A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 299: NO!

Chapter 299: NO!

Avelina nodded.

"Yes! It’s everything." Her smile broadened.

Draven gave an unsure nod and grabbed her hand to exit the rain. "Well then, let’s get out of the—"

"Draven, wait!" Avelina pulled him back, forcing him to turn and look at her.

Draven blinked, perplexed. "What’s wrong?"

"There is something that I must tell you." Avelina charmingly smiled at him. "I have been holding it in and preventing myself from saying it all this time. But that is because I have yet to come to a decision, however, now is the right time for me to tell you."

Draven gazed intently at her, wondering what it could possibly be. He was hoping everything was alright.

"I have been thinking and thinking, racking through my head, trying to come to a decision that appeared really hard for me to make. But I have fortunately been able to, and I must let you know because I cannot wait any longer." She shook her head at him.

Draven’s brows wrinkled in perplexity.

"And...what could it be?" ’

Avelina smiled at him. She took a deep breath, mustering up the courage to speak.

"I..I...Draven, I..."

"Avelina, what is it?" Draven was concerned. What could be wrong? Did something go wrong?

Avelina clutched her chest, taking yet another deep breath. She dropped her arms to her side and balled her hands into tight first, determined to tell him—to finally let him know how she truly felt. This was the perfect moment—she believed. There would be no next time such as this, she knew so.

"Draven, I...I love you," she said, bravely looking into his eyes.

Draven was taken aback, appearing heavily baffled. "What?" he asked.

Avelina exhaled before going ahead to speak. "Draven, I know and I understand that you are not capable of love, and that is just okay."

"I know that because of it, you do not think, nor do you believe, that any woman would love you. I know that you think that because of your imperfections, because of your flaws, you do not deserve to be loved, but...it does not make you any less worthy of love."

"You were made to believe otherwise right from when you were a kid. You were forced to accept that because of your flaws—your problems, you were not worthy to be loved and accepted, but they were wrong. Your father was wrong!"

She softly smiled at him, ignoring the heavy rain that was pouring down. "Look at me, Draven. I-I should be able to let you know that they were wrong. I denied it over and over again because I’ve never truly loved a man before. I had no idea what it was like, and you were my first."

"It took me a while because I was scared of what your reaction would be, but you see, I am tired of pretending! I cannot continue to lie to myself and act as if I do not love you in order to protect my heart, because..." she paused, swallowing hard.

"Because I do love you. I love you, Draven, more than you can ever imagine. You are...you’re everything to me—everything that I could ever ask for."

She smiled, gazing into his eyes. "I love all of you. Everything that has to do with you, I love all of them. I love your existence, your touch, your eyes, your smile, the way you talk, everything! I love all your scars, every flaw of yours, your imperfection, I love all of them."

"I have never met anyone like you. You are everything I could ever want. I loved you without even knowing, and thus I cannot even tell when it began."

"I love you, Draven." She stepped closer to him. "I-I-I understand that you may think you are too ruined and broken to ever think you could be loved by anyone or any woman, but you can choose to let yourself be happy—to let yourself be loved, Draven. I am the first, but I do not think it matters."

"It is...It is only up to you, really." A tearful smile touched her lips.

Draven lifted his gaze and swallowed hard, seeming to be left in deep confusion. "H-how can you...how can you love me? Avelina...that’s...no, you cannot."

"But I do! I love you, Draven—"

"You cannot!" Draven grabbed her shoulders, looking into her eyes in deep concern. "Not me, Avelina. You cannot possibly love me. I am incapable of love, and you know what that means."

"I will not be able to reciprocate it even if I try! I do not know what love is or what it feels like, do you not understand?"

"What the hell even made you love me? D-did you lose your mind? Of every man you could—"

Avelina deeply frowned, scowling at him. "What do you mean?" she questioned.

"My heart chose you, Draven. Love is not a choice, and it is not a feeling that you can control! I fell in love with you, not because I wanted to, but because the whole of me chose to." Her chest rose and fell in heavy breathing.

Draven tightened his grip on her shoulders. "But I would only ruin you, Avelina. You need someone who will love you and reciprocate whatever you give. I am not capable of such. You would never be happy with me!"

"Is that what you think?" Avelina blinked her wet lashes.

"Do you think that all this time I have been with you, I wasn’t happy?" she asked. "Well then, allow me to burst your bubbles. These past two months I’ve been with you have been the best days of my life. Regardless of what we’ve gone through so far, I loved every day that I spent with you, and the more I stayed with you, the more I yearned to be with you."

"You made me feel so complete, so wanted, so...so loved and treasured. You made me feel like I was the only one that mattered, Draven! Do you not understand that no one has ever made me feel like that? Not one person! You were the first, and you would also be the last."

"I am happy with you, I really am, and I’d like to stay with you. You don’t have to set me free anymore because I really do not want to go back to my family."

She shook her head. "Going back to them would only separate me from you, and I might not get the chance to be with you again. I would rather stay with you, so—"

"NO!" For the first time since ever knowing him, Draven outrightly said no to her. He disagreed, taking steps away from her.

"You cannot stay with me, I will not allow that."