The Novel’s Antagonist: I walk the path of a Villain - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: The Yandere I am

“Hah… Haah… Hahhh,” panted Ariana, her chest heaving after painstakingly dispatching five ordinary-class vampires.

“Well done. You’re really strong,” came a voice, light and almost teasing. She turned to see a young man with striking red hair and a warm smile.

“It’s nothing. They were weak,” she replied curtly, brushing off the compliment.

“Come on, you don’t have to be so modest. Not everyone in our year could pull off what you just did,” he said, stepping closer and holding out a handkerchief.

“But you could,” she countered, retrieving her own cloth and wiping her brow, ignoring his gesture.

“Well… yeah,” he admitted, awkwardly pocketing the handkerchief. A brief silence fell between them before he spoke again. “Um… have we met before?” His gaze shifted, scanning their surroundings to ensure none of their teammates were near.

“What do you mean?” Ariana’s sharp blue eyes locked onto his.

For a moment, Lucas froze, captivated. He’d been fighting alongside her for hours, but her beauty still left him breathless. Those piercing blue orbs seemed almost otherworldly.

“You seem to be keeping your distance,” he ventured hesitantly. “Is there a reason for that?”

“I don’t know what you’re—” she began, but her voice faltered as an embarrassing memory surfaced: a failed attempt to make someone jealous. ‘Instead of masturbating alone, why don’t you just go be with him?’ The words echoed in her mind, igniting a faint blush.

Unbeknownst to her, a small, rare smile slipped across her lips—a fleeting expression that made Lucas’s heart skip a beat. He stood there, utterly mesmerized, staring at an unattainable beauty he could barely comprehend.

“Um… Ariana?” he called out softly, noticing her distraction.

“Oh, sorry. You were saying?” she asked, her composure quickly returning.

Lucas was about to respond when a sharp voice interrupted them. “We need to find shelter, guys. The sun’s going down, and more of them are already gathering in groups. We can’t stay out here much longer,” the voice warned.

They turned to see a girl with bright pink hair and a disarming smile. Yet, for reasons Ariana couldn’t explain, she felt an immediate dislike for this newcomer. Something about her presence set her instincts on edge.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lucas agreed, though his voice betrayed the faint pull he seemed to feel toward the girl.

“Cain already found a good spot for us to hunker down,” the pink-haired girl continued, her gaze flicking between Lucas and Ariana. She lingered a moment, her expression unreadable.

“Sure,” Ariana replied dismissively, already walking toward her.

“W-wait—” Lucas called after her, but she didn’t stop, her thoughts drifting back to burdens she’d been trying so hard to forget, if only for a moment.

‘Will… will he ever forgive me if he finds out everything?’ Her chest tightened as a pang of guilt and longing clawed at her heart.

She had tried to deny it for so long, but the truth was glaringly obvious—she didn’t deserve him. For as long as she could remember, she had tormented him. The manipulations, the behind-the-scenes threats to people who genuinely wanted to be his friends,, the crushing loneliness she fostered around him, and the obsessive dependence she subtly cultivated—all of it was her doing. She wanted him, but more than that, she wanted him to want her desperately. But she had gone too far.

When he finally chose to leave, to escape the suffocating web she had spun, she did something that might have hurt him more than all the tragedies he’d endured in his life.

“Renay, I can’t. I’ve lost too much in my life already. I can’t bear to lose anything else. It would be the last push, the one I might not recover from. So no, I can’t do this. I can’t be what you want me to be.”

She remembered the pain in his eyes as he spoke those words. He was already deeply wounded, trying to avoid more pain, but she kept on—persistent, relentless, using everything—emotional manipulation, psychological pressure—until he was too worn down to resist anymore. She knew it was wrong. She knew it would hurt him. But she couldn’t stop herself.

Her emotions were so deep, so intense, that at times it felt like they would consume her whole. She hated how she felt when she saw another girl approach him, even just to talk. It drove her mad. But at the same time, she couldn’t reject the dark satisfaction it gave her. She accepted it. Ryan was hers, and hers alone.

It had all started innocently enough. She was curious about the mysterious young man in their department. That curiosity grew into a friendship he resisted at every turn. And then, one day, as she walked to the department building, she spotted him from a distance. She was about to call out to him when she saw another girl standing beside him, laughing, teasing him in a way that was far too familiar.

In that moment, everything inside her shifted.

Darkness.

Hate.

Anger.

It was on that day she lost her mind.

“I warn you for the last time, Ariana, for the very last time; Stay away from him. I know what you did, and I know what you’re trying to achieve. STOP TRYING TO BREAK HIM, I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU PUSH ME TO MUCH TO THE WALL.”

She then recalled the last conversation she had with Selena before the emergency exams.

“Mind your business, Selena,” Ariana said, attempting to walk away, but Selena grabbed her hand.

“What do you think would happen if he were to find out?” Selena asked, staring deep into her eyes. From her gaze, it was obvious Selena was holding herself back from doing something they would both regret.

“…Ryan is mine. I will take him back. He came to this world for me in the first place. He belongs to me, Selena. I will never let you or anyone else take him away from me,” Ariana said with conviction and a darkness in her eyes.

“…So you’ve decided to break him. To do the very thing you once did to him, is that right?”

She bit her lip. “He needs to understand that I am the only one for him,” she said, pulling her wrist away from Selena’s grip.

“Ariana, I didn’t want to kill you, because it would hurt him. He’s been through so much already, more than anyone should endure. I would hate for him to experience that pain again.”

“…He can only be happy with me.”

“Do you know what it cost me to save him? DO YOU NOW HE WAS ALREADY BROWKN. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO SACRIFICE TO GIVE HIM A FIGHTING CHANCE?!” Selena asked, her voice sharp with restrained anger.

“I…I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to jump that day,” Ariana whispered, her voice trembling. “I only called him because I thought that if I did something drastic, he would be forced to come back to me. But I never wanted to jump—I never wanted to see him this way. It was all that bitch…that woman.”

“There are greater forces at play than you understand, Ariana. There are things you cannot fight against. Stay away from him. This is your final warning. Your existence will only bring him pain,” Selena said, her voice colder than before.

“You seem to know about her. Who was that woman? Why did she use me to bring Ryan into this world? Is she the one who has been killing everyone he loves?” Ariana asked, her voice cracking as she voiced the question that had haunted her since that day she was pushed off Sky Tower.

“She…is someone like you. A selfish bitch,” Selena replied bluntly. “Be warned, Ariana. I’m already at my limit with you. If you pull another stunt like the one you did, I’ll make sure you disappear, even if it hurts Ryan.”

Selena turned and walked away without looking back.

Sob.

Ariana quietly whimpered as she walked toward the shelter.

‘But I can’t stop myself. I love him too much to let go. Please…don’t hate me for what I will do.’

…..

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