Collision Course
“I think what we had was real.”
“And you came here now, five years later, hoping I’d still have some leftover piece of it to hand you like a bone.”
Vivienne stepped closer. “I came here because I’m desperate. But not for your love.”
“Then what?”
“For the only thing you ever gave easily money.”
His expression didn’t change. “You’re finally honest.”
She rolled her eyes. “You want honesty? Here’s honesty: I hate this version of you.”
“This version of me doesn’t need anyone’s approval.”
“No. He just needs to be feared.”
“I earned that.”
“You used to be kind, Magnus.”
“No,” he said. “I used to be weak.”
She pressed a hand to her forehead. “You don’t even hear yourself.”
“You came to a man you hate for help. What does that say about you?”
“That I don’t care how much pride I have to choke on to save my home.”
“Or maybe it says you knew I wouldn’t turn you away.”
Her voice softened. “Would you?”
“I haven’t yet.”
“But you will.”
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because I haven’t figured out whether I want to ruin you or rescue you.”
76
1/6
12:07 Sun, Oct 12
Chapter 36
Vivienne stared at him. “That’s a disgusting thing to say.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Do you really think I haven’t suffered enough?”
“Suffering is relative.”
“I lost everything, Magnus.”
“So did 1.”
76
She exhaled shakily. “Why does it feel like you want me to drown?”
“Because part of me does.”
The silence that followed was sharp and fragile, like glass teetering on a ledge.
And then she stepped forward slowly, deliberately until she was close enough to feel the heat off his body, close enough that she had to tilt her chin to look him in the eyes.
“You said I lied to myself?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“You say you’re over me?”
“I am.”
“You say I came here to beg?”
“Yes.”
She nodded slowly.
Then leaned in, her voice a low, broken whisper.
“Didn’t you?”
It had rained that night.
Vivienne entered the room slowly.
Her coat was soaked through. Her hair hung limp against her neck. Water clung to her lashes.
She stood at the foot of the bed, her boots dripping on the tile, her eyes locked on the man she still called her husband.
He looked… hollow.
2/6
12:07 Sun, Oct 12
Chapter 36
Not tired.
Not broken.
Just… gone.
“Did you walk here?” he asked, voice hoarse.
She didn’t answer. She dropped her bag on the floor and pulled off her coat with slow, trembling fingers.
“I asked you something,” he said again.
“I took the train.”
He scoffed. “Of course you did.”
She folded her coat across the chair. “You left the house without saying anything.”
“I needed air.”
“You have tubes in your arm, Magnus. You don’t just walk out of a hospital.”
He looked out the window. “I needed air.”
She approached him carefully, like he might shatter. “Why won’t you let me help you?”
He didn’t answer.
“I don’t care about the accident. I don’t care about the pain. I only care about you.”
“Don’t.”
“I mean it.”
“Don’t say things you don’t understand.”
“I understand everything,” she snapped.
He looked at her now. Really looked. “Do you understand what it’s like to go to bed every night wondering if tomorrow your legs will stop working again? Wondering if you’ll wake up and still be a fraction of a man?”
Her face crumpled. “Yes. Because I’ve watched you do it.”
He shook his head. “You watched from the outside.”
“I sat by your side.”
“You should’ve left.”
316
12:07 Sun, Oct 12
Chapter 36
She stepped closer. “Stop saying that.”
“You should’ve walked out the day they said I’d never run again.”
“You think I married your legs?”
He barked a laugh. “You married power. Control. Precision. Not pity.”
She froze.
He regretted the words the second they left his mouth, but it was too late. She’d already flinched.
“You bastard,” she whispered.
He looked down at his lap. “I didn’t mean
“Yes, you did.”
“I’m trying to give you an out.”
99
“I don’t want one.”
He shook his head. “You’ll hate me one day if you stay.”
“No, Magnus. I’ll hate you if you keep pushing me out.”
His hands clenched the bedrails. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“I’ve seen you at your worst. This isn’t it.”
“I can’t be that man anymore.”
“Then be someone new. With me.”
He looked up. His eyes were glassy but dry. “What if I don’t know how?”
She reached out. Her fingers brushed his cheek. “Then I’ll show you.”
He closed his eyes.
Let the touch sink in.
Let the moment be long enough for hope to bloom.
Then he whispered, “Leave.”
“What?”
76
4/6
12:07 Sun, Oct 12
Chapter 36
“I need you to go.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking.”
“You’re telling me to walk away from you while you’re still broken.”
“I’m telling you to walk away before 1 destroy you too.”
She didn’t move,
He gritted his teeth. “Vivienne please.”
She stepped back.
Stared at him for a long moment.
Then she turned.
Picked up her coat.
And walked out of the room without a word.
Back in the present, the elevator groaned softly.
The lights still hadn’t returned.
Vivienne’s hands were shaking again but not from fear.
“You begged me to stay that night,” Magnus said.
She turned to him, her expression unreadable.
“I did,” he continued. “But you walked out.”
Her voice came low and tight. “You told me to.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“You never said that.”
“I didn’t know how.”
She moved across the small space slowly. Every step was deliberate.
“You begged me with words you didn’t mean. And I left because I thought it was what you wanted.”
76
5/6
12:07 Sun, Oct 12
Chapter 36
“It wasn’t.”
“You don’t get to rewrite what happened.”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t know the truth,” she said.
“Then tell me,” he challenged.
Her palm rose before her mind could stop it.
The sound of the slap cracked through the air.
Magnus didn’t move. His jaw tightened, eyes wide but not shocked.
Vivienne’s voice trembled. “You don’t know the truth.”
He looked at her, silent.
And for the first time in years, she saw pain break through his mask.
Chapter Comments
✔ LIKE
Write Comments
SHARE
76
