Chapter 184: Rejection?

“Tristan, I love you.”

He’d been cutting his food, but he froze as her confession sank in. His head stayed bowed, hiding his expression.

She stalled for barely a beat, but once she’d said those words, she could never take them back again.

“I’ve fallen deeply in love with you Tristan, I tried to hold it in but I couldn’t, I couldn’t stop my heart from falling in love with you.”

He remained still, neither did he move, nor did he raise his head to look at her.

“So many times I told myself, that you’re engaged to be married to someone else, that I can’t harbor these feelings for you, I tried my best to stay away from you, to make my heart forget every moment we’ve spent together… But I couldn’t do it, the more I stayed away from you the more my heart yearned to be with you, I really, truly love you Tristan.”

His fingers shook imperceptibly and the fork almost fell out of his grip but there was no visible change in him.

Though he had his head lowered, he could hear the depth of emotion in her voice.

She…loved him?

She loved him!

Her words settled in his mind with certainty, for a single moment he was lost, lost in a realm of disbelief but every word she said echoed in his mind ground him to reality.

In the depths of his heart, something bubbled, an emotion that felt like joy and delight.

The urge to pull her into his arms, kiss her deeply, and tell her that he wanted to make her his forever settled heavily within him, so strong he had almost been unable to resist it… almost.

But a dark memory surfaced in his head. There was a woman running away, he hadn’t dared to recall that look in her eyes again all these years…her eyes had lost its light, the will to live had faded away, she looked empty and lost…the very last memory he’d seen of her was cold and lifeless…gone from this world and that had sucked away everything he was and every desire to hold anyone dear ever again.

Suddenly, the urge to hold Celine close faded within him, she had chosen wrongly, she had chosen the wrong man to love.

His throat tightened with pain and he suddenly threw down the fork on his plate making a loud clinking sound.

Celine was taken aback by his sudden action, she looked at him in bewilderment as he suddenly got up and wordlessly left the room heading into the inner chamber.

Her heart fell, and a tightening feeling clenched her chest. The air had shifted and in an instant, he’d exuded nothing but coldness.

Was he…rejecting her?

She hurried after him, but before she could enter the room, he stepped out, jacket slung over his shoulder. They nearly bumped into each other; she only stopped just in time. His expression was stern and cold, a stark contrast to the warmth he’d shown her earlier.

“Tristan…” She called softly as he walked past her, tears gleaming in her eyes as she watched his cold back.

He paused reaching the door, without turning back he said, “Though you’re alright now, the drug had put you in a somewhat inebriated state, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

Celine quickly ran towards him, grabbing his hand that had been about to turn the doorknob.

“I’m perfectly aware of what I’m saying, and I’m not in an intoxicated state either, I love you.”

“Then you never should have told me that,” He suddenly snapped his voice sounding dangerously dark, Celine almost flinched, “You should have kept it to yourself.”

The tears rolled down her cheeks like glistening pearls, there was deep pain in her eyes as she looked up at him.

“I’ve said this to you once before, and I’m going to say it again, I don’t do love or commitments.” With that he pulled open the door and strode out in furiously long steps.

Celine stood by the door dumbstruck unable to react for some seconds, a suffocating feeling of pain clutched her heart tightly, so tight it suddenly loosened she could feel her heart shattering into a million pieces. A tiny sob broke from her lips, and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.

Her hand by the door trembled, her legs weakened, and she slowly sank to the floor, overcome with despair.

But suddenly, something clicked, and her eyes lit up. She scrambled to her feet, yanked open the door, and was met with a long, empty corridor.

Her beautiful face was stained with tears, and she gazed silently at the long empty space in front of her,

Didn’t do love? Didn’t do commitments?

If he didn’t love her why would he repeatedly be there every time she was in trouble?

If he didn’t love her, why did he still remember the night they shared? Memories were fleeting, and would disappear from a person’s mind if insignificant, however that night from the company’s anniversary celebration, she knew he recalled every single moment of the night they’d shared five years ago.

If he didn’t love her, why would he always want to protect her? Why would he panic if she got hurt?

If he didn’t love her, why would he treat her so warmly?

He said he didn’t love her, and his expression didn’t betray it, however deep inside she felt it, she could feel that he was in love with her as much as she was with him. And if she wasn’t completely certain that he felt absolutely nothing for her, she would not give up on him.

***

“President, are you alright?” Kaleb asked seeing the incredibly dark look on Tristan’s face as he walked towards the meeting room.

Tristan suddenly stopped walking, his gaze directed to the floor, he didn’t seem to be staring at anything in particular, but he kept his gaze on the smooth floors without an expression on his face.

“President, president.” Kaleb called confused at why Tristan seemed to be lost, not once had he seen him looking so troubled.

“Cancel the meeting.” Tristan said, then turned around to leave.

“What?” Kaleb could only gape at him watching his retreating back, for some reason, he felt that Tristan seemed to be in distress at the moment.

Tristan walked into his room in the resort closing the door behind him. He leaned against the door with his head thrown back shutting his eyes tightly. An image repeatedly flashing in his mind along with words that played in his head like a broken record.

’Tristan, I love you.’

’I’ve fallen deeply in love with you Tristan…’

’…I really truly love you Tristan.’

The pained look in her eyes as he walked past her, along with the tears in her eyes, he had hurt her.

He slowly raised his hand placing it on his chest as if to quell the gripping pain in his heart, this kind of pain was something he had never felt before. However, he knew that he could only feel this pain for her and no one else.

“I’m sorry… But I can’t love you, if I do, it’ll only bring you pain.”

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