Dangerous Melodies - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

MARISOL
A few moments later, I stood in the doorway, my chest tight with equal parts curiosity and caution.
I hadn’t seen much of Dante lately, and his avoidance had become painfully obvious.
The moment I stepped into the office, something in the air shifted. Heavy. Like something long buried had finally clawed its way to the surface.
What could he possibly want?
We’d been distant for weeks, barely speaking. Now he wanted a meeting?
A chill rippled through me as fear tightened low in my gut.
What if this is the end of us? If there’s even an “us” left to lose.
"You wanted to talk," I said, my voice barely above a whisper as I closed the door behind me.
This is it. The moment that either breaks us or heals the wreckage we've become.
His face gave nothing away, but his eyes, God, his eyes, held the weight of everything we hadn’t said.
For the first time in weeks, we faced each other without avoidance as a shield.
"Please, have a seat," he said, calm and distant.
I walked to the chair opposite his desk, my body rigid, bracing.
He stood and came around the desk, resting against its edge, facing me.
His movements were smooth, controlled. But my skin prickled, sensing more beneath the surface.
Is he really about to do this? Is this how we end?
"I wanted to let you know that I’ll be leaving for Europe tonight. I have business in London that requires my attention."
His tone was flat. Professional.
But this wasn’t business. We both knew that.
I blinked, my chest tightening.
I opened my mouth to ask how long he’d be gone, but he spoke before I could.
"Now that Marcos and your father are out of the picture, there’s no longer a need for us to continue this marriage."
He reached behind him and lifted a file. Divorce papers.
He held them out like they were nothing.
I stared at them, my stomach hollowing.
This couldn’t be real.
"I don’t understand," I said, voice thin. "I thought we would..."
His lips twisted. "What? Live happily ever after?"
The words hit like a slap.
I flinched.
"I did," I whispered.
For a moment, something flickered in his eyes.
Then it vanished.
"Marisol," he said, his voice turning to ice, "this was never about love. I’ve done what I needed to do. Rid you of Marcos and your father. Now, you’re free to live your life however you want."
Free.
The word echoed like a cruel joke.
How can I feel free when every broken piece of me still screams his name?
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
"Did you make me fall in love with you on purpose... just to discard me?"
His jaw shifted, his eyes cold.
"It was revenge," he said, his voice dull and lifeless. "Revenge for the public humiliation when we first met. You’re free now, and you have me to thank for that."
He paused, gaze sharpening like flint.
"I told you back then, didn’t I? That you’d be sorry for what you did. I couldn’t let your actions go unpunished. You knew there would be consequences."
His words hit their mark, but the worst pain came from what he didn’t say.
I’d hoped, naively, that I meant something to him. Anything.
But he gave me nothing.
He was still the fortress I could never breach.
"I couldn’t bring myself to physically hurt you," he said, cold but empty. "So, I hurt you the only way I knew how, emotionally."
The truth lodged in my chest, and the tears came anyway.
"I wish you had," I whispered. "Bruises fade. Cuts heal. But this... this wound you’ve left, it’s deeper than anything that bleeds. No one can see it, but it’ll stay with me forever."
He didn’t flinch or argue.
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a sleek black credit card, placing it on the desk between us.
"Use this for any expenses. I’m not cruel enough to leave you with nothing."
He gestured toward the long table against the wall. A duffel bag sat waiting.
"The bag contains your money and weapons. As promised, I’m returning it all to you."
The world blurred behind my tears, sharp and broken.
But I held my spine straight. I wouldn’t let him see me break.
"You’re a cruel man," I said, each word edged in glass. "You played your part so well. I didn’t even see the knife. I handed you everything. My heart. My innocence. All of it, wrapped in trust you never deserved."
My voice softened, but coldness laced every syllable.
"Your gentle words were nothing but blades in disguise and I mistook the knife for a caress."
I swallowed, tasting the bitterness of betrayal all over again.
"I won’t hate you. You set me free from Marcos and Roberto, but I see now. The only cage that ever held me was my trust in you."
A small smile touched my lips. Sad. Quiet. But unshaken.
"So I’ll carry this scar like armor. You may have taken my innocence, but you left me eyes wide open. And now, knowing you don’t want my love... you’ll always have my gratitude."
His face flinched. Barely. But I saw it.
That one crack in the mask.
My gratitude, even after everything, cut deeper than anything else I could’ve said.
He didn’t speak.
His expression hardened and his voice went cold.
"Sign the papers before you leave. And be gone by the time I get back from London."
He didn’t look at me.
"Goodbye, Marisol."
He turned, he gripped the handle of his suitcase.
There was a pause. A single breath.
His shoulders stiffened like he felt the weight of everything we hadn’t said.
Then he walked out. No backward glance. No hesitation.
And with him went the last sliver of what we could’ve been.
MARISOL
Maria had spent the entire day yesterday trying to console me, but nothing she did eased the ache sitting heavy in my chest.
My eyes were red and swollen, my face pale.
I looked exactly how I felt, wrung out from sleepless nights and too many memories I couldn’t stop reliving.
She’d watched me the whole time, helpless, wishing she could take away even a sliver of the weight pressing down on me.
"I have no one, Maria," I whispered.
My voice barely made it out.
It felt like something inside me was broken and the pieces wouldn’t go back together.
"No friends, no family… no one."
A memory crept in, sharp and soft all at once.
I could still feel my mother’s fingers combing through my hair before bed, hear her voice floating through the room, full of laughter.
Back when everything felt safe. Back when I had a home.
Now, there was nothing. Just silence.
Not the peaceful kind. The kind that makes you feel like you’ve vanished.
Like everything you love is gone, and you’re the only one left to remember it.
My chest felt tight. I looked down, the weight of that truth pressing in until I could barely breathe.
Maria’s breath caught as she watched me fall apart.
I saw the pain etched into her face.
She didn’t want to let me go, didn’t want me facing the unknown alone.
Her hesitation hung in the air between us, thick and silent.
Her gaze flicked toward the photo of Dante on her nightstand.
I saw the struggle there, the pull between the life she’d built with him and the love she’d always given me.
She knelt beside me and took my hands.
I hadn’t even realized I was trembling until her touch steadied me, just a little.
"You have me," she said, her voice low and full of emotion. "I know I’m not your family by blood, but I love you like my own. And if you want, I can come with you. You don’t have to be alone. We’ll figure it out together."
Tears blurred my vision again.
I wanted to say yes.
To take that offer and let it hold me for a while.
But the moment passed too quickly.
I can’t let her follow me into this.
"I would never do that to you," I said, barely holding my voice together. "I couldn’t take you away from the place that means so much to you."
I swallowed hard, trying to shove the sob back down.
"Dante might need you."
He would.
She had always been the one who kept everything together, even when the edges started to unravel.
Her brow furrowed, the words already forming, but I shook my head before she could speak.
I forced a smile.
It felt thin and useless.
"I’ll be okay," I said.
That’s a lie.
Nothing about this feels okay.
Not the leaving. Not the way my world has cracked wide open and left me in the wreckage.
She pulled me into her arms, and I let her.
I didn’t mean to hold on so tightly, but I did.
My fingers curled into her shoulder.
Somewhere in the darkness, something flickered, faint but stubborn.
I will survive this. I’ll start over somewhere else.
She didn’t believe me.
I felt it in the way she held me tighter, both of us shaking with the effort of staying strong.
Our tears blended together, warm on our cheeks.
It wasn’t just a hug.
It was a last grip on something solid, something real, before the unknown tore it away.
Maria’s voice was barely a whisper.
"Where are you going to go?"
She brushed a tear from my cheek.
Her hand lingered a second longer than it needed to, like she could erase the pain if she just held on long enough.
I hesitated, then shook my head.
"It’s better I don’t tell you. The less you know, the safer it is. I wouldn’t put it past Dante to find out where I’m going."
I looked down.
"Once I’m settled, I’ll message you my address. You can send Mr. Buttons and my things. That’s all I’ll need."
She nodded slowly, quietly.
Understanding bloomed behind her eyes.
She got it, even if she hated it.
"You have my word," she said, her voice trembling at the edges. "I won’t tell him anything."
That night, I lay awake in bed.
Sleep didn’t even try to come.
My mind spun in a thousand directions: memories, fears, regrets.
Some hurt too much to face.
Others wrapped around me like ghosts, whispering in the dark.
The walls felt too close.
The shadows stretched long and strange, twisting into pieces of my past.
The life I had. The life I lost.
Still here.
Still haunting me.