He Mourned My Death, I Loved Another Man

Chapter 2

He had no idea how long he had been waiting when a car honked behind him.

Matthew took a deep breath and turned around, but the first thing he saw was the man standing next to Dakota in a white shirt, young, the same guy from the news.

Matthew's fists suddenly clenched, and an uncontrollable ache shot through his chest.

Dakota walked up to Matthew and reached out for a hug, but he sidestepped to avoid her.

Her expression froze for a second, then she pointed to the man beside her and said, "Matt, this is Justin Gellar. He has something to tell you."

Justin stepped forward with red-rimmed eyes. "Mr. Walsh, I know nothing I say will make things right, but I still need to say sorry to you and your parents."

Matthew's face went completely dark, his eyes burning red as if they were about to bleed, and his voice was thick with anger. "Get lost! Don't you dare dirty my parents' grave with your presence!"

Justin flinched back at his outburst. Dakota frowned and started to speak, but Justin cut her off, "Kota, can you give us a minute? I want to talk to Mr. Walsh alone."

Her eyes instantly softened. She nodded and said, "Okay, call me if you need anything."

Matthew felt as if his heart were being squeezed in a vice, the pain so sharp that his vision went black.

Once Dakota was far enough away, the tears in Justin's eyes vanished as if they had never been there, and in their place was a coldness that cut straight to the bone. "I thought the guy Kota used to like was something special, but this is all you are?"

He clicked his tongue, folded his arms across his chest, and his eyes were full of pure malice. "But now, she likes me... the son of the people who killed your parents. So, Mr. Walsh, surprised? Bet you didn't see that..."

With a bang, Matthew's fist cut him off, his hand still hanging in the air, and the rage inside him was so intense it felt like it was about to explode. "She's disgusting, and so are you! One day, you'll both get what you deserve!"

Justin looked up, holding his nose, his eyes burning with spite.

Matthew thought he was about to strike back, but instead, Justin suddenly let out a choked sob and bent forward, hiding his face in his hands as if he couldn't bear the guilt anymore. "Mr. Walsh, I was so wrong! I want to make up for it. I'll even die if that's what it takes! Just please forgive me!"

Then Matthew heard a movement behind him, and Dakota came running over. Her eyes landed on Justin, bent over, his face hidden, his shoulders trembling.

Her face went icy cold. The way she looked at Matthew was as if she wanted to tear him apart.

"Matthew, when everything happened back then, Justin was still studying abroad! He had no idea what his parents did. None of that had anything to do with him. Can you please stop being so unreasonable?"

Unreasonable? Matthew's eyes burned red.

The son of the killer got to live his life free and easy, while Matthew lost both his parents and nearly died because of her whole "died in the line of duty" lie.

And after all that, all she could say was that he was being unreasonable? That wasn't the Dakota he knew!

Just then, Justin spoke up, his voice dripping with guilt. "Kota, it's my fault. Whatever Mr. Walsh wants to do to me, I'll take it."

He turned to Matthew, his eyes glistening with grievance. "Mr. Walsh, go ahead and punish me!"

"Justin!" Dakota frowned immediately, her tone turning soft and soothing. "How many times do I have to tell you? This isn't your fault! And even if we're keeping count, you saved my life back then. That already makes us even."

"We're not even, Kota. Not even close." Justin shook his head and deliberately made his voice heavier. "What I owe you, I can pay back. But what I owe Mr. Walsh... how could I ever pay that back?"

Matthew watched the two of them play off each other like they had rehearsed it, and the fury inside his chest finally exploded.

Matthew stepped forward, his voice so cold it felt like it had been dipped in ice. "If you really want to pay me back, then grovel in front of my parents' grave and beg for their forgiveness 100 times."

"Matthew, have you lost your mind?" Dakota snapped, her eyes filled with impatience.

But Matthew acted as if he hadn't heard her, and he lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of Justin's hair, and started slamming his head against the tombstone. With a dull, heavy thud, the air seemed to tremble.

Justin cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face right away, but Matthew didn't stop. He kept his fingers locked tight around Justin's head and drove it into the stone over and over, putting all the hurt and hatred he had carried for years into every single blow.

"Matthew, that's enough!" Dakota finally couldn't take it anymore, and with a swing of her arm, she pushed Matthew as hard as she could.

Caught completely off guard, Matthew fell backward, and the back of his head hit the sharp edge of the tombstone with a loud c***k.

In an instant, a warm, sticky trickle began running down his neck, and when he reached up to touch it, his hand came away red.

Dakota caught a glimpse of that red from the corner of her eye, and for half a second, she froze, a faint, strange look crossing her face. But the very next moment, she turned away and quickly went over to help Justin to his feet.

When she at the bloody, mangled skin on Justin's forehead, her eyes were filled with an ache that seemed impossible to dissolve. "Justin, does it hurt?"

"Kota, I'm fine. I can keep going." Justin pressed his lips together and deliberately leaned a little closer into her arms.

"I'm taking you to the hospital." Dakota helped Justin up and turned to leave. As she walked past Matthew, she barely glanced at him, and her footsteps never slowed for a moment.

Matthew watched their figures disappear into the distance, and without any warning, tears began rolling down his face.

He bit his lip hard, forcing back the sob caught in his throat, and was about to push himself up using the tombstone when a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of his head.

His vision went dark, and his body crumpled to the ground before he could stop it.

In the last moment before his consciousness slipped away, he thought he saw Dakota running toward him with a panicked look on her face.

But... how could it be her? She wasn't the Dakota who would travel all night across cities just to find him and say, "You're all I have left."

As soon as that thought landed, Matthew fell completely into darkness.