Chapter 93 FUN.
\~~~LUCIANO.
I watched as her eyes dilated, wide with shock, and tears started dropping from them, tracing wet paths down her pale cheeks.
Raina looked so lost for words, her mouth opening and closing like she was grasping for air. But I just stood still, staring at her, my own chest tight with a mix of anger and something softer I didn't want to name. The room felt too small, and the air thick with everything unsaid.
“Why didn’t you…” she started, her voice cracking, but then she stopped. She ran a hand through her messy hair, tugging at the strands as if they could pull the words out.
Instead of answering, I said, “I will get you your meal,” and turned out of the room. I could feel her intense stare burning into my back, but I kept walking. My feet carried me down the stairs, each step heavy. Outside the room, while I descended, I couldn’t help but think about what had happened today.
For the first time, I felt as though my life was flashing before my eyes.
The explosion, the chaos, and the fear that gripped me when I thought I might lose her and it all replayed in my head like a nightmare I couldn't shake.
Raina, hurt and vulnerable, as her secret had spilled out in the worst way possible. I had a lot of things to say to her. I wanted to tell her not to worry, and to just put it all behind us and move on. But I couldn’t.
The words stuck in my throat, bitter and unspoken.
She looked so fallen apart, as if she had committed the first crime in the world. Her eyes, red-rimmed and pleading, haunted me.
I reached the living room, the familiar space doing nothing to ease the knot in my gut. The butler was there, standing quietly by the window, her posture straight as always.
“Pack the porridge,” I ordered, my voice gruffer than I intended.
She nodded without a word and hurried away, her footsteps quick on the polished floor. I paced a little, glancing at the clock on the wall. It had been a long day, the kind that drained every ounce of energy from you.
A while later, the woman returned, carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of porridge.
When I entered the room again, I stopped abruptly as I looked around. The scene hit me like a punch. Raina had forcefully removed the IV needle from her hand. The IV tube dangled loosely, and blood trailed down her wrist, dripping onto the white sheets, but she didn’t seem to care. Her fingers were clenched so tightly into the duvet that her knuckles had turned white.
“Raina!” I yelled.
The tray hit the table as I dropped it, and I rushed to her side.
“What are you doing?!” I shouted.
I grabbed a wipe from the nightstand, caught her hand, and pressed it firmly against the bleeding spot.
“Let go of me!” she grunted, trying to pull away.
“Are you crazy?!” I snapped, holding on tighter.
“No, are you crazy?!” she yelled back at me, her voice raw and fierce.
I frowned, releasing my grip on her hand. She clutched it to her chest, glaring at me with fire in her eyes.
“Was it fun?” She laughed bitterly, tears still running freely down her face.
“What?” I said, confused, stepping back a bit.
She asked again, louder. “It’s almost six months since we’ve been married. Y… you have known… since the beginning… was it fun?” Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked at me, her gaze piercing, full of accusation.
“Is that what you’re worried about right now?” I said sharply. “You should not…”
“Answer me!” she snapped, and then swung her legs off the bed, getting out despite the weakness I knew she felt.
I breathed out heavily and scratched my temple, frustration building.
Really?
Right now?
She was barely recovered from the trauma, and this was what she wanted to fight about?
“I got you porridge. Come eat,” I sighed, gesturing to the tray.
“Was it fun watching me lie stupidly? Was it fun while you watched me pretend to be Talia when I’m not?” Her words came out in a rush, laced with pain.
“Am I to be blamed for your choices, Raina?” I crossed over slowly to where she stood, my voice low but steady. She was shaking, her bare feet planted on the floor like she was ready for battle.
“Don’t call me that?!” she screamed, her face flushing red.
“Why?” I shot back. “Have you acted like Talia for so long that you’ve forgotten how to be yourself?”
“Don’t you dare…” she warned, her hands balling into fists.
“Why don’t you just shut up and eat what I brought you? You think I’m ready to exchange those words with you? You escaped death, and what you’re worried about is whether you’re Talia or not?” The words tumbled out, sharper than I meant, but the exhaustion made it hard to hold back.
“I’d rather have died in the explosion than get humiliated this way,” she cried, her shoulders slumping as sobs took over.
I shook my head again and sighed deeply.
What a misplaced priority.
This was the least reaction I was expecting from her.
I thought she'd be relieved, or at least focused on healing.
Why was it my own fault that she had lied? The betrayal stung, but seeing her like this… broken and lashing out, twisted something in me.
“Ah, sweet. What a way to thank everyone who stood still, bearing the terror of the moment with you.” My tone dripped with sarcasm, and I regretted it almost instantly.
“I… I am not…” she shook her head, wiping at her eyes, realizing how wrong she had come off. Her voice softened, but the hurt lingered.
“So, I am the one at fault when it was you who decided to lie? You chose to step into her shoes because it was sweet and easy for you, wasn’t it?” I pressed, the words fueling the fire between us.
“You don’t know shit!” she shot back, her eyes flashing.
“I don’t care to know anything. I’d rather never have this conversation again. Sit down and have the goddamn porridge.” I pointed to the bed, my patience fraying.
“I didn’t step into this position because I wanted to! You think I married you because I thought it was sweet? I’d rather die than be your wife. You think I wanna do this? You think it is fun living in this hell? You think I…” Her voice broke, the confession spilling out like poison she’d held for too long.
“That is your fucking cross to bear, Raina! Whether you married me because you wanted to or not, I don’t care. It doesn’t change the fact that you were your sister’s replacement, and you had the fun of your life while pretending to be her.” The words escaped before I could stop them, harsh and cutting, born from months of buried resentment.
I had not even digested my own words before her palm landed harshly on my cheek. The slap echoed in the room, stinging my skin and I closed my eyes for a second, the shock rippling through me.
“B… bastard,” she cussed, tears running down her cheeks even more freely now.
I touched my cheek, feeling the heat rise. Part of me wanted to yell back, to grab her and shake some sense into her.
But another part… The one that remembered holding her after the attack, the one that had known she wasn’t Talia from the start ached.
I had chosen silence back then, at that wedding moment, because I saw the real her peeking through the facade.
Raina, with her fire and vulnerability, and not the polished image of her sister.
But now, it all felt like a house of cards crumbling.