My Death Countdown (by Netulla) novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

From that day on, Adrien locked himself inside his home and never stepped outside again.

Except for the occasional visit from Davina, he saw no one and responded to no one’s messages.

Empty liquor bottles were scattered all around the room.

He numbed his nerves with alcohol, barely managing to drag out his endless, painful existence.

On January twenty–first, the long–quiet door was suddenly knocked upon.

Adrien was just waking from a hangover, his lifeless eyes staring blankly at the shifting light and shadows on the wall.

The person outside kept knocking persistently, again and again, never stopping.

Adrien heard it, but acted as if he hadn’t.

By afternoon, he forced his emaciated body to get up and walked to the door.

After knocking for three hours, Kiersten’s patience was nearly gone, and she was pounding on the door in frustration.

So when the door suddenly opened without warning, she couldn’t stop herself and stumbled straight inside.

Adrien instinctively raised his hand to block her, keeping a distance between them, his gaze cold and indifferent.

“What do you want?”

Kiersten hadn’t expected that after so long, his attitude toward her would turn so completely, and a flash of unwilling- ness flickered in her eyes.

But she quickly adjusted her expression, putting on a look of concern and worry.

“Adrien, I haven’t been able to reach you these days. Are you alright?”

Adrien lowered his eyes, avoiding her gaze, his tone returning to the polite distance of their first meeting.

“I’m fine. You should go. Let’s not contact each other anymore.”

Hearing this, Kiersten grew anxious and grabbed his hand.

“Pretend we never met? Have you forgotten the sunsets we watched together, the long streets we walked? Have you forgotten the song you sang for me? All of it really happened–how can I pretend it didn’t?”

Those memories that once brought Adrien endless joy had become crushing burdens after Sylvia left.

Because he had indulged in those fleeting moments of happiness, he broke his vows, betrayed true feelings, and drove his wife to her death.

He felt himself steeped in sin, beyond redemption.

So when he heard those words that pierced his heart, he could no longer control his emotions, his eyes filled with grief.

“None of that should have happened from the start! I failed Syl, I tore this family apart with my own hands!”

Kiersten had thought that nothing stood in the way of her and Adrien anymore, that they could finally be together openly.

She never expected that even after Sylvia’s death, he would still carry such a heavy burden in his heart.

She had always looked down on that cripple, and now, with him insisting on mourning and cutting ties with her, she was even more furious, speaking without thinking.

“The dead are gone, nothing can bring her back! People have to move forward. Just forget her and stay with me, okay? Weren’t we so happy together? Don’t you remember?”