My Cold-Hearted Husband Wants Me Back
Chapter 181: A Lonely Soul

Chapter 181: A Lonely Soul

Lunara’s breath caught in her throat as the glint of metal flashed before her eyes. Instinct, or maybe luck kicked in. She twisted her body sharply to the side, the blade barely grazing past her arm as she stumbled back.

"Lunara!"

Before she could even register the voice, Eryx was there in front of her, shielding her with his entire body.

Valerie froze. Her hand, still gripping the knife, trembled. Her chest heaved as she looked at him then at both of them.

"You chose her?" she spat, eyes wild, disbelief crashing with rage. "Her? Why?"

Eryx said nothing, jaw tight, eyes locked on hers, scanning for any sudden movement.

"I did everything," Valerie continued, her voice cracking. "I never begged. I never cried in front of you. I played it calm. I focused on work. I gave you space, I proved my worth. I made sure I wasn’t some desperate woman waiting on love like an idiot."

She took a step forward, the knife still in her hand, but her voice was growing thinner, more broken.

"I’m good at business, I can cook if you want, I can learn anything if that’s what it takes... all I wanted was you to look at me the way you look at her..."

She pointed the knife toward Lunara, but it was no longer a weapon, it was the last thread of her denial unraveling.

"She has everything, doesn’t she? You... your sister... even your mother likes her." Her lips curled into a bitter, trembling smile. "And me?"

She laughed, hollow and tired.

"Me? I never even got to feel what love is supposed to be. My mother?" She scoffed. "She abandoned me before I could even speak. And my father? Harlan Sterling? He’s not a father—he’s a name. A title. A man who used me, dressed me up in love just to throw me into his game like another pawn."

Valerie lowered the knife slightly. Her shoulders slumped.

"Pathetic, right? All this time... I thought if I could just prove I was enough, someone might stay. That you might stay."

Eryx’s stare didn’t waver, but behind him, Lunara’s hand clutched tightly at his sleeve, her breath catching in her throat.

"But then..." Valerie’s voice trembled, her fingers curling tighter around the hilt of the knife. With a sudden jerk, she raised it again—this time pointed straight at Eryx’s chest, just inches away. Her eyes, wild with fury and pain, locked onto his.

"She appeared," she spat. "Ruining everything!"

The blade glinted in the daylight, the space between them tightening with tension. Valerie’s expression twisted, not entirely hatred, but desperation and devastation tangled in one.

"I was fine pretending I didn’t need love," she said through clenched teeth. "I convinced myself I could live without it. But then she came into your life, and suddenly you became the person I needed."

Her arm twitched, the knife trembling between them. "You smiled differently around her. You softened. You changed. And I—" her voice cracked, "I went back to being invisible. Like I always was."

She shook her head, harder this time. "No! I’m not okay with that!"

Her eyes filled with tears she refused to let fall. "You think I wanted that arranged marriage just for power or convenience? No. I wanted it because it was the only way out. Out of my father’s control. Out of being used like a chess piece my whole life. I thought...maybe, just maybe...if I became your wife, someone would finally look at me and actually see me."

She let out a bitter laugh, hollow and strained. "People think I grew up with everything...money, luxury, staff waiting on me hand and foot. But the house I lived in... it was silent. Cold. My mother? She never existed, and my father? He wasn’t a parent. He was a ruler. And I was just... there. An extension of his will."

Her voice trembled, but she pressed on, choking on the words she’d buried for years. "No bedtime stories. No hugs. Just orders. Just expectations. The maids were told not to talk too much to me... ’it’ll spoil her,’ he said. So I learned to stay quiet. To be perfect. To never ask for more."

Her grip on the knife tightened again, her knuckles white. "All I ever wanted was someone who’d choose me. Who’d want me... Not because I was valuable. Not because I was Harlan Sterling’s daughter. But because I mattered to them."

Her eyes flicked to Eryx once more, glassy and desperate. "And I thought that someone could be you."

She took a shaky breath, her voice breaking completely now. "But she showed up. And without even trying... She had everything I wanted. Your smile. Your heart. Your attention."

The knife shook again as she whispered, "And I was nothing. Again."

Valerie’s grip loosened, just slightly, and her eyes drifted downward. Her voice dropped to a whisper, fragile and frayed.

"Would it even matter to anyone if I’m gone?"

Eryx’s eyes widened. "Valerie—"

But before he could finish, she lifted the knife, angling it toward her own neck in a sharp, jerking motion.

"Valerie, no!"

He lunged forward without thinking, grabbing for her wrist. In the confusion of her flinch and his grip, the blade twisted.

A sharp sting.

Blood started to splatter.

Eryx gritted his teeth as pain seared through his palm and her impulsive movement had sliced a deep line across it.

Valerie gasped as the knife clattered to the ground between them. "I—I didn’t mean—!"

Lunara rushed forward from behind, eyes wide in horror. "Eryx!"

But he didn’t look away from Valerie, even as blood dripped from his hand. His grip didn’t tighten, but it didn’t release either.

"Valerie," he said, his voice low and steady despite the pain, "don’t ever think your life doesn’t matter."

She stared at him, stunned. Her breath ragged, her hands shaking. For a moment, everything was still. The echo of Eryx’s words, the sharp scent of blood in the air, and the sight of his injured hand, everything folded into one unbearable moment that broke something inside her.

Her knees buckled.

She dropped, trembling, as if the weight of it all finally caught up to her.

"I’m... sorry," she choked, voice barely a whisper. "I really... am."

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