He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The car ride was quiet. Not uncomfortable. Just… quiet.

Lillian focused on the road, her hands steady on the wheel, and I sat beside her, staring out the window without really seeing anything.

The world outside moved normally.

People walked. Cars passed. Life continued like nothing had happened.

When we got back, I stepped out without saying much, offering a small “thank you” that felt insufficient for what she had just done.

She nodded.

“Text me if you need anything,” she said.

I nodded back, then turned and walked inside.

The moment the door closed behind me, everything shifted.

The quiet hit differently here, and so I dropped my bag without thinking, letting it fall wherever it landed, and walked straight to my bed.

I collapsed onto it, face first, my cheek pressed into the pillow. And for a moment, nothing happened.

I just lay there, breathing unevenly, my body finally catching up to everything my mind had been trying to process.

Then the tears came. Slow at first, then steadier, slipping out quietly as the weight of it all settled in properly.

It wasn’t just what happened. It was how easily it had happened. How quickly it had spread.

And how stupidly I had been exposed in a way I couldn’t take back.

I stayed like that for a while, letting it pass through me instead of fighting it. As a result, I kept shedding tears, streams after streams. And eventually, the pain did what all aches like it do.

It softened a bit.

It didn’t leave. It just became quieter.

The next day came, and I was still in bed.

I knew I was late without checking the time. I could feel it in the way the light filtered into the room, in the absence of the usual rush that marked the start of a normal morning. But then I wasn’t bothered about it in the slightest.

“Are you not going?” Lillian asked from the doorway. I didn’t move.

“No.”

There was a pause. Not judgmental. Just… understanding.

“Okay,” she said softly. “Just don’t stay in your head too much, yeah?”

I didn’t answer, because I couldn’t make promises to her and then I heard the door close a few minutes later, followed by the faint sound of her leaving.

The silence returned. It stayed, and after a while, I reached for my phone.

I shouldn’t have. I knew that even before I unlocked it. But I did anyway.

The screen lit up, and everything hit at once.

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