THE HEIRESS VOW - Chapter 202

Chapter 202: Shattered Trust
The dim glow of the dying sun cast long shadows across the abandoned ruins where Lucas and Ava stood, tension crackling in the air like an approaching storm. The silence between them was heavy, like the moment before lightning splits the sky, before words could cut deeper than any blade. Ava’s eyes, usually so sure, so steadfast, now brimmed with a deep uncertainty, clouded with doubt and suspicion. Lucas stood opposite her, his stance defensive, arms crossed, face tight as though he were trying to hold back a flood of secrets that threatened to spill over.

“You’re hiding something from me, Lucas,” Ava’s voice broke the quiet, a low tremor betraying the fierce anger bubbling beneath. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you avoid my questions, the way you flinch every time I get close to the truth.”

Lucas shifted, his jaw tightening, eyes narrowing like the walls of a fortress closing in. “It’s not what you think, Ava.”

“What do you think I’m thinking?” Ava snapped, her voice sharp, laced with frustration. “Because right now, it feels like every step we take forward, you’re dragging me back. Every time I think I can trust you, you pull away.” Her voice trembled, just enough for the hurt to slip through, a betrayal she had tried to conceal behind her anger.

Lucas’ gaze dropped to the ground, his silence more damning than any confession. Ava took a step forward, her heart pounding against her ribs as if it were trying to escape the inevitable. “I found something,” she said, her voice quieter now, but no less dangerous. “A letter. Hidden among your things. You’ve been in contact with someone—someone who knows about the pecahan kegelapan.”

Lucas’s head snapped up, his eyes flashing with something—guilt, surprise, maybe fear. “You went through my things?”

“I had to! You weren’t telling me anything!” Ava’s voice rose, the words spilling out like venom, sharp and bitter. “After everything we’ve been through, I thought… I thought you’d finally trust me enough to tell me the truth. But no. You’re still keeping secrets, still lying to me.”

“I never lied!” Lucas shot back, his voice rising for the first time, defensive, desperate. “I never wanted to hurt you, Ava. You wouldn’t understand… It’s not—”

“Wouldn’t understand?” Ava repeated, her voice a cold echo of disbelief. She shook her head, incredulous. “Do you think I’m weak? That I can’t handle the truth? After everything we’ve been through, that is what you think of me?”

Lucas took a step back, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “It’s not about weakness, Ava! It’s about… protecting you. From things you don’t know. From—”

“Protecting me from what? From you?” Ava’s eyes burned with the weight of her accusation, a raw wound laid bare between them. “Because that’s what it feels like, Lucas. Like I’m fighting against you just as much as I’m fighting whatever is out there.”

Lucas opened his mouth to argue, but no words came. The silence that followed was a different kind of painful—one filled with everything unsaid, every secret buried deep beneath layers of broken trust.

“You should have told me,” Ava said, softer now, her voice heavy with betrayal. “You should have let me in.”

Lucas’s face hardened, his voice a low, bitter murmur. “And if I had told you? What then? You would’ve run. You would’ve left.”

“You don’t know that,” she whispered, though the doubt in her voice was undeniable.

Lucas’s lips twisted into a sad, knowing smile. “Yes, I do.”

The weight of those words hung between them, suffocating, pulling them further apart. Ava felt her chest constrict, the pain of realization cutting deep. She had fought so hard, trusted so completely, and yet, here she was—standing on the edge of something dark, something Lucas had never let her see.

“I don’t know who you are anymore,” Ava said, her voice hollow, the words slipping out before she could stop them. Her eyes met his, searching for some flicker of the man she once believed in. But all she found was distance—a widening chasm that neither of them seemed willing to cross.

Lucas’s face fell, the mask of anger slipping away to reveal something far more vulnerable. “Ava… I’m doing this for you. I’m trying to protect you.”

“Protect me from what, Lucas? The truth? Or yourself?” Her voice wavered, the hurt cutting through. “Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t trust me.”

Lucas took a step toward her, his hand reaching out, desperate to bridge the gap. “I trust you, Ava. But this… this is bigger than us. There are forces at work—things that you can’t—”

Ava jerked away from him, her hand slicing through the air as though she could cut through his excuses. “Don’t you dare,” she whispered, her voice shaking with barely restrained fury. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can or can’t understand. I’ve been fighting beside you for months. I’ve bled for this. I’ve trusted you with everything I have, and this is how you repay me?”

“Ava, please—”

“No, Lucas. I can’t do this anymore,” she said, her voice trembling, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I can’t keep pretending like we’re in this together when all you do is push me away.”

Lucas’s face crumpled, but Ava didn’t wait for him to speak. She turned on her heel, her boots crunching over the broken stones as she walked away, the weight of her words heavy in the air.

But she didn’t get far.

“Ava, stop.” Lucas’s voice was barely more than a whisper, but it cut through the darkness like a knife.

She paused, her back to him, her heart pounding in her chest.

“I’ve made mistakes,” Lucas said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “But I never stopped caring about you. I never stopped… needing you.”

The words, fragile as they were, shattered the last of her resolve. Ava turned slowly, her eyes searching his face, and in that moment, she saw him—truly saw him. The fear, the guilt, the desperation. The weight of the secrets he carried, and the pain he had tried to hide. But it wasn’t enough.

“You’re not the only one with a burden, Lucas,” she said, her voice soft, but laced with a quiet strength. “We all have demons to fight. But if you can’t trust me—really trust me—then we have nothing.”

Lucas’s breath hitched, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “I do trust you. I just… I don’t know how to fix this.”

Ava’s gaze softened, though the pain in her chest remained sharp, like a wound that wouldn’t heal. “Maybe it’s not something you can fix.”

For a moment, they stood there, the space between them filled with everything they had lost, everything they had fought for. And then, slowly, Ava turned away once more, her heart heavy with the weight of decisions yet to be made.

As she walked toward the edge of the ruins, Lucas watched her go, his chest tight with regret, his fists clenched with the knowledge that he had let her slip through his fingers. But just as Ava disappeared into the shadows, he made a silent vow.

He wouldn’t let her go. Not without a fight.

The ruins lay quiet, the night creeping in with an eerie stillness. Ava moved through the crumbling remains of the old city, her mind racing with the weight of Lucas’s words. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, that the darkness they had been chasing was far closer than either of them had realized.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft rustle of movement nearby. She froze, her hand instinctively reaching for the dagger at her side. The ruins were supposed to be abandoned, but the shadows felt… alive.

“Ava.”

The voice, low and familiar, sent a chill down her spine. She turned slowly, her eyes widening in disbelief as a figure stepped out from the darkness.

“Valen?”

It couldn’t be. Valen had been dead for years. She had seen him fall, had buried the memory of his death deep within her. But there he stood, alive, whole… and yet, something about him was wrong.

“Surprised to see me?” Valen’s smile was cold, a twisted mockery of the man she once knew. His eyes, once warm and full of life, now glowed with an unnatural light, dark and empty.

Ava’s heart raced. “How…?”

Valen tilted his head, his smile widening. “The pecahan kegelapan is more powerful than you realize. It brings things back, Ava. It shows the truth. It reveals what people really are.”

Ava took a step back, her hand tightening around her dagger. “You’re not Valen. You can’t be.”

“No, not the Valen you remember,” he said, his voice a soft, menacing purr. “But I am Valen. And I’ve come for Lucas.”

Her blood ran cold. “What do you want with him?”

Valen’s smile twisted into something darker, more sinister. “Lucas isn’t who you think he is, Ava. He’s been playing both sides. And soon… soon, the darkness will consume him.”

Ava’s mind reeled, the weight of his words crashing down on her. Could it be true? Could Lucas really be hiding something far more dangerous than she had imagined?

Valen took a step closer, his voice a whisper of malice. “You’ve trusted him for too long. But now, it’s time to choose.”

Ava’s heart pounded in her chest, her mind racing with fear and uncertainty. She had always believed in Lucas, had fought by his side, trusted him with her life. But now, the shadows of doubt crept in, threatening to tear everything apart.

“Choose wisely, Ava,” Valen whispered, his eyes glowing with a dark, otherworldly power. “Because once the darkness takes him, there’s no going back.”