He Said I Was Nothing Without Him And I Signed For Everything Chapter 10

Following the painting, Cassian traced Maren to a riverside town in the south.

Rillhaven was small, quiet, and almost always wet with rain.

Cassian found the studio at the end of a narrow side street, its plain wooden sign easy to miss.

Through the half-open window, he saw Maren.

She sat by the window, much thinner than before, her shoulders so slight they looked as if one hard rain could soak through her completely.

A brace covered her right hand, which rested quietly on her lap.

Her left hand held a pen, drawing one careful line after another.

In that moment, Cassian almost forgot how to breathe.

She wasn’t dead. But seeing her alive like this hurt more than the body he had seen under that white sheet.

He pushed the door open, and the bell above it gave a soft chime.

Maren looked up. Their eyes met.

She didn’t look surprised. She didn’t look afraid. She simply set down her pen.

Her gaze was so cold it felt like he had already lost her once and was losing her all over again.

Cassian’s throat tightened. He walked to her.

“Maren.”

His voice was so hoarse it barely sounded like his own.

“I know I was wrong.”

Maren looked at him and said nothing.

Cassian’s eyes reddened.

“I found out everything about back then.”

“When the Sallow family collapsed, you sold your paintings to pay the debts. You sent money to me anonymously. You went overseas to settle the rest and find doctors for your mother.”

“I misunderstood you.”

“I destroyed you.”

By the end, his voice was nearly breaking.

The Cassian Veyne who had once stood above everyone now stood before her like a man finally staring at his own unforgivable sins.

Maren only asked softly, “And?”

Cassian froze.

She looked at him and spoke each word clearly.

“Cassian, I already died once. I died at Blackridge, and I died every time you chose Isla.”

Cassian’s eyes turned redder. He reached out as if to touch her.

“Maren…”

Maren shifted away.

His hand stopped in midair, his fingers trembling.

She lowered her eyes to her right hand.

“You ruined this hand.”

“You forced me to paint over my mother’s face.”

“You were the one who ordered me committed.”

“I told you I didn’t push Isla. You didn’t believe me.”

“I told them I couldn’t take that drug. No one believed me.”

Every sentence cut into Cassian’s chest like a blade.

His voice came out rough.

“Isla has paid for what she did.”

“I took back everything she took from the Veyne family.”

“The people involved at Blackridge will be held accountable.”

“I’ll publicly clear up what happened back then.”

“I’ll return everything I owe you.”

After Maren heard him out, she only gave a faint smile. There was no warmth in it.

“That is what you should do.”

“It is not a reason for me to forgive you.”

Cassian could not speak at all.

He had thought that once the truth came out, once he lowered his head, once he was willing to make it up to her, Maren would eventually look back.

Only now did he understand.

Some things, once shattered, could never be begged back into place.

Maren picked up her pen again.

“Mr. Veyne, please leave.”

Cassian’s breath caught.

“Maren, give me one more chance.”

She didn’t look at him.

“There are none left.”

Cassian suddenly sank to his knees at the studio door.

Rain slid from his shoulders and fell onto the floor.

He lowered his head, his voice shaking.

“I’m begging you.”

“Hate me. Resent me. Just don’t throw me away.”

Maren’s pen paused.

A second later, she continued the line without turning around.

“Cassian, I let you go a long time ago.”

She stood and walked to the door.

Before closing it, she looked at him, calm almost to the point of cruelty.

“From the moment you carried Isla away, I was done with you.”

The door closed slowly.

Cassian stayed kneeling outside for a long time without moving.

Rain filled the narrow lane.

When he finally lifted his head, he saw a new painting hanging on the studio wall.

Its title was The Crossing He Never Made.

There was no trace of him in the painting.

Only an empty boat sailing into the distance.