“Mandy. Please, look at me.” I watch as his worried face trails on mine, and he grabs my chin slowly, his handsome onyx eyes lingering over me. “What is it?”

My heart pounds beneath my chest. “Is- Is he dead?” I fearfully look over at an old man lying in a pool of blood on a tiled floor. I dont understand. We were only going to take money from him so we could run away together, to fulfill our dreams. I know it sounds bad, but he was a rich, snobby old man- a horrible person at that. But how did it come to this?

His calloused thumb grazes against my teary cheek, and he cups my face as I look up at him, searching for an answer from his expression. “Darling, I,” he sighs before sliding my hair behind my ear. “No, he’s not dead. I just had to get the money, and I couldn’t do that when he was fighting back. I-“

I cut him off angrily. “Have you done this before?” I look up at him, demanding an answer.

“Mandy.. I.. Of course not.” He stutters, his eyes distancing from mine.

And right then and there, I know the answer.

Heat flushes to my cheeks, and I tear his hands away from my face with utter disgust.

“You have!” I cry out and reminisce on all the suspicious days and sleepless nights. All the days I had thought we were doing the right thing, it was all lies. Lies poured from a manipulative mouth that had such a hold on me.

I fix my eyes back on his fearful gaze. “Darling, I- It had to be done. Everything I’ve done was for us,” he says, slowly walking towards me, hands in a defensive state.

I take a step back, my eyes pinned on the blood that covers his hands. “No. Everything you’ve done was only for yourself. You used me, didn’t you?” I sputter out, and my heart races. I watch as his fear turns to anger.

He frowns at me, still walking towards me, and I take my last step before I stumble into a wall.

“Mandy,” he slowly takes my hands, and the feel of the wet, lifeless substance envelops mine. “I love you. Remember that. I’m so sorry.”

_What?_

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Suddenly, his hands cup my nose and mouth, and he grabs a cloth pressing it against me. I scream at the loss of air and try to push him off me, but he stays firm. My brain suddenly becomes foggy, my eyes tired, and I know I can do nothing to stop it.

Before I lose complete consciousness, I hear a weary whisper, “I’m sorry.”

That’s when I drift away, drifting into the lies of my scheming love.

Love is nothing but an endless trap.

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