The Ex Who Became His Obsession - Chapter 32: Chapter 32

"The Rivera name?" Alyssia repeated Leonard's words, her tone almost amused.
She stopped resisting. Instead, she lifted her arms and draped them around his neck. Her fingertips brushed the back of his neck, then traced their way forward, from just behind his ear, down his jawline.
They stopped right in front of his eyes, as if sketching him in the air.
Her movements carried just enough tease, control, and retreat.
She tilted her head back, her lips parting slightly, her breath carrying the faint scent of something wild and sweet on the breeze.
She said, "Mr. Rivera, you really do worry too much. I'm not a Rivera. Even if I've done something filthy in the dark, it won't taint the Rivera name or your name."
Alyssia thought, 'What are we, really? Back when I lived at Rosewood Manor, if not for the courtesy of your parents, I wouldn't have even had the right to be called your girlfriend.'
"What now? Your little toy grew legs and ran away from you, right?" Her voice was laced with daring provocation, and she knew it.
She caught the warning in his eyes, but it only made her smile more vibrant and provocative. Her finger pressed gently against his lips, her every gesture soaked in seductive elegance. She asked, "Mr. Rivera, are you angry, or are you just scared?"
Leonard grabbed her wrist and yanked it down hard, then shoved her backward with force.
Water from the fountain splashed behind her as Alyssia was bent nearly in half, her back catching the spray, soaking through her clothes to her skin.
Leonard's hands clamped around her waist, hot like fire. His lips crashed down on hers, burning and wild, tasting of possession and punishment.
Alyssia didn't push him away. But in the pause between kisses, she almost laughed.
She thought bitterly, 'The more vicious he is now, the guiltier I'll be later. Even if I never once lifted a hand to hurt him, somehow I'll always be the one to blame. My beauty, gentleness, and love are all my fault because I tempted him.'
Alyssia let out a moan as a sharp pain flared on her lips. She frowned and realized that he bit her again.
He bit her hard. Hot pain bloomed like fire on her lips. It was like he didn't see her as a person at all but just a tool to vent all his rage.
She shoved against his chest with one hand. This time, she bit him back as hard as he did. She sank her teeth into him with fury, until she tasted blood.
Leonard froze for a moment. Then his hands moved fast. He grabbed her waist tightly, hoisted her off the ground, and locked her against him, her legs straddling his hips.
Alyssia tried to wriggle free, but Leonard slammed her down against him again. In the midst of the struggle, his temper snapped. His hand flew to the back of her neck, while his fingers wrapped around her throat, squeezing just enough to make her flinch.
"Alyssia," he growled, his eyes burning blood-red. "Why are you so shameless?"
The next second, he took a step forward and dragged her with him into the fountain.
Cold water exploded around them, gushing into Alyssia's nose, mouth, and ears, shocking every inch of her skin.
"Alyssia, why are you so shameless?" Those words echoed in Alyssia's mind.
She had heard that same sentence five years ago, from this same man.
It was her eighteenth birthday. The Rivera family threw a grand celebration in her honor.
As the heir of the family, Leonard never showed up. Even after the last guest left, Alyssia still didn't wait for him to show up.
She slipped out, alone, and crouched in the back garden under the thick rose bushes, hiding her disappointment like a secret.
That was when Leonard's voice floated through the dark. "Aly, come here. I've got a special gift for you."
That night ended up in sweet chaos and painful bliss. After that very night, her world turned upside down.
But the morning after that, when she woke in his arms, happy and nervous, and tried to hold him, he shoved her away.
He looked at her like she was something strange, something he wished he hadn't touched. Then, he said the words that still rang in her bones, "Alyssia, why are you so shameless?"
Water roared past Alyssia's ears, rushing and deafening.
Alyssia choked violently, her lungs burning like they were about to turn inside out.
The icy water washed over her scorching skin, making every pore snap shut. Heat locked in, and her nerves screamed from the sudden shock of temperature.
Leonard hauled her up again, gripping her like a rag doll. He seized her face, rough fingers pressing into her cheeks.
"Where did he touch you?" His thumb scraped over her lips, slow and abrasive. "Here? Or here?"
Alyssia couldn't answer—she was too busy coughing her lungs out. Her throat, her eyes, and even her nose all felt like they'd been lit on fire.
"Leonard, are you out of your damn mind?" Charlie's voice rang out, coming closer fast. "Let her go."
Alyssia heard the sharp clamor of voices from outside the fountain.
Charlie was trying to reach Alyssia, but Leonard's men stopped him. A conflict broke out just in front of the fountain.
Finally, Leonard let go of Alyssia and stepped out of the fountain, soaked and fuming.
Alyssia staggered, struggling to her feet. Her vision was a mess, blurry and waterlogged, but she could just make out the trail Leonard left behind.
She bent down, held the fountain's edge for balance, and slowly crawled out. Just as she straightened up, everything went black. She fell down backwards.
"Alyssia!" She heard Charlie shout her name in panic.
Then the water swallowed her again—her face, her neck, her arms—everything submerged. The only sound left was the roar of the current and the fizz of rising bubbles, louder than her thoughts, louder than her fear.
Alyssia felt like she was in a storm of hot and cold.
One moment, it was like someone had thrown her into an icebox—her limbs trembling uncontrollably. Next, it felt like she was shoved straight into a furnace, her body boiling from the inside out.
It was unbearable. She wanted to cry, but her nose and throat felt stuffed with cotton. She had to open her mouth just to breathe and beg for help.
But not a sound came out. She felt like her voice had been cut right out of her.
'Is this what dying feels like?' she wondered.
Endless dark and weightless pressure squeezing in on every side, paralyzing her, silencing her, and blinding her.
The only thing she could still feel was a voice. Someone was whispering in her ear over and over again, "Aly... Aly... Aly..."
It took her back to that summer when they were younger, when Leonard broke his leg on a hiking trip. He'd been burning up with a fever by the time they rushed him back.
Back then, Alyssia sat by his bed all night, watching over him, refusing to move even when people told her to rest.
Later, in the quiet hours, she suddenly felt his grip clamp down on her hand. He kept muttering her name over and over, "Aly... Aly..."
Alyssia jolted upright, her heart in her throat. She saw him grab her hand tightly with a frown and kept muttering her name. She instantly woke him up and asked if he had a nightmare.
When his eyes finally opened, he locked his gaze on her for a long time before he finally recognized her.
"Charlie pushed me." He didn't mention the dream. He just glared and ordered her, "Stay away from him from now on."
When Alyssia woke up, the pain hadn't faded. Instead, it had gotten sharper, like someone had peeled her nerves raw.
But her vision was back. She stared up at a white ceiling, the sterile quiet telling her immediately that she was at the hospital.
Yet she didn't see anyone whispering her name. No phantom arms pulling her close like they were afraid she'd vanish.
Instead, she heard a soft, familiar woman's voice a short distance away as she asked another person, "Are you sure you don't want a little more? The doctor said the soup is good for recovery. I stood over it for hours."
Alyssia pushed against the bed with shaky arms and forced herself upright.
Then, from beside her, a more familiar voice broke through—surprised and bright. "Ms. Clairmont, you're awake? How're you feeling?"
Alyssia's movement froze because the moment she turned her head, she was met with a blinding sight.