[CHAPTER 22]

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

TITLE  : THE CONSEQUENCES OF SILENCE

MATTHEO DIDN'T SEE ELLIE at breakfast.

At first, he thought she was just running late. Maybe she had overslept. Maybe she had gotten caught up with something.

But as minutes stretched on and her usual spot at the Slytherin table remained empty, a strange sense of unease settled in his chest.

He told himself it was fine.

But when she didn't show up to their first class either, he knew something was wrong.

It wasn't like Ellie to miss lessons. Even on the worst days, she was always there—always pushing through, always stubborn about keeping up with her studies.

By the time lunch rolled around and there was still no sign of her, Mattheo couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very wrong.

He glanced across the Great Hall, his gaze locking onto Lorenzo, who was sitting at the Slytherin table, eating in stiff, brooding silence.

Mattheo hesitated for a moment.

Then he stood up, walked over, and stopped beside Lorenzo's seat.

"Where's Ellie?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

Lorenzo's jaw clenched as he stabbed at his food with unnecessary force. "She's sick."

Mattheo frowned. "Sick?"

"Yeah, Riddle. Sick," Lorenzo  snapped, pushing his plate away and finally looking up at him. His eyes were dark with something Mattheo couldn't quite place—anger, frustration, maybe even disgust.

Mattheo felt his chest tighten.

It was then that he noticed how tense Lorenzo was, how his hands were curled into fists at his sides, how his entire body looked like a coil wound too tight, ready to snap.

"Enzo" Mattheo started, his voice quieter now. "What happened?"

Lorenzo  let out a humorless laugh, shaking his head. "What happened?" His eyes burned with fury as he suddenly stood up, grabbing Mattheo by the collar of his robes and yanking him closer.

Mattheo barely had time to react before Lorenzo's voice cut through the noise of the Great Hall—low, angry, and laced with something deeply personal.

"You happened."

The words hit Mattheo like a punch to the gut.

"If it weren't for you," Lorenzo  hissed, his grip on Mattheo's robes tightening, "she wouldn't be like this."

Mattheo's breath caught. "Enzo —"

"You ignored her. You shut her out," Lorenzo  went on, his voice shaking with fury. "She tried, Mattheo. She tried to pretend it didn't matter, but you broke her anyway. You—" His voice cracked slightly. "You don't even see what you've done to her, do you?"

Mattheo swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

Lorenzo  hated him. He could see it now—the way his friend's anger wasn't just frustration, it was protective.

And it wasn't about himself.

It was about her.

"She didn't deserve this," Lorenzo  muttered, finally letting go of Mattheo's robes and stepping back. "You should have known better. But you didn't. And now look at her."

Mattheo stood frozen, his pulse hammering in his ears.

He had never seen Lorenzo this angry.

And the worst part?

He was right.

Mattheo had spent so much time convincing himself that he had done the right thing, that ignoring Ellie was necessary.

But now, hearing it thrown in his face like this—he couldn't deny it anymore.

He had hurt her.

And he didn't even know how to fix it.

Lorenzo  took one last glance at him, his expression full of something dangerous—a silent warning, a quiet don't you dare go near her if you're just going to hurt her again.

Then he turned and walked away, leaving Mattheo standing there, breathless and shaken, in the middle of the Great Hall.

For the first time since this entire mess started, Mattheo felt like the villain in his own story.

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

I PERSONALLY LIKED THIS CHP