My boyfriend Vampire lord

Chapter 3: A Heart Seeking Warmth

Chapter 3: A Heart Seeking Warmth

For a while, the only sound echoing inside the cabin was Claire's quiet sobbing. Outside, the birds had already begun singing, and sunlight filtered through the trees, yet inside the small wooden room, time itself seemed to have stopped. Adrian remained seated silently across from her. He neither interrupted nor asked any questions. Eventually, after giving her enough time to calm down, he spoke softly.

"If you want, you can tell me about it. I've heard that sharing your pain with someone else makes it a little easier to bear."

Claire raised her tear-filled eyes toward him, her lips trembling.

"You can't understand," she whispered weakly. "Nothing hurts more than being betrayed by the people you love."

For a brief moment, a strange expression crossed Adrian's face. Something ancient and painful seemed to flicker within his eyes.

"Perhaps no one understands better than I do," he murmured quietly.

But Claire was drowning too deeply in her sorrow to notice his words.

Slowly, Adrian rose from his chair and stepped closer to her. Gently, he placed his hand over her trembling fingers. There was no greed in his touch, no hidden desire, only a calm reassurance that somehow felt genuine. Claire could not understand why, but at that moment, an unfamiliar warmth spread through her heart. It was as though someone had lit a small candle after years of endless darkness. For the first time in her life, she felt that someone truly wanted to listen to her, not because they wanted something from her, but simply because they wanted to understand her. Tears rolled down her cheeks once again as she took a deep breath and finally began to speak.

"I was born into a very wealthy family. My grandfather was one of the country's biggest real estate developers, and my mother was a successful businesswoman."

"Everyone always said I looked exactly like her, but I never got the chance to know her. She died before I even turned one."

Claire paused for a few moments, her eyes drifting somewhere far away as old memories surfaced inside her mind.

"I always believed my mother must have been an amazing woman. Ever since I was little, I heard people praising her, but I never realized how much my life would change after she was gone."

"My father remarried, and because I was still a child, I thought I had gained a mother again."

"I tried so hard to make her happy. I listened to everything she said and wanted her to love me."

"But she never saw me as her daughter. Whenever I approached her, she pushed me away."

"I could never understand what was wrong with me. Eventually, I convinced myself that maybe this was normal. Maybe every mother behaved like this."

A bitter smile appeared on her face.

"I was so foolish."

After taking another breath, she continued.

"As I grew older, I started learning the family business."

"By the time I turned eighteen, I was already managing several company projects. People praised me and said I had inherited my mother's talent."

"But honestly, none of those achievements meant anything to me."

"I had money, status, and respect, but I didn't have love."

"Nobody waited for me when I came home."

"Nobody asked whether I had eaten or whether I was happy."

"Nobody cared if I was lonely or sad."

"I just buried myself in work because working made the loneliness easier to ignore."

More tears escaped her eyes.

"I always believed that someday everything would change."

Her voice became softer.

"Then Ethan entered my life."

"He was the first person who made me feel special."

"He listened to me, complimented me, remembered my birthday, and always asked if I was tired."

"I thought I had finally found someone who loved me for who I truly was."

"I trusted him with my heart."

"I fell in love with him."

"And for the first time in my life, I was genuinely happy."

A painful laugh escaped her lips.

"Looking back now, I realize how blind I was."

"I never saw through his lies."

Silence filled the room for several moments before Claire slowly began recounting everything that had happened the previous night. She spoke about how she had dressed like a bride and believed she was about to experience the happiest day of her life. Then she told him how everything had fallen apart. She spoke of Melissa revealing the truth, of Richard confessing that he had never loved her, of Sophia and Ethan mocking her, of the knife buried in her stomach, and of being thrown from the cliff into the raging river below. Every word reopened the wounds inside her heart. Several times her voice broke, but she forced herself to continue. By the time she finished, her eyes had become swollen from crying, and exhaustion covered her face.

Throughout her story, Adrian remained completely silent. His expression hardly changed, but his fists had slowly tightened. A cold glimmer had appeared deep inside his eyes. He understood her suffering far better than she realized. Perhaps because he had once experienced a similar pain himself. Yet he revealed nothing. After a long silence, he finally took a deep breath and spoke calmly.

"It's time to stop crying."

Claire looked at him in surprise.

"The medicine you drank earlier needs food to work properly. Otherwise, you'll end up fainting again."

"So stay here and rest."

"I'll make something for you to eat."

With those words, he stood up and walked toward the other side of the room where a small stove stood beside several shelves filled with herbs and supplies. Claire quietly watched him.

A strange feeling was beginning to grow inside her heart, one she could neither understand nor explain. This man was a complete stranger. Just a few hours ago, she had not even known his name.

Yet somehow, merely being near him made her heart feel calm. Hearing his voice filled her with an unfamiliar sense of safety. She had never experienced anything like this before. No one had ever cared for her this way. Her family never worried about her, and Ethan had given her nothing but betrayal. But this stranger, without asking for anything in return, was taking care of her as though her life truly mattered.

After some time, Adrian returned carrying a bowl of steaming soup. The aroma quickly filled the room. He carefully held the bowl out toward her and smiled.

"Drink slowly," he said gently.

Claire accepted the bowl, her fingers trembling slightly. Then she lifted her eyes and looked at him. For the very first time, a question appeared in her heart.

Who exactly was this man?

And why did she have this strange feeling that perhaps, from this day onward, her life was about to change forever?