Chapter 54 What I Didn’t See
LEITANA
I looked up at Ravial and grabbed the hem of his sleeve.
He turned to me at once.
My eyes were wet, heart pounding hard in my chest. I was terrified that the dark thought deep inside me was true.
“Speak…” Ravial began, his voice turning icy as he swept a cold glance over my new friends.
But I shook my head quickly and tugged his sleeve a little.
“Take mi home,” I said softly.
He turned fully to me. He didn’t speak just stared through the blindfold.
I looked away and tried to hop down from the high chair, but his large hands circled my waist and lifted me down like I weighed nothing, like a feather.
“Plis… take mi to Avery,” I whispered.
I felt every eye in the room on me, but right then I didn’t care.
My hands twisted together nervously in the backseat of the car.
My mind wasn’t here at all.
All I could see was Avery’s fake smile on the screen… and that bruise she tried to hide with makeup.
Then my memory flashed to another bruise I had seen once.
On Mama’s wrist.
After Papa hit me that day at dinner and I blacked out.
When I woke up, Mama was beside me with a bowl of soup. She fed me slowly while I cried. I reached for her wrist to hold it, and she winced.
I thought I was holding too tight, so I let go fast.
That’s when I saw the purple mark.
She covered it quickly and gave a small laugh.
“It's nothing, I just burnt my hand a little,” she said.
I never asked what it really was.
I just believed her because I was hurting too much about Papa forcing me to marry.
I never thought deeper.
Tears came again as I remembered.
How was I so blind?
How was I so selfish?
Papa hit me, his own daughter, the very first day he saw me after I had been stolen from them.
Tears flooded my eyes again as I dragged myself out of the memory.
How did I not realise he would do the same to Mama? To Avery? Who lived with him.
I had only thought about myself.
A choked sob escaped me, and I clamped a hand over my mouth.
That was why Mama always looked so afraid when he was around.
Why she never spoke when he hit me.
Did she ever defend Avery?
Oh Papa God…
Is this why you brought me here?
“Stop the car,”
Ravial’s voice cut through from beside me.
He hadn’t spoken since we left the studio.
“Yes, sir,” the driver replied.
My shoulders shook. I tried to hold the tears in, but they kept coming.
How did I not see God’s plan before?
Instead I just stayed in the big house… giving myself to Ravial.
Was that why Avery’s eyes were so sad when we met?
Was that why her smile felt fake when we talked in her room?
I had pretended not to notice, thinking she was only upset because I wouldn’t give Ravial up… because she saw us together in bed.
But now I knew… maybe it wasn’t only that.
Maybe the pain in Avery’s eyes wasn’t just about me or Ravial.
Maybe it was about the bruises she hid under makeup.
About the fear she carried like a second skin.
About the man who called himself our father.
The car rolled to a smooth stop on the side of the quiet road. Trees lined both sides, sunlight flickering through leaves. The driver stayed silent in front, eyes forward.
Ravial turned to me.
I couldn’t look at him.
My hands twisted in my lap, tears dripping onto my dress.
“Little lamb,” he said, calmly. “Look at me.”
I shook my head, my shoulders trembling harder.
He reached over, fingers gentle under my chin, lifting until I had no choice.
His blindfold was still in place, but I felt his stare anyway.
“Tell me.”
The words spilled out before I could stop them.
I told him everything from the bruise on Avery’s face, to the one I remembered on Mama’s wrist.
“Mi no protect dem,” I finished, voice breaking. “Mi jus’… jus’ stay in big house an’… an’ let yu…” I stopped, cheeks burning. “Mi no good sister. Mi no good daughter of God.”
Ravial was quiet for a long moment.
Then his hand moved from my chin to cup my cheek, rough thumb wiping my tears.
“Charles hit you,” he said.
I stared up at him, stunned.
Out of everything I said, that was what stayed with him?
It wasn’t even a question just a flat, cold statement.
“It no matter now…” I started.
His hand tightened on my jaw.
“It matters to me.”
His voice stayed calm, but the air felt colder. “That is all that matters to me. Everything concerning you.”
He leaned in and wiped the tears off my cheeks with his tongue, cold, slow. I shivered.
“I care not for your sister or mother or their pain,” he said against my skin, moving to the other cheek. “That I cannot fake. I do not understand why you cry for such things. I can’t comprehend it.”
His words were honest. Coldly honest. I sat stiff, surprised by what he was doing and how true he sounded.
“But you… that’s different.”
He pulled back just enough to look at me. “You’re mine. My property.”
I pulled back slightly.
Property?
“Mi not property, Ravial,” I said, my voice shaking. “Mi… mi person.”
His lips twitched.
His hand shot out, fast, wrapping around my throat, pulling me close. He pressed his nose to my neck, breathed deep, then nipped sharp, skin breaking, a little sting
“You’re my person,” he growled. “Mine.”
I gasped.
And if only my eyes had been more spiritually open in that moment,
I would have seen the dark webs weaving tighter around me and this man.
Binding me to him.
Tighter.
Forever.