Chapter 74


    Staring into the face before him, Yvan suddenly felt as if he were looking at a stranger. Would the


    Matilda he knew five years ago have ever red at him with such eyes?


    Impossible. Five years ago, she was head over heels in love with him, utterly andpletely.


    Matilda noticed Yvan’s stunned silence and, with a burst of strength from who knew where, shoved the


    man hard. Without a second thought, she raised her hand and delivered a stinging p across Yvan’s


    cheek!


    The p shocked Yvan quite much. Had he just been pped by a woman? And damn it, one he’d


    cast aside after having his way!


    Yvan reached out to grab Matilda’s wrist, pinning her down, but she didn’t panic. Her eyes were red


    with fury as she locked her gaze on him and let out a bitterugh, “Yvan, cut the crap with your high


    and mighty talk! You owe me so much; this p is


    the least of it!”


    In his rage, Yvan’s grip tightened around Matilda’s throat, but she justughed wildly, as if betting


    everything on this one moment, “Go on, kill me! Yvan! If you’ve got the guts, just finish me off! Better off


    dead; it would be a relief to be free of the pain you’ve caused me!”


    Her words echoed “better off dead” in his mind, sending a violent tremor through his body, and he


    suddenly released her.


    That phrase unwittingly struck at the most tender part of his heart. Five years ago, Rachel died and


    now, Matilda seemed to have lost the will to live too.


    Who was behind all this misery? Who?! Yvan’s fist crashed next to Matilda’s face, the force of it hitting


    the wall with a thud that seemed to carry all his turmoil.


    Matilda’s eyshes fluttered, but she never once pleaded for mercy. After a long silence, it was Yvan


    who spoke in a hoarse voice, “Just go. And don’t you ever show your face around me again!”


    Matilda’sugh wasced with tears, “Give me back my son, and I’ll be more than d to stay away


    from you!”


    Yvan’s fierce gaze bore into her as if trying to see through her charade, but Matilda’s facade was too


    strong, a thousand times stronger than she’d been five years ago. What had enabled her to traverse


    the long, dark period and emerge with a heart of


    12:42


    Chapter 74


    steel?


    Yvan remained silent, his handsome features as striking as ever, possessing the kind of devilish allure


    that could drive women wild, yet incapable of moving the woman before him now.


    With a derisive chuckle, Matilda shook off Yvan’s grip and walked down the hallway. Her voice was


    detached as she said, “Logan’s still in his room. I don’t want him to see us like this.”


    Her figure was slender, and even as she spoke, there was an undeniable toughness about her, a sense


    that nothing could shake her anymore. Once, she had watched Yvan walk away; now, it seemed that it


    was Yvan’s turn to watch her leave.


    As Matilda reached the grand front door of the Boyd Mansion, her steps faltered. She paused, turning


    to look back at Yvan with half her face, whispering, “Yvan, from the day we met, to our wedding, to the


    subsequent years of imprisonment, it’s been fifteen years. How many sets of fifteen years does a


    person have to waste?”


    She’d already wasted fifteen years on him.


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    Those words made Yvan’s body jolt. He slightly lifted his head, and his enigmatic face with deep–set


    eyes seemed to flicker with emotion for a moment before settling into a void of nothingness.


    Matilda opened the door, and the cold autumn air hit her full in the face. She stepped into the chill, her


    frailty apparent, her eyshes trembling as if chilled to the core. But she made no sound.


    Five years had tempered her fire and impulsiveness. She was no longer the Matilda of five years ago.