Chapter 44 Prized
\[Lilia\]
What should I do? What the hell should I do?
This thing…if Kael sees me holding this thing, he will falsely accuse me of stealing it. He's erratic, he takes things into his own hands on the spur of the moment, and I’m sure he will think that I stole this from him. But on the second thought, why would he put something this precious inside the pocket of his coat as though he had only acquired it from a thrift store? I was under the impression that he had stashed it away inside some highly secured titanium case that only his biometrics could open. Not like this. Tucked so carelessly as though it does not possess any high value.
Hell, it even has a higher value than myself.
“Oh, God. What should I do?” I jump out of my bed, struggling to unfasten the straps on my heels and kicking them off. I pace back and forth, wracking up my nerves as I stare at this shiny little thing, well it’s not really tiny cause it's almost big as my thumb, but hell, this cost a fortune.
Now that I have come to think of it. If I run away now, bring this thing with me, and sell it for even half the price, it may supply me with enough money to last a lifetime. That would be very tempting to do, but I am well aware of the ramifications that await me. If Kael finds out about it, only the depths of hell will not be searched, and oh, Aya. That poor woman would bear the brunt of the consequences for my actions.
I cannot let that happen. I am not that heartless to let someone take my place and suffer.
No, I just can’t. My conscience would haunt me around for the rest of my life, and I would be unable to live in peace.
I drew a deep breath, exhaling all of the fear that had been building up in my chest, and perched on the edge of my bed, staring at the pink diamond in my hand. I can’t believe this thing costs more than anyone’s life I know. Now that I have seen it closely, I now understand why the emcee was trembling when he presented this thing to the audience. It’s so beautiful, I would be honest. The internally flawless, spectacularly vibrant pink. Meticulously cut and polished, honed into its current oval shape stone embedded at the center of the ring, with its band fully encrusted with small beads of clear diamonds. It's no surprise that people refer to it as a star because it glows brightly even in my dimly lit room.
I don’t know how long I have been staring at it. I was so captivated by how it looked that it is almost tempting to try it on my finger. It was still perched inside the black velvety box. It’s just begging me to touch it, but I am afraid that if I do, something might happen to it and Kael would blame me and then kill me. I hadn’t noticed that my hands were still trembling, and as I was about to close the lid, the door of my room suddenly swings open, jolting me out of my enthralled senses.
The man I fear the most strode in and his eyes immediately fixed on the box I was still holding. My heart went to a full-speed gallop, thundering on my chest and my breath caught up in my throat. My hands suddenly went clammy, and cold drops of sweat ran to the column on my back.
“Kael, I can explain. I promise, I didn’t steal it. It was in your coat. I didn’t mean to touch it, but…” I started to babbling things out, slurring the words out of my mouth as I leap on my feet. He was only staring at me, his face void of any emotion. What is even worse is when his eyes fell down to the box in my hand.
“…please don’t kill me,” I whispered the last trailing part of my sentence, slowly closing the velvet box. My chest rose and collapsed heavily, my throat immediately went dry as Kael didn’t say anything.
He moves closer to me, without breaking his eye contact on the box. My mouth opened, trying to say something in my defense that I, in fact, did not steal this diamond from him, but no words would come out of my mouth. They were stuck right on my vocal cords. I was stoned to my feet, unable to move as my body was still with sheer fright running through my veins. Not knowing what to do.
“Kael, I promise…” I croaked, almost choking with my own voice as I forced myself to speak. I cannot just let him accuse me of something I didn’t do.
“kukla,” his jaw clenches, gritting the thing he calls me. He stated it so blankly, and I have no idea if he was mad or not, but I was not comforted by the way he was reacting. So void of anything, I stared right into his mossy green eyes, while I am hyperventilating inside, almost dying out as fear became increasingly tangible. A living force that crept over me like some hungry beast, immobilizing me. Like the man standing right in front of me, holding me captive with his menacing presence with only saying a single word.
“It was in your in your pocket, I didn’t mean, I didn’t intend to fiddle with it, I was just—” terror sucked the very breath from my mouth, my pulse beating in my ears, blocking out all other sounds as he cut me off.
“Enough, kukla,” he rasped out, stepping another inch closer to my rigid frame. A cold rush of terror prickled at the back of my neck, raising the fine hairs on my arms.
“I am sorry,” I whimpered shakily, looking down, my knees barely keeping my weight.
“I said that is enough,” he roughly grunted, stretching his hand to me and I instantly flinched, thinking that he would hit me, but instead, he only took the box out from my hand.
My eyes followed his movement, watching him with bated breath as he lifted the lid of the box, plucking the ring out from its case. Kael brought it leveled to his face, inspecting it closely.
“I didn’t say you stole it, kukla,” he says, lowering the ring and shifting his gaze to mine. He snaps the empty velvet box close, making me flinch on my feet, tempting me to drawback, but I froze when he grasps my hand, slipping the ring to my finger. “And if in case, you never have to steal it in the first place cause it is yours.”
My mouth dropped wide, flabbergasted upon seeing the ring perfectly fitted on my finger as though it was specifically made just for me. I wanted to say something, even my voice was too astounded to speak up, fading all the words inside my head.
Mine? Did he just say this is mine? What is he? A lunatic?, indeed a lunatic.
I lifted my bewildered stare to his face, but still, I could see no emotion lingered on his features. They were hard as a rock, perhaps even harder than the diamond he slipped right on my finger. Impenetrable.
“I want only the best for my possession. Just like this stone, you are my prized.” He said, leaning down and kissing me on the forehead. “Rest now, kukla, the sun is about to rise.”
With that, he turns around and walks right out of my room, leaving me to collect my thoughts, astounded at that.