Villainous Me: Help! The heroines are yanderes!
Chapter 68 - 67: I Accept[GTG]

Chapter 68: Chapter 67: I Accept[GTG]

My jaw clenched tight as I muttered, "Let’s hear it." My eyes met hers with a challenge, icy and unwavering. After all this time, after everything, it was finally happening—the confrontation I’d been dreading, the one I couldn’t avoid forever.

But instead of matching my stare, Scarlet’s gaze flickered nervously around the dark alley, her earlier outstretched hand now hovering at her side, her knuckles white with suppressed tension. When she finally forced her eyes back to mine, the weight of her hesitation was unmistakable.

"This isn’t safe," she blurted out, her voice higher than usual, cracking on the last word. "We need to find somewhere... discreet."

A slow smirk tugged at my lips. Discreet? That was rich. This whole situation felt like a trap, carefully crafted, with me as the unsuspecting prey. "You’re right," I allowed, sarcasm dripping from my words. Each syllable hung thick in the air, stinging.

She misread my tone entirely. A flicker of relief passed over her features, chasing the worry from her eyes for a moment. "Then grab on," she said quickly, her hand shooting out again. But this time, her palm remained open, an invitation without the promise of contact.

With a sigh, more suspicion than resignation, I stepped closer. The air crackled with something unspoken between us as my fingers brushed against hers. It wasn’t the usual shock of mana. No, this was something different—something real. A jolt of electricity shot up my arm, but it wasn’t the magic that left me reeling. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, blooming from her neck to her hairline.

Was she blushing? Or was there something darker in the flicker of her purple eyes as they darted away from mine? Before I could analyze it, the world around us dissolved in a whirl of motion.

The cobblestones beneath our feet turned to liquid. The ground began to twist and warp, the stone morphing into a churning whirlpool of water that rose fast, encasing us in a watery prison. Reflex kicked in—my hand shot out, grasping for something solid, anything.

I found her. Her waist. It wasn’t intentional, just instinct to avoid being swallowed by the rising current. Her body tensed, a tremor running through her, but she didn’t pull away. In that split second, I noticed how her crimson hair billowed around her like a fiery halo in the distorted moonlight filtering through the water.

Then, we were launched upward. A geyser of water sent us soaring, weightless, the city sprawling beneath us, bathed in the cool glow of moonlight. The wind whipped through my hair, drowning out the frantic pounding of my heart. My hand tightened around her, instinctively pulling her closer as the sudden weightlessness sent a surge of fear through me.

She stayed quiet, her eyes locked on something beyond the city limits, brow furrowed in concentration. But there was a tremor in her other hand, the one not holding mine. It betrayed the calm she tried so hard to project.

The water subsided just as quickly as it had come, collapsing into a gentle rain that showered around us. My grip on Scarlet loosened, and I stepped back, putting space between us. The rooftop of a towering building loomed before us. The city sprawled below, glittering in the distance.

This was how she’d infiltrated that battle earlier—using water manipulation to slip through the chaos unnoticed. A surge of unease slid down my spine, not from the cool air around us but from the realization of how much power she had—and how much she’d been hiding.

When I met her gaze again, I saw something flicker in the depths of her purple eyes. It was a soft, fleeting emotion—something close to regret, but I couldn’t put a name to it. The tension that had held her eyes earlier softened, replaced by something far more difficult to decipher.

"So," I finally drawled, the silence stretching awkwardly between us, "what do you want, Scarlet?" My voice was low, guarded, layered with suspicion and a new, strange curiosity that waged war with every instinct I had.

The air around us felt charged, heavy. Scarlet’s expression hardened, her mask of resolve slipping back into place. "Your life, Ryan, is in danger," she said firmly, her voice unwavering despite the flicker of doubt that crossed her face. "We have reason to believe it’s tied to your past—a past you can’t remember."

I blinked, the words hitting me like a blow to the chest. "What past? What the hell are you talking about?" I spat back, disbelief making my voice sharp. Who the hell wanted me dead? Those thugs from earlier? It didn’t add up. They would’ve had their chance already.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "A secret?" I muttered. "How do you even know that? And why the hell should I trust you?"

Her eyes flickered, the ironclad resolve slipping just for a second. She hesitated, and when she spoke again, the vulnerability in her tone was impossible to miss. "I... I can’t tell you everything. But please, Ryan. You have to believe me. If you stay here, they’ll kill you. Before the semester’s over."

The raw desperation in her voice hit harder than I expected. Trusting her felt like playing a game of Russian roulette with a loaded die, but staying here was a gamble too.

"You can’t even tell me how you know this, and you expect me to just accept it?" I shot back, frustration boiling over. "Who wants me dead? Tessa? Someone else?"

Her gaze faltered for a split second, but she pressed on. "We don’t know who. But we know it’s tied to a powerful family’s secret, and they’ll do anything to silence you."

My head spun. "A secret? How the hell would you even know that? And why should I trust you?"

She lowered her gaze, a flicker of something deep in her eyes—something I couldn’t place. "I can’t tell you everything. But please... trust me. If you don’t, they’ll find you. And they won’t hesitate to end this."

The word *trust* hung in the air, fragile and fleeting. A dangerous thing to give, and harder still to earn.

I took a deep breath. "Fine," I muttered, my voice barely a whisper, barely containing the weight of suspicion.

Her face softened, a brief flash of surprise crossing her features before it was masked by relief. "What?" she breathed, the tension in her voice fading, just slightly.

"I said yes," I repeated, my voice low, edged with defiance. "I’ll trust you... for now."

A real, genuine smile curled her lips, but even as she pulled me into a tight embrace, the doubt in her eyes remained. Trust was a fragile thing. In a world built on secrets, lies, and power games, it could shatter in an instant.

And yet, in that moment, as she held me close, I couldn’t help but wonder—maybe this was a start. Maybe, for the first time in a long time, I had someone I could rely on. Even if that trust was just an illusion.

...

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!