Chapter 135 Chapter 135
Hailey’s POV
I stood there in the doorway, shock and fury coursing through me as I stared at Vincent.
“What were you doing?” I demanded, my voice sharp. “Standing outside my door like that?”
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Vincent said, his expression carefully neutral. “I was just passing by….”
“Bullshit,” I interrupted. “You were standing there listening to my conversation. I know you were.”
Vincent’s smile faltered slightly. “Hailey, I think you’re overreacting….”
“Don’t,” I said firmly. “Don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me. You were eavesdropping on my conversation with Benita.”
Vincent studied my face for a moment, clearly calculating his next move. Then his expression shifted, becoming more concerned.
“I heard you groaning,” he said, changing his excuse.
“Through the door. It sounded like you were in pain, so I stopped to make sure you were alright before knocking.”
“The doors are soundproof,” I said flatly. “There’s no way you heard anything through them unless you were pressed right up against it. Listening.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed slightly, and I saw the mask slip for just a second, saw something cold and calculating underneath the concerned facade.
“Stay away from me,” I said, my voice dropping lower but becoming more intense. “Until I’m comfortable with you being around, you keep your distance. From me, from my room, from anywhere I am. Understood?”
“That might be difficult in a house this size…” Vincent started.
“Make it work,” I interrupted. “Or I’ll make sure Damien knows exactly what you were doing.”
Vincent was quiet for a moment, then he leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper.
“You should stop being curious, Hailey,” he said, and there was no pretense of friendliness anymore. “You have an opportunity to leave this place. To flee. Take it while you still can.”
The words sent ice through my veins. Was that a warning? A threat?
I didn’t quite understand what he meant. Flee from what? What did he know that I didn’t?
But before I could ask, Vincent straightened up and walked away, leaving me standing there trying to parse what he’d just said.
I stood in the doorway for a long moment, my mind spinning with confusion and fear. Vincent’s warning echoed in my head, but I couldn’t make sense of it.
I needed air. Fresh air. I needed to get out of this hallway, away from where Vincent had just been standing.
I made my way downstairs and headed toward the garden, the one place in this house that felt even remotely peaceful.
But as I stepped outside, I saw I wasn’t alone.
Sophia stood in the middle of the garden, holding a sickle in her hand. She was near what remained of the tulip garden, the one I’d destroyed in retaliation for her behavior.
The sight of her with a sharp tool made my heart rate spike. Was she planning to attack me?
When she saw me, her face twisted with rage.
“You,” she hissed, moving toward me with the sickle still gripped in her hand. “This is all because of you.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, keeping my distance, eyeing the weapon warily.
“What my father did this morning!” Sophia practically screamed. “Moving me to the other end of the hall like I’m some kind of problem that needs to be isolated! Taking away my key to my mother’s room! Treating me like a criminal in my own house!”
“Oh, that,” I said, forcing my voice to sound casual, almost bored. “Yeah, I know about it and I’m the one who told him to move you..”
It was a complete bluff, but I needed Sophia to think I had power over the situation.
“You convinced him to do it, didn’t you?” Sophia said, taking another step toward me, the sickle catching the sunlight. “You manipulated my father into punishing me!”
“I didn’t have to convince him of anything,” I said, keeping my tone deliberately condescending. “Damien saw your behavior for what it was, out of control and unacceptable. He made his own decision.”
“Liar!” Sophia shouted.
“And honestly,” I continued, letting a small smile play on my lips even though my heart was pounding with fear, “if you don’t fall in line, I can make it so much worse for you. This is just the beginning.”
Sophia’s face went white, then red with fury. She raised the sickle higher, and for a terrifying moment, I was certain she was going to attack me with it.
My baby. I had to protect my baby.
“I should run you through right now,” Sophia said, her voice shaking with rage and barely contained violence. “Just get rid of you once and for all. End this nightmare you’ve brought into my life. One strike and you’d be gone. You and that bastard child you’re carrying.”
My breath caught in my throat. The threat was real. I could see it in her eyes, the desire to hurt me, to eliminate me permanently.
But I couldn’t show fear. Showing fear would only embolden her.
“You could try,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the terror coursing through me. “But you should wish that your grandmother gets here first to stop you.”
I took a small step forward, refusing to back down even as every instinct screamed at me to run.
“Because if you come at me with that thing,” I continued, my voice hardening, “I’ll defend myself. And trust me, Sophia, I can still teach you a lesson either way. Pregnant or not. I’ve fought off worse than a spoiled little girl with a gardening tool.”