Chapter 44: chapter 44
"You really think she could kill me?"
Renzo smirked.
"She's not built for blood. She's built for dreams. For love. Not for vengeance."
The room went dead still.
Yuri's eyes darkened—his silence louder than any outburst.
A sudden voice echoed through the cold room—calm, steady, but laced with something sharper.
"Who said I can't kill you, Renzo?"
Everyone froze.
The air dropped.
Yuri's heart stopped for a beat—then slammed hard against his chest.
He couldn't move ,Couldn't breathe.
He knew that voice ,Knew it better than his own.
It rang through his mind like a long-lost melody—
One he thought he'd never hear again.
Y/N.
His fingers twitched by instinct.
His jaw clenched, throat tight.
He wanted to turn.
Wanted to look.
But for a second, it felt like if he did—she might disappear. Like a dream.
Even Renzo paused—his grin slipping for the first time.
The silence was broken by the sound of slow footsteps behind Yuri.
And finally, finally—he turned around.
And there she was.
Yuri's breath hitched as he took in the sight of her—
Y/N.
But not the girl he said goodbye to two years ago.
This Y/N wore a fitted black tactical vest, matching leather pants hugging her now more defined, stronger form. Her hair was tied back tightly, no strands out of place—no hesitation in her stance.
The gun in her hand didn't tremble.
Her gaze? Cold. Calculated.
Her aura? Unshakable.
She walked beside Yuri, eyes locking with his—calm, as if she'd never left, yet everything about her had changed.
A soft, almost teasing smile curled at her lips.
"Babe… long time no see."
Yuri's lips parted, stunned. His heart threatened to crash out of his chest.
Before he could say a word, she gently tapped his chest with her fingers.
"But first," she said, shifting her gaze toward Renzo, voice tightening,
"it's my time for revenge."
Her expression turned lethal.
"Step back. Mr. Hanamitchi saved this chance for me… not you."
Yuri didn't move.
He couldn't.
He'd waited two years—
But the woman standing beside him now…
She wasn't just back.
She was ready.
Y/N sat on the cold floor, legs crossed effortlessly, positioning herself directly in front of Renzo like it was a casual conversation—just the two of them.
"Okay… let's recall the past, Renzo… huh?" she said softly, her voice smooth but edged with steel.
She absentmindedly tapped the gun's muzzle against her head, pressing the tip into her scalp like she was scratching an itch .. calm, unbothered, almost playful.
Her eyes never left his.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Just unfinished business.
Yuri stood just behind her, eyes fixed on the scene unfolding in front of him—unable to tear his gaze away.
He had imagined their reunion a thousand times—
Tears. A tight embrace. A long-awaited kiss.
But not this.
Not her—
Sitting cross-legged on the cold floor, gun in hand, tapping the muzzle against her head like it was part of her, staring down a man like Renzo without flinching.
Yuri's chest tightened.
He was stunned.
Not because he didn't believe in her strength…
But because she had grown past the girl he once swore to protect.
Now—
She didn't need protecting.
She was the storm.
And all he could do was watch…
In awe.
And maybe, just a little bit, in fear.
Y/N leaned forward slightly, her gaze burning into Renzo's, voice steady and cold.
"So… first, you made friends with my dad. A best friend, huh? You smiled in our home. Ate at our table. Like family."
She paused, her tone dropping lower.
"But you liked my mom, didn't you?"
She tilted her head, eyes narrowing.
"Then what happened, Renzo? You changed? Or were you always like that?"
Renzo didn't say a word.
But a slow, unsettling smile crept across his lips.
Mocking. Proud. Unrepentant.
Y/N didn't flinch.
She stared back, her grip tightening ever so slightly on the gun.
"A clean heart can do a lot for their best friend, Renzo."
Her voice now laced with quiet fury.
"But your heart? Yours was never clean. Yours was always dark."
The room felt colder.
Even the team standing in the shadows behind Yuri stayed quiet—no one dared interrupt.
Y/N wasn't done.
And the storm inside her had just begun.
Renzo finally broke the silence, voice rough and low—
"You don't know anything, Y/N…"
Y/N's expression didn't change.
But her eyes narrowed.
Without a word, she stood—smooth, controlled.
Her boots echoed softly against the concrete floor.
She stepped closer.
Then—
She tilted his chin up with the cold metal of her gun, pressing it firmly beneath his jaw.
"No?" she whispered, eyes burning into his.
"Then tell me, Renzo… what exactly am I missing?"
Renzo's lips parted, and for the first time, there was something raw in his voice—something twisted and buried deep.
"I liked your mom first…" he murmured, eyes locked on Y/N despite the barrel pressing into his chin.
"I tried… dropped so many hints to let your dad know. But he—he was blinded. Blinded by love."
His voice cracked—not from guilt, but from something darker.
"It's okay, I told myself. I can sacrifice. I can step back. I can live with it."
He let out a bitter laugh, shoulders tense against the restraints.
"But they ignored me, Y/N."
His eyes flared with pain—twisted and unresolved.
"They ignored their best friend. Threw me away like I never mattered. All for love."
He sneered now, the old mask slipping back on.
"So don't come here acting like you know everything. You only saw the happy side. You don't know what it feels like… to be erased."
Y/N's hand didn't tremble.
Her voice was quiet—
but it cut sharper than the gun pressed under Renzo's chin.
"But you killed them, Renzo."
Her eyes didn't waver, cold and burning with grief all at once.
"You killed them… with your own hands."
She took a breath, steady but strained.
"That's not heartbreak. That's not sacrifice. That's cruelty."
Renzo looked up at her, jaw tightening, but she didn't give him room to speak.
"And even after that, you disappeared… planned everything all over again. But not for my mom. Not for my dad."
She leaned in slightly, her tone sharp as glass.
"You came back for me."
Her voice cracked, just barely.
"You tried to take me."
The pain behind her eyes was real.
But so was the fire.
"You really thought I'd break like they did? That I'd forgive you?"
She pressed the gun just a bit harder.
"You took everything from me."
Yuri took a slow step forward behind her, but didn't say a word.
This moment was hers.
And Renzo—
was finally facing it.
Y/N's hand remained steady, her eyes locked on the man who once sat at her family's table—now nothing more than the ghost of betrayal.
Her voice dropped into a whisper, every word carrying years of buried pain and fury.
"I'm sorry, Renzo… but I can't forgive. And I won't forget what happened."
She stepped even closer, gun still under his chin.
"You didn't just hurt me. You ruined my family. You destroyed everything good we had."
Her tone hardened—no mercy, no hesitation.
"You are the demon I've been waiting to erase from this world."
Renzo's smile finally faded.
There was no charm left in his eyes—only silence.
Y/N looked him dead in the eyes one last time.
"Goodbye, Renzo."
A pause—cold, final.
"Go to hell. And don't you dare meet my parents when you die."
The room held its breath.
And in that moment—
Y/N was no longer the girl he once underestimated.
She was justice.
And she had no more words left for him.
In one swift, ruthless motion,
Y/N gripped Renzo's hair, yanking his head back—exposing his forehead.
Her eyes were wild, locked with his one last time.
A twisted smile curved on her lips.
Mocking. Final.
"Bye bye," she whispered—
followed by a chilling, almost unhinged laugh.
And then—
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The gunfire echoed like thunder in the hollow room.
Blood splattered.
Renzo's body slumped, lifeless.
But she didn't stop.
Her finger twitched again.
And again.
Lost in the storm she had carried for years.
Until—
Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind—
Yuri.
He pulled her tight against his chest, locking her arms, the gun still hot in her hands.
His voice was low, shaking with emotion, close to her ear—
"Babe… he's gone. Stop."
She froze.
His grip didn't loosen.
He held her as if she'd fall apart without it.
"It's over… you're okay now. You're safe. I'm here."
The gun slipped from her fingers.
Her breathing ragged.
Tears, silent and slow, traced down her cheeks.
And for the first time in two years…
She finally let herself collapse into him.
Y/N stood frozen in Yuri's arms, her body tense, her face soaked in blood—splattered from the close-range shots. It painted her cheeks, her neck, her jaw—
as if the fury she carried had finally spilled out.
Her chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, but she didn't fight his hold anymore.
She just… stayed.
Yuri kept his arm wrapped firmly around her, eyes locked on her face.
And with one glance at Renzo's lifeless, mangled body—
he knew she had been holding this in far too long.
He turned to the team behind them, his voice sharp but calm.
"Boys—return back. I'll take her from here. No worries."
No one questioned him.
No one looked back.
The men gave silent nods, quickly disappearing down the hallway.
Their boots echoed—
thud, thud, thud—
until the sound faded completely into the cold distance.
Now it was just them.
Yuri and Y/N.
And the silence that came after vengeance.
Suddenly, Y/N pushed Yuri away—not harshly, but enough.
She took a few steps back, then lowered herself to the cold floor, lying down flat on her back.
Eyes wide open.
Staring blankly at the ceiling.
Motionless.
Her voice came out hollow, distant—like she wasn't even sure if she was speaking or just thinking out loud.
"Yuri… I think I'm turning into a psychopath… day by day."
Yuri's heart clenched at her words.
He slowly walked over, then dropped to his knees beside her.
Gently, he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket,
carefully wiping the blood off her cheeks—
each stroke delicate, tender, like he was trying to erase the pain along with the stains.
He didn't say much at first.
Just cleaned her in silence.
Patient.
Then, in the softest voice—barely above a whisper—he said:
"Babe… let's go home first."
Because right now,
she didn't need answers.
She needed warmth.
She needed him.
And home—
was wherever they could start to feel again.