My Beloved Has Risen from Death’s Embrace

As soon as Xanthea opened the door, she was met with the grim face of the man inside. Fearing he might kick her out, she quickly raised the voice recorder in her hand.

“He’s just here to coach me on my acting, it’s not what you think–I have proof!“”

Proof?

Orion’s gaze lingered on the voice recorder in her hand. Without hesitation, Xanthea pressed “play“–

“Are you ready? Once you are, we’ll start.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“The first point is to use the emotional fluctuations in your lines to act out the character’s feelings

Slow,

deep tones often move the audience more than quicker, louder ones.”

Thank goodness she had not only taken notes, but also recorded everything with the voice recorder. Otherwise, she would never have been able to clear her name!

“Did you hear that? He was kindly giving me a tutorial, and you twisted it into something else. That’s just too-”

“So, you’re defending him?”

“Am 1?” Xanthea puffed out her chest, her tone defiant as she saw no change in the ominous look in Orion’s eyes. “I’m just stating the facts here, you’re the one who’s wronging me!”

“Wronging you?” Orion’s lips twisted into a mocking sneer, his gaze dripping with irony. “And what about ‘Ben‘? You do call him quite affectionately.”

“What’s wrong with ‘Ben‘? How is that affectionate? Isn’t it normal for colleagues and friends to call each other by their first names? We can’t exactly be calling each other Mr. Jones or Ms. Nightshade while working together every day, can we? If it bothers you that much, I could start calling you Ori, Ori-”

Halfway through her sentence, Xanthea stumbled over her words, her face inexplicably heating up.

Why was it that saying someone else’s name came so easily, but uttering his felt so awkward, even shameful?

Orion caught the fleeting signs of guilt and panic on her face, his grip tightening on the folder in his hand until it buckled, causing dozens of photos to spill out.

“What’s the matter? Ms. Nightshade can’t continue her story?”

Following the sound, Xanthea’s eyes widened in shock as she saw the photos scattered on the floor, depicting her and Ben in various poses together.

She bent down, picking up one of the photos.

Even though Benjamin’s image in the photo was punched through with a big hole, it was clear they were hugging!

Her eyes widened.

Where did these photos come from? When had she ever hugged Benjamin? Not even for a scene– could This have been photoshopped?

Suddenly it clicked. Orion’s accusations stemmed not only from seeing Benjamin leave her apartment, but because of these fabricated photos!

“Orion, where did you get these photos?”

Xanthea looked up at him, realizing his high and distant gaze was filled with bleak darkness, evidently not wanting to listen to her justifications anymore.

“You don’t believe me?”

Her brows knitted together in frustration. “There’s nothing beyond professionalism between me and him, and certainly not what you’re imagining. This hugging in the photo–it’s fake!”

“They’ve already undergone technical authentication.”

“Great, such great ‘authenticated“! So in the end, you just won’t believe me.”

Xanthea, biting her lip, grabbed the photo and pushed the door, intending to leave.

As he watched her resolute departure, every shred of anger and suspicion in Orion evaporated, replaced by a deep sense of panic.

He feared she might cut him off for good this time, that the distance they had managed to close would be reset to square one, that he would become the person she despised the most…

He no longer wanted her to explain, nor was he greedy; having her treat him as she did was enough. He couldn’t bear the days without her; it would be the death of him.

He reached out to stop her, but in the next moment, Xanthea turned and enveloped him in a tight embrace.

The warmth of her soft body and the gentle scent of irises collided with his icy exterior, melting the frost around his heart and clearing the panic from his dark eyes, leaving his mind blissfully blank.

As Xanthea hugged him, she tilted her head up slightly, her forehead barely reaching his chin, rubbing gently.

“I thought about having it authenticated again, but it seems unnecessary now.”

“Orion, did you see?”

“I’m 5’7“, you’re about 6’2“, right? Me hugging you like this, I can hardly reach your chin. But in this photo, I’m nearly as tall as Benjamin. You saw him earlier; he’s just a couple of inches shorter than you. Does that seem right to you?” Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

She lifted the incriminating photo for him to see.

“Clearly, this photo is a fake. Even if it hasn’t been photoshopped, it was intentionally shot to mislead. There was a distance between me and him when it was taken.”

Orion’s gaze slowly dropped to the photo, his unfocused eyes sharpening as they fixed on the image, gradually lighting up.