Chapter 102 YOUR PRESENCE.
\~~~RAINA.
I moved back a step, my back hitting the edge of the bed. With a shaky breath, I pulled out the knife and pointed it at my neck. The blade hovered just above my collarbone, cool against my skin.
Luciano didn't flinch. He just looked at me with that very calm expression, his dark eyes unreadable. It infuriated me more, like my fear meant nothing to him.
"And what are you going to do with that?" he asked, his tone even, and almost bored.
"Your presence threatens me. If you move closer to me, I'd kill myself." My voice cracked on the last word, but I held the knife steady. The room felt smaller with him in it, the air charged with tension.
He crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "If you think threats like that will get you out of this mess you've created, you're so wrong, baby."
"It will, Luciano, it fucking will. No one can indict a dead person. Divorce me, or I'd kill myself while you watch. Here's an artery," I said, sliding the tip of the blade to the side of my neck, right where I remembered from those videos I had watched earlier.
God, I had watched so many self-defense tips, suicide methods, and everything to feel prepared in this house of lies.
He watched me for a long moment, his jaw tight.
Then, without a word, he turned away and started to walk to the door. My pulse raced.
Was he leaving? Giving up?
But no, he stopped just before reaching it, glancing over his shoulder.
"Just a little bit higher, baby. Then, you have the artery."
Bastard.
Rage boiled up inside me, hot and blinding. How could he be so cold? So detached? I pressed the knife a fraction harder, feeling the sting of the edge breaking the skin. A thin line of blood welled up, warm and sticky. "You think this is a game? I've given everything to this lie, and now you're trapping me here like some criminal!"
He turned fully now, his eyes narrowing. "A lie you chose, Raina. Or did you forget that part? Your family pushed you, you say, but you said ‘I do.' You wore the dress. You shared my bed."
His words hit like punches. I remembered the wedding, the way my hands shook as I walked down the aisle, pretending to be Talia. The guests were smiling, clueless, and Luciano's hand was on my waist, possessive even then.
And the nights after, when the pretending blurred into something real, or at least, I thought it was.
"I did it for them," I whispered, the knife trembling in my grip. "But you knew. You knew from the start I wasn't her."
"And yet you kept lying." He took a step forward, slow and deliberate. "Every smile, and every touch was all fake. Now you want out? After the lies, and the calls, you are trying to run?"
I shook my head, tears spilling over. The knife nicked deeper, and more blood trickled down my neck. "My parents... they just... they said they'd blame me. All of it on me. Talia's disappearance, the marriage… everything."
Luciano's expression softened for a split second, but it was gone as fast as it came. "They're protecting themselves. Like always. But you? You're mine now, Raina. Dead or alive, that doesn't change."
"Then let me go!" I screamed, the sound raw in my throat. The room echoed with it, the walls closing in. My arm ached from holding the knife, but I couldn't lower it. Not yet.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Put it down. We can talk. No divorce, but... maybe a way forward. If you stop fighting me."
I laughed bitterly, the sound choking on sobs. "Talk? With you?”
His eyes darkened. "That was a warning. You crossed lines, Raina. Lines I am willing to overlook. I don't do that for anyone, by the way. I looked over the fact that you collided with another person to sabotage me. But killing yourself? That is not an escape. That isgiving up. And I won't let you."
He moved closer, ignoring my threat. My hand shook violently now, the blade wavering. Part of me wanted to slash, to end it all. The other part screamed to drop it, to beg. But pride…or fear, kept it there.
"One more step, and I do it," I warned, my voice breaking.
Luciano stopped inches away, close enough I could smell his cologne, mixed with the metallic tang of my blood.
"Then do it. But know this, Solynshko, your family will still fall. With or without you, and I will make sure they remember who caused it."
The weight of his words crushed me. My vision blurred with tears. The knife slipped from my fingers, clattering to the floor. I collapsed onto the bed, sobs wracking my body.
He was right. I was trapped, deeper than ever.
He knelt down, picking up the knife while his hand brushed my arm, gentle this time. "Good choice. Now, sleep. We will sort this out tomorrow."
As he left, locking the door behind him, I curled into a ball. The betrayal from my parents stung worse than the cut on my neck. What now? Run? Fight? Or just survive in this cage he called home?
The night stretched on, dark and endless while I pressed a tissue to the wound, watching blood soak through. Tomorrow would come, with more lies, and more pain. But for now, I was alive.
Barely, actually.
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