Chapter 305: "No... Not Breaking Up Anymore.
Chapter 305: Chapter 305: "No... Not Breaking Up Anymore.
To Moira Ford, Linus Hollis, who would adopt a stray cat, should have been a kind and loving person.
Yet, here he was, doing something so morally wrong.
Linus Hollis met her gaze, his expression turning pitiful again. "Una, can we please not break up? I don’t know what came over me. I made a mistake. I’ll change, okay?"
Moira Ford pressed her lips together and sighed deeply. "Linus, the truth is, we’re really not right for each other. Why can’t we just part on good terms?"
"I refuse." Linus Hollis stepped forward and grabbed Moira Ford’s hand, pleading, "Una, please don’t break up with me. Please, just give me one more chance..."
"Why are you forcing my hand?" Moira Ford snatched her hand back, her brow tightly furrowed. "Linus, I’m realizing I don’t know you at all. It’s like you’ve become a completely different person..."
Linus Hollis said frantically, "Una, don’t you understand? The only reason I’m acting like this is because I care about you so much!"
"You..." Moira Ford sighed again. "You acting like this... it’s really making me uncomfortable."
Linus Hollis pushed his glasses up, his gaze turning gentle and deeply affectionate. "Una, I’m only asking you to give me one more chance. I promise I’ll never do anything to wrong you again. Can you do that?"
"No." Moira Ford’s answer was sharp and final. "Stop pestering me. Can’t you just let it go? Don’t threaten to kill yourself over a breakup. How could you face Auntie Nora after saying something like that?"
"I can’t let it go!" Linus Hollis dropped his head, a flicker of malice in his eyes. He strode over to the balcony’s glass door and drew the curtains shut.
With his back to Moira Ford, he clenched his jaw and spoke, enunciating every word. "Una, I’m asking you one last time. Don’t break up with me. Can you do that?"
Moira Ford’s tone remained resolute. "I’m sorry, but I can’t. My mind is made up. Please, don’t say any more."
She looked at Linus’s back and said earnestly, "Linus, if we can’t be a couple, we can still be friends. I wish you all the best. Goodbye."
Having said her piece, Moira Ford turned and walked toward the door.
Linus Hollis whipped around, his eyes behind his lenses fixed on her with a chilling stare. "Moira Ford!"
Moira Ford didn’t respond, her steps never faltering.
Linus Hollis strode forward, viciously grabbing a fistful of her hair. His face was as dark as a thundercloud. "I’m talking to you. Are you deaf?"
A sharp, tearing pain exploded across her scalp. Moira Ford cried out, "What are you doing?"
Linus Hollis forced her to the ground, his hands closing around her neck. His face was a terrifying, contorted mask. "Una, why did you have to force me to do this?"
"You..." Moira Ford instantly found it hard to breathe. She struggled on the floor, gasping, "Linus, calm down!"
"I can’t calm down!" Linus’s face was livid, his eyes savage. "You’re the one who forced me to do this!"
Moira Ford couldn’t pry his hands off. Her pale face was turning crimson from the lack of air. "Linus," she choked out, "let go... I can’t breathe..."
Linus let go, his expression instantly switching to one of concern. "Una, are you all right?"
Moira Ford sat up, gasping for breath. She stared at the man before her, her heart filled with terror. "I want to go home..."
She scrambled up from the floor, her voice thick with suppressed sobs. "I want to go home..."
Moira Ford staggered toward the door.
Linus grabbed her hair from behind again. "Did I say you could go home?"
He slammed her against the wall, her cheek scraping painfully against the surface.
Linus pressed in close from behind, whispering by her ear, "Una, tell me. Are we still breaking up?"
Moira Ford bit her lip, saying nothing.
’He’s gone insane,’ she thought.
"Why aren’t you answering?" Linus suddenly burst into a maniacal laugh. "Speak up, Una. I’m waiting for your answer."
Moira Ford squeezed her eyes shut in anguish as tears streamed down her face. She choked out, "No... We’re not breaking up."
"Do you really mean it, or are you lying to me?" Linus yanked her hair viciously.
Moira Ford cried out in pain, her voice breaking. "I mean it! We’re not! Now please, let me go!"
"Is that right?" Linus sneered, but he did release her.
Moira Ford spun around, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at him.
Linus Hollis rubbed his wrists and raised a hand to caress her tear-streaked face, his tone dripping with pity. "Una, why are you crying?"
Moira Ford flinched and froze in place.
She stammered, "I... I..."
In the next instant, Linus’s expression soured, and he slapped her hard across the face. "Why, when I begged you not to break up with me, did you have to be so heartless and cruel? We’ve been together for three years! You think you can just throw that all away?"
"You were the one who betrayed me first..." Moira Ford clutched her stinging cheek, shrinking back into the corner.
"I’m a man!" Linus’s gaze was contemptuous and arrogant. "So what if I’m seeing a few other women? Isn’t that perfectly normal? How is that a betrayal? Must you be so intolerant of the slightest imperfection?"
Moira Ford stared at him in utter shock. She never imagined he could say something so outrageous with such a sense of entitlement.
Dumbfounded, her mouth hung slightly open. For a moment, she was at a complete loss for words.
"What are you looking at me for?" Linus snarled, slapping her again. "I groveled, I begged, I even knelt before you! And you still had the audacity to refuse me? You’ve got some nerve!"
"You..." Both indignant and furious, Moira roared, "Who the hell do you think you are? Are your knees that precious?"
Linus stared at her coldly, his fists clenched so tightly the veins bulged on the back of his hands. He ground out through his teeth, "What gives you the right to talk to me like that?"
"You’re insane!" A wave of fury surged through Moira, and she slapped him across the face. "Linus Hollis, you’re completely hopeless!"
"Hah..." Linus touched his cheek, a cold smile on his lips. "Una, it seems I’ve been too good to you. Did that make you think I was a pushover?"
"I have nothing more to say to you!" Moira shoved him hard and made a frantic dash for the door.
Seeing this, Linus snatched up a nearby stool and hurled it at her.
The stool slammed into Moira’s lower back. She let out a muffled grunt of pain and collapsed to the floor.
Linus slowly walked over to her and crouched down, admiring her agony. A mocking smile played on his lips. "Does it hurt, Una?"
Sprawled on the floor, Moira was breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she struggled to form a single sentence. "I... It... hurts... so much..."
"So it hurts." Linus’s grin was radiant. "Good. It’s supposed to."
Her fingers, pressed against the floor, clenched into fists. She sobbed, "Why... why... are you... doing... this... to me?"
"Haven’t I told you already? You brought all of this on yourself." Linus sneered, yet his voice was exceptionally gentle. "It’s all your fault, Una. Why did you have to be so ungrateful?"