"You thought I loved you? Hamh! You were nothing but a pawn to me. Now die!!!"
"No, no, no!" I whispered again and again, my hands shaking as I held the computer screen.
"Please… please… don't kill her," I begged in a broken voice. My legs felt weak and started trembling. "Don't kill my Rose…"
I quickly scrolled down the page with trembling fingers. Then I saw the words that broke my heart:
"The feared villainess Rosalina Valentine was killed by her own lover."
I sat there frozen, tears filling my eyes, unable to look away from those cruel words on the screen.
"How can this be…?"
I whispered to myself, my voice shaking. "He clearly said he wouldn't kill Rose…"
I grabbed my phone with trembling hands and quickly scrolled back through our old messages.
'Michael… Michael…'
My fingers were shaking so badly I could barely press the buttons. I found his number and hit call.
"The number you are calling is currently switched off…"
"Damn it!"
I screamed and threw the phone hard against the wall. It hit with a loud crack and fell to the floor.
"You bastard!!" I shouted at the empty room, tears burning my eyes.
"I told you not to kill my Rose! So why did you do it?! WHY?!"
My chest felt tight, like I couldn't breathe. I dropped to my knees, staring at the broken phone on the floor, feeling completely helpless and betrayed.
"Wasn't money enough for you?!"
I mumbled, my voice cracking with pain and anger.
It all started a few years ago. After my parents died in that terrible accident, something inside me broke.
My head would suddenly start hurting so badly, like someone was hammering inside my skull.
And then came the urges… dark, terrible urges to hurt people, to destroy things, to do wrong over and over. I couldn't control it.
Everything went wrong after that. My friends left me one by one, they said I scared them. School expelled me because I kept getting into fights and breaking rules.
People started crossing the street when they saw me coming. I was completely alone. My life felt finished.
Until the day I met her.
Rosalina Valentine.
The cold, proud villainess from the novel "The Severed Thread." The way she spoke, full of arrogance and confidence.
The majestic way she carried herself, like the whole world should bow to her. Her cruelty, her sharp smile, her fearless heart…
Everything about her pulled me in.
For the first time in years, my heart beat fast for something good.
I fell deeply, completely in love with her.
Even though she was just words on a page…
she became the only light in my dark world. But deep down, I knew the painful truth. No matter how much I loved her, no matter how hard I tried…
I could never really have her.
She was just a character in a book. Still, I wanted to protect her more than anything. My first and only goal became this: I would not let her die.
She was the villainess. In every story like this, the villainess is meant to die horribly. But I refused to accept that ending for my Rose.
So I did the only thing I could think of. I found the author's contact. I messaged him again and again.
Then I sent him everything, every last penny my parents had left me in their will.
All the money, all my savings. I begged him:
"Please change the story. Give Rosalina Valentine a happy ending. Don't kill her. I'm paying you so she can live."
I waited. I hoped. I believed he would listen.
But he didn't.
In the end, he still killed her.
"You f*cking bastard!" I roared, my voice breaking into pieces. "I told you not to kill her! I gave you everything!!"
I grabbed the nearest thing, a glass on the table, and crushed it in my fist. Blood dripped from my hand, but I didn't feel it. I only felt rage.
"Why did you do it, huh?!"
"Wasn't the money enough?!
Wasn't that why you even wrote her in the first place, for money?!"
I turned and saw the mirror on the wall.
My reflection looked like a stranger, wild eyes, tear-streaked face, shaking.
I hated it. I hated everything.
I ripped the mirror off the wall and smashed it against the floor. Glass exploded everywhere.
"I won't forgive you!!"
I shouted until my throat burned.
"I won't! I WON'T!
YOU HEAR ME?!"
I stormed toward the drawer with rage burning in my eyes. My hands shook as I yanked it open and pulled out the pistol.
"I will kill you!!" I growled through gritted teeth. He thought he could get away with killing my Rose? I'll show him exactly how much pain feels like.
I shoved the pistol into the waistband of my pants and turned to leave. But the moment I took one step, the ache in my chest exploded again, sharper, deeper.
The pain of losing her didn't fade at all.
It only grew bigger, swallowing me whole.
One single thought kept repeating in my head like a broken record:
"What will I do after I kill him?"
"Can I even live without her?"
No.
It's impossible. I can't breathe in a world where Rose doesn't exist.
"So… I'll join her."
I whispered those words to myself, voice cracking, ready to walk out the door
when something on the computer screen stopped me dead.
I slowly turned back. My heart pounded hard. New words had appeared on the screen in huge, bold letters:
WANT TO CHANGE EVERYTHING? THEN DIE!
"This…?
What the hell is this…?"
I stood frozen, staring at the glowing words. My breath came fast and shallow.
My mind raced, Is this a glitch? A cruel joke from the author? Or… something else?
I grabbed the mouse with shaking hands and scrolled down fast.
New bold letters appeared on the screen:
I WILL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO CHANGE EVERYTHING!! GRAB THE GUN AND DIE!
"Grab the gun…?"
My brain froze.
Everything around me became quiet, no sound, no thoughts, just those words glowing on the screen.
Without even thinking, my hand moved on its own. I reached down and pulled the pistol from my waistband.
"Can I really change everything if I die?"
"Can I save her?"
The pain in my chest was screaming, but the message was louder. It promised everything I wanted. My Rose. A world where she lives. A world where we could be together.
I slowly raised the gun to my temple.
No more thoughts.
No fear.
Only the message repeating in my head.
Then new words flashed:
YES. SHOOT!
I PROMISE YOU WILL GET YOUR CHANCE!
My finger tightened on the trigger.
I didn't feel anything anymore. Not anger. Not sadness. Just… certainty.
*BANG!*
The gunshot exploded through the room.
My body jerked. Everything went black.