Chapter 6: A Heart Fed by Poison – After the Touch
972 Words
Ares had turned his back and was walking away with steady steps.
The corridor remained silent.
Helen couldn’t even feel the weight of her tears...
Her fingers moved without her realizing.
One step.
Two steps.
And then—
“Please...”
A whisper escaped her lips.
Broken, hoarse, but real.
Ares stopped.
He didn’t turn around. Just waited.
Helen’s hand reached out and gently grasped his wrist — soft, but desperate.
> Helen (trembling, breathless):
“I’m... really not the kind of girl you think I am.”
Ares turned his head slightly.
But his face remained unseen.
His voice came cold as frost.
> Ares:
“Don’t touch me.”
Helen’s hand still clung to his wrist.
But Ares didn’t take a step back.
> Helen (tearful, in a timid flutter):
“I don’t want to prove anything to you.
I just... don’t understand why you talk to me like this.
It’s like I disturb you, but I haven’t even done anything...”
Silence.
Ares slowly turned around.
There was no anger on his face.
No softness either.
Just a cold curiosity — the hesitation of a predator catching the scent of an unwanted bond.
> Ares:
“That’s the problem.
You’re like a fog that clings to people without doing anything.
You act innocent to draw attention.
You pretend to be pure to gain affection.
And even though you hate me... you still touch me.”
Helen lowered her head. Slowly let go of his wrist.
But her tears kept falling.
> Helen (in a whisper):
“I don’t hate you.”
> Ares (frowning):
“What?”
> Helen:
“I’m afraid of you... but I don’t hate you.
Sometimes... you make me feel things.
But... I don’t even know what they are.”
Ares paused. Several seconds passed.
Then he stepped forward.
Stood right in front of her.
He raised a hand — as if to wipe a tear from her cheek… but the touch was harsh.
His fingers slid down to her chin. He lifted it gently.
> Ares (quietly, with threatening tenderness):
“If you’re going to get this close... one day, I’ll break you.
And still, you’ll look at me.
Because girls like you... always love the ones who hurt the most.”
Helen couldn’t lower her head.
Her eyes shimmered, but there was a strange warmth stirring inside her.
Like a wilted flower... yet still fragrant.
> Helen (with a choked smile):
“Maybe... you’re right.”
Ares slowly let go of her face.
And this time, he really left.
Helen stood there.
Alone. Shivering.
But for the first time... feeling warm.
---
Noon.
The academy’s outer garden, bathed in sun.
The elite group was scattered, but still present.
Cassian and Rheon sat at a stone table, scribbling.
Livia strolled the garden, wearing dark sunglasses, her black blazer hugging her frame with elegant strictness.
Her eyes found Helen — sitting alone on a bench, pretending to read.
But her eyes weren’t on the pages.
Ares stood afar, on the phone.
“He’s so handsome and charismatic,” Helen thought, not taking her eyes off him for even a second.
It seemed his call would last a while.
Livia walked toward Helen with heavy, deliberate steps.
> Livia (with a sweet yet cunning smile):
“Sometimes solitude is a blessing...
especially after getting so torn apart in public, don’t you think?”
Helen looked up.
She offered a faint smile without speaking, but her eyes were anxious.
> Helen:
“I don’t really have any friends here...”
Livia sat beside her — too close.
Her perfume was overpowering.
She took off her glasses, locked eyes with Helen.
> Livia:
“What’s going on between you and Ares?”
Helen’s face turned pale as chalk.
She closed her book. Looked away.
> Helen (quickly):
“Nothing. Really, there’s nothing...”
> Livia:
“Exactly. Ares would never go for a girl like you.
But... those tears? They caught attention.
Boys often confuse pity for attraction.”
Helen’s chest tightened.
She reached for her bag, wanting to leave —
but Livia wasn’t finished.
> Livia:
“You know, Ares knows who I am. I belong to his world.
What could he possibly want with a girl like you —
a girl who just ‘landed here by accident,’ with a dirty past?
To him, you’re not even an interface.
You’re just... a blurry background figure.”
Helen’s eyes welled up — but she forced a smile.
As she stood to leave, Livia delivered her final blow:
> Livia:
“But you still look at him.
Because girls like you... love falling for men who look down on them.
You crave being broken.”
At that moment, Ares ended his call and started approaching from afar.
Livia noticed, but turned back to Helen with one last whisper:
> Livia:
“To him, you’re just a discarded chapter from a story no one reads anymore.”
Helen stood up.
Her face flushed with shame, eyes filled with tears.
Livia calmly put her glasses back on.
Flicked her hair as if nothing had happened.
Ares reached them. His eyes first landed on Livia, then on Helen.
> Ares (coldly):
“Is there a problem?”
> Livia (smiling):
“Not at all. Just trying to find some inspiration for my next project.”
Helen said nothing.
She bowed her head and quickly walked away.
Ares followed her with his eyes.
Didn’t say a word. But he watched her leave closely.
Livia turned her face to Ares.
> Livia:
“Sometimes people look in the wrong direction.
Maybe it’s better they stay blind.”
Ares didn’t respond.
But his eyes remained fixed on Helen’s fading figure.
I've only sent you six chapters of the book. I hope you like it.
- Writer
