Shattered Bonds A Second Chance Mate (by Yui) novel Chapter 241

Chapter 241

It’s been three days since the mirror shattered.

Three days since my heart stopped in Francesco’s arms.

Since Lira said the curse only slept

not died.

And though I breathe again, nothing feels alive.

Not really.

The air inside the castle has changed.

Colder. Heavier. As if the stones themselves are holding their breath.

Everyone moves quietly now – like noise might wake the curse back up.

Monica visits with soup I can barely eat, Audrey insists on staying near my door, and Alfonso pretends not to watch me when I walk through the hall.

But it’s him.

It’s my Francesco.

He’s changed…

He doesn’t smile anymore, not even the small, tired ones that used to soften his face.

When he looks at me, it’s not warmth I see – it’s silence.

Something deep, heavy, searching. Like he’s trying to remember who I am.

And sometimes…

I catch him staring at me as if he’s afraid to blink.

The first night after it happened, he didn’t sleep.

He just sat there, on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, hands over his face.

I could feel his pulse through the bond, wild and uneven, his thoughts tangled like storm clouds.

I reached out – but he didn’t react.

Just kept whispering something under his breath, too low for me to catch.

When he finally noticed me watching, he forced a smile. “Go back to sleep, Luna.”

I didn’t.

Because I could feel the lie.

By morning, he was gone.

Audrey said he’d been training since before dawn.

12:55 vouchers

Alfonso said the warriors couldn’t keep up with him anymore he fought until his hands bled.

At dinner, he barely touched his food.

At night, he came to bed late, smelling of rain and sweat and exhaustion.

But even when his body lay beside mine, the bond between us didn’t rest.

It trembled.

Sometimes, when I reached for him, it felt like touching a door half-opened to another world wanted me gone.

And deep inside that door, I could hear something.

A faint whisper, echoing through him.

Like a woman’s voice made of smoke.

Tonight, the air feels wrong again.

–

one that

The candles flicker even though the windows are closed. The wind outside hums low, almost like a heartbeat.

I sit in bed with my knees pulled to my chest, watching Francesco by the window.

He’s shirtless, his skin glowing faintly under the moonlight. His back moves with slow, deliberate breaths too steady for a man asleep.

He’s not asleep.

He’s listening.

“Francesco?” I whisper.

He doesn’t turn around.

The sound of my voice hangs between us like dust in sunlight.

“Love?” I try again, softer this time.

Still nothing.

Then I feel it – the bond flaring. Hot. Wrong.

Like something just pressed its hands between us, trying to pull us apart.

I reach for him through the bond, sending warmth, light, anything and what comes back isn’t him.

It’s a whisper.

‘She’ll kill you before you kill her.

What?

My breath catches.

No. Not again.

“Francesco,” I call, standing now, my bare feet silent against the floor. “Please look at me.”

His shoulders stiffen.

Then, slowly, he turns.

And for a moment – a terrible, endless moment – I don’t recognize his eyes.

They’re still black. Still beautiful.

But the warmth is gone.

Only the beast looks back.

“Ellaine…” His voice cracks on my name. He blinks hard, like he’s trying to wake himself. “I didn’t mean-”

“What’s happening to you?” I cupped his face lovingly.

He swallows hard, jaw tight. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I said nothing!” he snaps, louder than he meant to.

The glass on the nightstand trembles make me gasped in surprise.

Then guilt flickers across his face.

He runs a hand through his hair, stepping back until his spine hits the wall.

“I don’t-” His voice breaks again. “Oh God… I don’t trust myself.”

I move closer, ignoring the ache in my chest. “Then, trust me.”

He looks up sharply, as if that word burns.

“You… can’t,” he says. “You don’t understand what’s inside me.”

“I do,” I whisper. “Because I feel it too.”

He shakes his head. “No. This isn’t the curse testing us anymore. It’s something worse. It’s her. She’s inside my head, whispering every time I close my eyes.”

He presses his hands against his temples, trembling. “She tells me things-tells me what you’ll become, That you’ll betray me like she did. That I have to-”

He stops.

But I already know the word he doesn’t say.

Kill…

My throat tightens, but I force my voice steady. “You won’t.”

He laughs bitterly, brokenly. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” I say, stepping closer until I can touch his arm. His skin is burning, fever-hot. “Because I’ve seen what’s inside you. And it’s not her. It’s not the curse. It’s you. The man who held me when I was dying. The man who never let go.”

He stares at me – wild, desperate – and for a heartbeat, the gold in his

eyes

softens.

The bond flickers. Warms.

Then the voice comes again

—

this time loud enough that I hear it.

“He will kill you before dawn.”

I flinch, hand flying to my chest. The echo fades quickly, but its chill lingers.

Francesco’s eyes widen. “You heard that?”

“Yes…” My breath shakes. “She’s not only in your head anymore.”

He curses under his breath and storms toward the window. The glass cracks under his hand. “She’s trying to separate us.”

“Then don’t let her.”

He turns sharply. “You think I haven’t tried?! I fight her every time I breathe!”

His voice cracks on the last word, and suddenly he looks so tired – so human – that my heart aches.

I walk up to him, slowly. Carefully.

The way you’d approach a wounded animal.

I touch his face. “Then let me fight with you.”

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