AFTER DARK | Johan Liebert

Chapter 30: Knife in my heart

When I woke up, it was 10 PM already. I sat upright in my bed, trying to figure out where I was. And then, I remembered. It was the same day we visited my family, and after we arrived in our hotel room, I took a shower and went to bed - to take a short nap, actually. Well, it had been a few hours, eventually.

Half awake and dozy, I went into the main room. Johan was still awake, pouring tea in two cups and placing them on the table. Then, he looked at me. "Oh, you're awake." He went to the worktop again, took a bag that was lying there and took out a bowl with pasta salad. "Do you want to eat a little? I bought something small earlier." I sat down at the table, nodding. "Yes, thank you. You're so considerate." With a faint smile, he placed the bowl in front of me, giving me a fork as well. After that, he sat down next to me, looking out of the window, watching the dark sky.

"Today has been quite the emotional rollercoaster."

I sighed, eating my salad. "Indeed." I made a short pause. "But I don't regret it."

"Actually, I was surprised you haven't come home once in all these years", Johan said calmly. "If I may ask, is there a specific reason to it? That means you haven't introduced your former boyfriend to your family, right?"

"Pfft", I huffed. "No, I didn't. If it were for him, I would have never seen my family again." I looked back at Johan, who seemed to be puzzled by my sarcastic tone.

"Erik was the one who reassured me to never return home again." 

I put down my fork, putting my hand towards my forehead. "He told me he never wanted me to get hurt by my family again. That's why I shouldn't ever return to them." I chuckled. "Of course he only did it to protect me. And I was stupid enough to believe it. He even tried to drive a wedge between Gabi and me - because he knew that Gabi knew his secret. I think I've never told you that story."

"I know what happened."

Confused, I looked at Johan. "You—?" "You mean that he cheated on you, right? Gabi told me." I couldn't believe my ears. Why would she tell him this unreasonably?

"At the party, I saw her throwing away pictures of you and Erik. We started a conversation and she told me what he did to you. She didn't do it without a reason. She did it because she cares about you."

His words made me calm down again. I guess she had wanted to tell Johan that he shouldn't do the same thing with me as Erik did. In that case, I was relieved.

"And it wasn't stupid of you to believe in his words, Klara."

"... Why?", I hesitantly asked.

"Because you loved him. It's natural to trust someone you love... and that's how it should be. You're not at fault for what happened to you."

His words were kind and probably true, but I couldn't help but wonder... what if I was responsible for everything that happened back then? In the end, I let him fool me, I let him cheat on me...

This memory plagued me that night. When I went back to my bedroom, closing my eyes, this sequence appeared in front of my eyes. Even if I didn't feel anything for him anymore, the humiliation I had experienced felt like a knife in my heart.

A/N: The sequence is in the next chapter! I decided to post two short chapters today, but they're very interesting, especially the next one. I'm excited for your reactions!