His Doomsday Cage of Ten Years Regret Chapter 10

His Doomsday Cage of Ten Years Regret Chapter 10

Compared to Winnie and Peyton’s lifelong history, how Peyton and I met was pretty unremarkable.

Second semester of freshman year, we both signed up for the same swimming class.

Peyton could barely swim. While he was practicing the basic stroke, some idiot next to him was doing freestyle wrong and flipped him over.

The pool was small, packed with three classes at once. Between all the noise, nobody noticed what

happened.

I happened to be passing by, reached down, and pulled him out.

That was it.

“That’s all it took?”

“Winnie basically donated a huge amount of blood to save your life. If that’s your standard, you ought to be head over heels for her instead of me.”

Peyton tapped my nose lightly.

“It was a small thing to you, but it meant everything to me.”

“Don’t be jealous. Winnie and I haven’t had any kind of connection in years.”

“She gave me her blood, and I saved her life on a mission later.”

“I repaid a life-or-death favor with my own life risk. Don’t mistake obligation for affection.”

“Who she loves is her own business.”

“I don’t fall for anyone who saves me.”

“I fell for you because you were the one who saved me.”

My mind drifted for a second.

I called myself pathetic-even now, my heart still skipped a beat.

I rattled the chain on my ankle.

“So this is how you show love? Locking me down here like a domesticated pet?”

“Peyton, I’m a person, not your pet.”

Peyton’s voice stayed calm.

“The world out there is far too deadly-I’m only trying to make sure you stay unharmed.”

It sounded like he really meant it.

But my fragile calm shattered.

I laughed bitterly.

“You’re no different from Shane.”

“Neither of you see me as a person.”

“He just said it out loud.”

“You hide it behind ‘keeping me safe’ and treat me like a pet.”

“If I had to choose, Shane’s better than you.”

“At least he believed I could walk five miles on my own. You want to turn me into someone who

can’t even feed herself without you.”

Peyton struggled to keep his temper in check.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

I actually tried to think of a way forward.

“I want you to treat me like a person. Give me freedom and respect.”

“I can fight zombies too. I should at least learn to survive on my own, shouldn’t I?”

Peyton’s face darkened for a moment, then smoothed out again.

“If the freedom and respect you want means watching you walk into danger, then I’m sorry-I can’t do that.”

I set down my bowl and turned to leave.

Peyton blocked my way.

“You say I’m treating you like a useless burden?”

“Be honest-why did you agree to be my girlfriend in the first place?”

“You wanted protection, and I gave it to you. What’s wrong with that?”

“You think I’m stupid? You think I didn’t see through you the whole time?”

“Do you enjoy cutting me down at every turn?”

I yanked my wrist free.

“So you admit you’ve been faking it?”

Faking the perfect act, hiding his arrogance and control.

“Yeah, I was faking.”

“I turned a blind eye to the fact you were only using me.”

“I faked along, pretending your affection matched mine, and molded myself into the person you’d prefer.”

“I hoped that over time, some real feeling might slip into your act

“Why aren’t you happy with this in our second chance?”

“What was wrong with depending on me like before?”

My head was buzzing.

My mind went blank for a second, then blurred again.

I steadied myself and finally told the truth.

“Because I want to earn the right to stand on equal ground beside you.”

“I want to love you as an equal.”

“I don’t want to be some bitter, insecure mess clinging to you for dear life.”

“If you really love me, why would you chain me up?”

The moment I finished, my mind cleared and a weight lifted off me.

My body began to fade right in front of Peyton’s eyes.

First my fingers, then my limbs, then my torso.

The chain clattered to the floor.

My consciousness was still there, but my body was gone.

I was free.

I stepped around Peyton and walked toward the door.

Peyton stared at the spot where I’d vanished, then let out a quiet, relieved laugh.

“System, terminate scenario.”