But even worse than the rage... was the satisfaction.
The more she watched, the more it beca clear: Oliver wasn’t just trying to protect her. He was enjoying it. His movents were filled with a terrifying precision almost like he had been waiting for this mont.
At that mont Cora felt a tremor run through her spine. Her lips parted slightly, but no words ca out. She was speechless. Her heart was hurting, confused between fear and disbelief.
She couldn’t believe this was her Oliver? The sa Oliver who used to smile warmly at her like the world would stop spinning if she got hurt? The one who made her feel safe and gentle just by holding her hand? This... this wasn’t him. The man in the footage wasn’t that Oliver. He looked like a stranger. No worse. He looked like a monster.
The air around her suddenly felt heavier. Her throat tightened. Her chest rose and fell slowly as her thoughts beca louder than her heartbeat.
"Who are you, Oliver?" she whispered in her head.
And then... like a cruel twist of fate, her mind began to wander to the conversation she once had with William. His words echoed now louder than ever in her ears.
"Oliver is dangerous, Cora. He hides it well, but he doesn’t feel things the way we do. There’s sothing missing in him, emotion, remorse... empathy. I don’t think he even knows what guilt feels like."
At that ti, she dismissed William. She thought he was just trying to ruin things between her and Oliver out of jealousy, or pride, or so bitter motive. But now? Now she wasn’t so sure anymore.
The Oliver she was seeing right now... he didn’t look like soone trying to save a woman he loved. He looked like soone executing judgnt. Soone who believed those n deserved to die. Soone who wasn’t protecting he was punishing.
Cora didn’t even notice her own lips trembling as the footage ca to an end again. Her eyes were still frozen on the screen, but her mind had already drifted far away into a storm of emotions. She couldn’t deny it anymore.
This wasn’t the sweet and loving Oliver that she knew. Oliver now looked like a different monster entirely. And in her mind, she started thinking that could it be that what William actually told her about Oliver was true, that Oliver doesn’t have any emotion, he’s so unremorseful. Could it be that is the case?
At that mont, another wave of realization hit Cora so hard, she almost staggered backward. Her breath caught in her chest as she clutched the edge of the table beside her, eyes still fixated on the now-black screen of the CCTV footage. A deep ache slowly began to bloom in her heart, an ache laced not just with worry, but with guilt.
It wasn’t just that Oliver had killed those five n. It wasn’t just the brutality of it. It was why he had done it.
He did it for her.
He had lost his composure. He had completely let go of reason, of restraint, all because of her. Because she had been in danger. Because she had almost died. And Oliver had been the one to make sure that didn’t happen. But at what cost? Cora’s lips trembled as she lowered herself slowly onto the couch, her hand pressed against her forehead, her mind spiraling in so many directions. "Oh my God... what have I done?" she whispered.
For the first ti, her mind stopped worrying about the five dead n or the sixth hanging between life and death in the hospital. No. That wasn’t the issue anymore.
What about Oliver?
Why had it taken her this long to even think of him? Why hadn’t she wondered where he was after everything? He hadn’t co to the hospital. He hadn’t called. He hadn’t sent a single ssage. And for soone like Oliver soone who used to appear the mont she needed help, this silence was deafening.
At that mont her heart tightened, he wasn’t absent because he didn’t care.
He was absent because sothing was wrong.
She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, pain crawling through her chest like sharp thorns. Why had she been so focused on everything else, on the aftermath, on the dia, on the security lapses, on the people who tried to destroy her career that she had completely forgotten about the man who saved her life? She should have known better. She should have known better.
Maybe he was hurting now. Maybe he was sitting alone, sowhere in the dark, broken by the weight of what he had done. Maybe the blood of those five n was haunting him, tornting his mind.
Or maybe... he didn’t even feel anything at all.
That thought chilled her to the bone. The way he fought in the video... so cold. So precise. So empty. So unlike the Oliver she used to know.
Then her fingers curled into fists on her lap as she whispered again, "No... no, that’s not him. That’s not the real Oliver. Sothing must be wrong. He’s hurting... and I wasn’t there."
Then tears stung the corners of her eyes. "I was so foolish... so blind. What is wrong with ?"
Imdiately she sniffed, wiping her face quickly, not wanting anyone to see her break down further.
Then she stood up, her voice trembling but firm. "Giovanni..."
He looked at her imdiately.
"Accompany to Oliver’s house," she said, her tone filled with a mixture of urgency and regret. "I need to see my friend and know how my friend is doing."
At that mont, just as Cora turned to take a step out of the room, her phone suddenly rang, slicing through the silence like an alarm. She paused, her hand still midair. For a second, she didn’t want to answer. Her heart had been heavy with thoughts about Oliver, and she felt emotionally exhausted. But sothing tugged at her, curiosity. A small flicker of hope sparked in her chest. Could it be Oliver? she wondered, her fingers hesitating near her pocket.
Slowly, almost unwillingly, she reached into her bag and pulled out the phone. Her breath caught for a second but the na on the screen wasn’t Oliver’s. It was Malisa.
Imdiately she frowned.
Why would Malisa be calling her now, right after visiting her at the hospital? What could be so urgent that she didn’t ntion it when they were face to face?
She answered the call, her tone slightly annoyed but still controlled.
"Malisa, what is it? What could possibly make you call like this? Is there sothing you forgot to say at the hospital? You could’ve said it earlier."
On the other end of the call, lissa’s voice ca through with a nervous softness. "Miss Cora, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t an to disturb you again so soon. I know you’ve been through a lot lately..."
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