Chapter 51 Chapter 51
"Move away, move away, Lucien. I don't want you."
I thrashed beneath him and tried to crawl away, but he pinned me under his weight.
"Lucien, please..." My voice broke. I was actually scared of him, truly terrified. He was always a man of control. I didn't know he would lose his senses like this.
"Please, I am sore. My body... it can't..."
Grabbing the panty tightly, he leaned down. His lips grazed the shell of my ear. "This is what I want, Cynthia," he rasped, his hot breath fanning my skin. He was heavily drunk, "To break you."
"Please, Lucien!" I sobbed, "You will regret it! Right now, you are not in your senses! Don't do something we can't come back from!"
He ignored my words and gripped the panties even tighter. My body was completely helpless under him. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the inevitable.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Suddenly, the room was filled with the loud banging of the door.
"MUMMA! OPEN THE DOOR! I’M SCARED! MUMMA!"
My eyes shot open, and Lucien froze in his place. The hand that had been tugging at my lace stilled instantly. It was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice-cold water over his head. The red haze in his eyes vanished within a second.
Abruptly, Lucien sat back, and his eyes moved down to my hands that were tied behind.
A flash of pure horror crossed his face.
Without a single word, he reached out and jerked the silver buckle of the belt open while Aurora kept banging on the door.
Without glancing at me, he immediately stood up, picked up his discarded coat, and disappeared through the interconnecting door into his room.
The tears that I have been holding for so long came out, thick and hot. I lay there for a second, rubbing my bruised wrist, getting my breath back. The crying outside didn't stop.
"Mumma! Where are you?"
And the mother in me roared louder than the victim.
But when I stepped down from the bed, my legs nearly gave way beneath me. Slowly, I reached out for my clothes and wore them before hiding the torn dress from the eyes of Aurora.
Wiping my tears and taking a deep, shuddering breath, I walked to the door and pulled it open.
My heart was broken when I saw my little Aurora sitting on the cold marble floor. Her nanny was standing behind her with a look of pity and terror. I can understand her. Aurora sometimes becomes too much. No one can handle her the way I do.
"Mumma!" she gasped, her voice raw from screaming and sobbing.
I sank to the floor instantly and pulled her into my arms, burying my face in her soft hair as she clung to me with a death grip.
I inhaled deeply as I consoled her while consoling myself, too.
She was here, in my arms. This is all I needed to forget the pain.
Suddenly, the air in the hallway shifted. I didn't need to look up to know he was there. He came out of the main door of his room and stood behind Aurora like a protective shadow.
He looked down at Aurora with wide, concern-filled eyes. His shirt was crumpled and his hair a mess, as if he had just tried to pull them off his scalp.
Aurora pulled back slightly from my chest. Her face was red and tear-streaked. Her lower lip trembled uncontrollably as she asked, "Mumma... are you okay?"
I bite my inner cheeks to stop myself from crying in front of her.
"I had... I had a bad dream. The boogeyman... he came to your room. He was trying to harm you. He was going to take you away."
Goosebumps rose all over my skin, and my breath caught in my chest.
Aurora will instantly start hating Lucien!
"I am fine, Aurora," I leaned down to kiss her forehead. "You saved your mumma from the boogeyman."
Her tiny eyes widened in surprise. Lucien looked away, his fist clenched and unclenched at his sides as if he wanted to reach out but knew his touch was poisonous. His jaw tightened, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
"Me?" She asked innocently, pointing at herself.
I nodded and wiped the tears off her cheeks.
"Your voice chased him away. The boogeyman is a coward, Aurora."
As I spoke, I felt Lucien’s gaze burn into the side of my face. I saw the flickers of shame and agony crossing his features as he realized that in his daughter’s subconscious, he was the monster under the bed.
"Strawberry," Lucien finally spoke in a so soft voice that even I was taken aback.
Aurora slowly turned her head to look at him.
"Are you alright?"
Aurora's eyes narrowed at him as she clutched my t-shirt tighter.
"You are a liar!" she cried out.
Lucien was taken aback by her outburst, and so was I.
"You told me you would protect Mumma! You said the boogeyman wouldn't come back if I were a good girl! But he came! He was hurting her! Why weren't you there?"
The silence that followed was deafening. He looked at me with those hollow eyes.
What if I tell her the man she thinks of as her best friend is the boogeyman who tried to harm her mother?
Slowly, Lucien dropped to his knees and reached up to hold his ears with both hands and mumbled, "I am sorry."
My eyes widened slightly, and my breath caught in my throat.
Lucien... Lucien was apologizing?
On his knees...
Holding his ears...
"Please, don't be angry with me."
Silence.
Suddenly, the nanny stepped forward, "Come, Aurora. Let's go back to your room. Mumma needs to sleep."
"No!" Aurora shouted, holding me tight with both hands. "I am not going! I am sleeping with Mumma tonight! I have to protect her!"
I didn't wait for Lucien to respond. I saw my opportunity, and I took it. I immediately scooped Aurora into my arms.
"She is staying with me tonight," I said.
I stood up, turned around, and walked into the room without a second glance at kneeling Lucien. I laid Aurora down in the center of the bed and tucked her under the covers.
I walked back to the door to lock it. Lucien was standing there with his shoulders slumped and his silhouette looking small and defeated.
The pain and loneliness were clear in his green orbs.
I didn't feel anything for him because he deserves it.
He turned on his heels to retreat into his own dark, empty suite when suddenly Aurora called, "Mr. Stranger."
Lucien froze.
"Can you... " Can you come sleep with us?" she asked, "To help me guard the door?"
The air left my lungs. Our gaze remained locked.
"Pweaasee," she added.
I wanted to scream 'No,' but Lucien already stepped inside.
"Mummmaaa," Aurora cried for me.
I sighed and lay on one side of her. Lucien lay on the other side while Aurora acted as a tiny, innocent barrier in the middle.
"Mumma," Aurora whispered, her eyes fluttering shut as the adrenaline finally left her body. "Sing... sing our song."
My throat felt tight as I started singing the song for my baby girl, forgetting about the presence of the man who used to sing it for me to calm me down.
"Close your eyes, the moon is high. The silver stars are in the sky..."
I stopped after two lines because the memory of a few minutes ago was too much.
"To guard your sleep and hold you near," a deep, grave voice picked up exactly where I had faltered.
My heart skipped a beat.
Lucien was singing.
His voice was low and filled with sorrow so profound it made my chest ache. He was looking at the ceiling while his hand rested over Aurora.
"The morning light will soon be here," he continued.
He was singing as if he had been practicing it for five long years.
Aurora's breathing slowed down as she slowly drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.
The exhaustion I had been fighting finally crashed over me, and my eyes started growing heavy.
The last thing I remember before slipping into a deep sleep was a warm blanket covering me, along with his arm.