Chapter 49 Chapter 49
Cynthia's POV
I spent my entire day with Aurora to forget my pain, to remind myself why I was doing all this.
"Momma, you don't take care of yourself" Aurora said in her baby voice as she touched the owies with her little finger. She has already applied ointment on them twice.
"Because I have you to take care of me"
I leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"What if I am not here?"
My body froze for a second. I held her face in between my palms.
“You will always be with me,” I said softly. “And I will always come back to you.”
That was not just a promise. It was a vow.
She smiled, satisfied, and snuggled into her pillow.
“Now, be a good girl and sleep. Don’t trouble nanny, okay? Mumma has some work.”
She pouted.
I also want to be around her but it was time for Lucien to return.
"Okay," she said half-heartedly.
I patted her head and stood up. I switched off the lights and stepped out quietly.
“Mumma,” she called from behind.
I turned.
“Stay safe from the boogeyman.”
Boogyman is already coming to hunt me.
"I will" I told her before walking out of the room.
I came up to my room and opened the wardrobe.
'Wear the green silk dress' Lucien's words from the morning echoed in my head.
A smirk spread on my lips as my hands reached out for it.
On a normal day, I would never have worn it, but today I am in a good mood and actually want to try it.
Quickly I changed my dress and stood in front of the mirror to brush my hair.
The silk slid over my skin like liquid temptation, and the cloth hugged me like a second skin. It had a very thin strap, and the soft curls of my hair brushed against my exposed skin.
I could only put the brush down when suddenly I was pulled back by my shoulder and slammed against the wall.
The air was knocked out of my lungs with the impact. A loud gasp escaped my throat as my head collided against the plaster.
My eyes snapped up at him.
Lucien.
He looked like a man possessed. His charcoal-grey suit was rumpled, his tie was gone, and his hair usually so perfectly styled was a mess. But it was his eyes that terrified me. His eyes weren’t just red with anger, they were blazing with humiliation. His jaw was locked so tightly a muscle ticked near his temple. I could almost hear the grinding of his teeth.
He caged me in between his arms, looking down at me as if he wanted to kill me right here and now. His eyes moved down my body as his hot breath fanned my face.
"How dare you?" He asked in a quiet and dangerous tone.
I folded my arms to my chest, in the space between us, and met his gaze with a coldness that matched the ice in his veins.
"You asked for it in the morning. Didn't you?" I asked. "You wanted to see me in it. You wanted to see how it looked against the marks you made. Well... here I am. Are you not satisfied?"
Suddenly, his hand flew up to grab my jaw. His fingers dug sharply into my skin, forcing my face up so I had no choice but to drown in his anger.
"Don't play with me, Cynthia!" he roared.
"It was you who started it, Lucien."
He had ruined my father’s legacy, brought Adrian on the streets, destroyed my café and here he is getting furious just because I had bitten back.
Looser.
It is nothing in comparison to what he has done to us.
"Whatever happened to you... is just your karma, Lucien," I managed to mumble, the words struggling to leave my mouth through the crushing grip on my jaw.
"Do you have any idea what the consequences are for this? I can throw you out of this house tonight. I can make you beg on the streets, crawling through the dirt just to pay back a fraction of the money you cost me."
I inhaled a sharp breath and straightened up my spine.
"Do whatever you can, Lucien. I am not afraid" I smiled "Throw me out of this house" I blinked up at him "but remember, now that Aurora has seen me here, she will never stay alone. She will follow me wherever I go, even to the dirt"
I chuckled.
I gasped aloud when suddenly his hand moved down to squeeze my throat, making it hard for me to breathe.
"So, coming to me last night was a part of your dirty plan. Huh?" He squeezed tighter "To use your body so you could crawl to my room and get your hands on my possession?"
"You were the first one who took my possession" I breathed barely through the minimal amount of oxygen he allowed me "My daughter"
"Don't provoke me, Cynthia," he growled, his grip tightening for a split second "I will kill you!"
My palm slowly moved to his as I applied more pressure on his squeezed palm. I am sure this is going to leave his fingerprints on my skin.
"Go ahead, kill me" I challenge him "Kill me and watch your own daughter grow up to hate the very ground you walk on. Kill me and wait for the day she finds out the truth that her father is a murderer who took her mother's life. Let’s see how your 'Power' feels then."
Slowly, his grip on my throat loosened, and my lungs immediately started filling with oxygen, greedily.
"It was my mistake," he said in a cold and flat voice, "to have mercy on you. Last night, I left you capable enough to stand on your feet"
Suddenly he threw me on the bed with a violent shove as if I weighed nothing. I landed on the bed on my stomach, the dress bunched up around my upper thighs, barely covering anything.
Adjusting my dress, I immediately turned on my back, only for my breath to hitch in my throat and eyes to go wide in horror.
"This time," he said, his voice devoid of any emotion, "I will not repeat the mistake."
He was taking slow, predatory steps towards me while unbuckling his heavy leather belt.
I swallowed hard when he pulled it out of its loops and wrapped it around his fist.
"You wanted to play with the Beast, Cynthia. Now, you’ll learn why the Beast needs to be feared."