CHAPTER FIVE:The Woman Who Wasn’t Supposed to Come Back18Please respect copyright.PENANAiJ7j55zGY3
(Ms. De Luna's POV)
She didn’t plan to return.
After the kiss, she swore she wouldn’t.
Not because she didn’t want to…18Please respect copyright.PENANAompMCn0ODf
But because she wanted too much.
What kind of woman kisses a stranger just because he touched her kindly?18Please respect copyright.PENANAvO8WIzU50l
What kind of woman sits in her car afterward, heart racing, lips burning, thighs pressed together like she could trap the heat he left behind?
A broken one.18Please respect copyright.PENANAu7mQIt0BAp
That’s what she thought.
But the problem was…18Please respect copyright.PENANAXmztoQZ2RP
She didn’t feel broken anymore.
She felt alive.18Please respect copyright.PENANA0gfpksGhrx
Uncomfortably. Unapologetically. Tragically alive.
The days passed like a fever.
She worked. Smiled at people. Ate her salads. Wrote her reports.18Please respect copyright.PENANA6tTcmtwNvm
And every time she blinked, she saw him.
Matteo.
Not just his face.18Please respect copyright.PENANABmuqVLRnCJ
But his hands. His voice. That silence he sat in like he owned it.
That kiss.18Please respect copyright.PENANAmmf9SBI0lM
God, that kiss.
"Tell me to stop," he’d said.18Please respect copyright.PENANAWH1cGAxXkR
And she didn’t.
She didn’t even think.
And now, every mirror she passed felt like a lie.18Please respect copyright.PENANAsa75x1zBrB
She wasn’t the same woman anymore.
Not the one who curled her hair into place.18Please respect copyright.PENANA07PI0DUZrh
Not the one who shrank when men stared too long.18Please respect copyright.PENANA4EAKgT9sR5
Not the one who’d numbed herself for the sake of surviving.
No.18Please respect copyright.PENANAln7CmAscUk
That woman died in Room 3 of Matteo’s clinic.
And what rose in her place?
Someone dangerous.
She tried to delete the appointment app three times.
Her finger hovered over the screen each time.
She told herself she was being ridiculous.18Please respect copyright.PENANACxRXqpCkr0
That this was a phase. That she didn’t need this.18Please respect copyright.PENANAmKrDQpX05G
That he didn’t feel it, too.
But he did.18Please respect copyright.PENANAKMrWaakkVm
She saw it in his eyes.18Please respect copyright.PENANA4yvBx78I8m
Right before he kissed her like it meant something.
She opened the app again.
Scrolled.
Found his name.18Please respect copyright.PENANAhDUYdbGVL8
Dr. M. Reyes — Private Schedule
"Last Available Slot: Friday, 5:00 PM"
Her finger trembled.
And then she tapped it.
Book Appointment.
A second later, her screen confirmed:18Please respect copyright.PENANAved9nsjo6Z
CONFIRMED.
She stared at it, heart pounding.
She didn’t smile.
Didn’t cry.
Just… breathed.
Because deep down, she knew:
ns216.73.216.203da2She wasn’t going back for healing anymore.
She was going back to burn.