... I cant seem to stop this damn tears... it hurts much.

He reached for me then, slow and careful, like I was something fragile. His arms came around me before I could stop him.

"Let go of me!" I struggled, shoving against his chest, as I started hitting his chest, weak blows that landed more out of grief than anger. "Let go, Adrien!"

"Please calm down, Amor," he whispered against my hair, voice hoarse. "Please."

His arms tightened instinctively, not to restrain, but to offer a sanctuary I was violently rejecting. I could feel the rumble of his chest beneath my fists, a steady, solid presence that was both the anchor and the storm I was trying to escape. My breath hitched, ragged sobs tearing through the fragile quiet of the room.

"You’re hurting me," I choked out, the words muffled against his tailored shirt. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. He wasn’t physically hurting me; it was the memory of his touch, the phantom echo of our intimacy that clawed at me.

"Stop—" I hit him again, but it only made him hold me tighter. "You don’t get to touch me! Release me—"

And then—I felt it. Something wet fell against my hair. A tear. Then another. Not mine. His.

I froze. For a split second, confusion cut through the rage. Is he crying?

My sobs faltered for a heartbeat. "Why—why are you crying?" I stammered. "I’m the one hurting. Why are you doing this now?!"

His arms trembled around me, his breath unsteady. But he didn’t answer.

My hands, clenched into fists against his chest, slowly uncurled.

"Why?" I whispered again, the word muffled against the starched linen of his shirt. It smelled of him. The familiarity was a fresh wound.

He drew a ragged, shuddering breath. His voice, when it finally came, was shattered glass. "Because you’re my heart," he rasped, the words raw and stripped bare of all his usual control. "And you just asked me to stop it from beating."

Something in me snapped. A scream ripped out of my throat, so loud it scraped the walls. "NGAAAAAH!"

I thrashed, desperate to break free, my nails digging into his arm, the IV line yanking hard enough to make the machine beep angrily.

"Stop—Bella, stop, you’re hurting yourself!" He let go at last, hands falling in surrender. "Please—please stop, you’re bleeding."

I looked down. The IV had torn partway out, blood trickling down my wrist. The sight barely registered before another wave of fury hit.

"Get out!" I screamed. My hand shot out, grabbing the vase on the bedside table. Without thinking, I hurled it at him.

It shattered against the floor beside his legs, water splashing across his shoes.

"Leave! Go away! I don’t want to see you!" My voice cracked and collapsed into sobs. "Just go, Adrien!"

Adrien didn’t flinch, didn’t even spare a glance for the shattered ceramic. His gaze remained locked on my face, but it was no longer accusatory or pleading. It was simply... broken. The raw hurt in his eyes was almost too much to bear, even for me in my current storm.

"Please..." I whispered, the word coming out as a strangled sob. "Just go." My gaze dropped to the small clink of the ring on the sheet next to me, the ring that had started this entire, agonizing spiral. Like a compass needle pointing home, it pulled my eyes back to Adrien’s face, to the man who was both my anchor and my storm. "Just... get out of my life."

The room filled with the sound of my own broken breathing, the steady beep of the IV monitor, and the echo of glass still rolling on the floor between us.