Chapter 122

Chapter 122
Serena's POV

I stepped back when he straightened up and started walking to me. The air in the room shifted, and it became even harder to breathe in his presence.

His steps were slow and deliberate as if he wasn't in a hurry. There was a complete switch in his personality. He wasn't looking like the Kayden I knew.

He looked like a devil.

A terrifying devil who had come only to claim what he believed was his.

I stopped when my back was pinned to the wall, plastered with my own photographs. I was thinking of having him come over, but his steps halted too.

He was now standing at two hand's distance from me with his palms shoved in his pockets. He chuckled as his eyes moved up to the wall before coming back to my face.

“So… you found it.”

Disgust rolled through my stomach like bile.

My fingers curled into fists at my sides. My skin crawled under his gaze. The twisted smile on his lips wasn’t human.

“What is all this?”

My voice cut through the room as it came out loud and sharp.

One side of his lips curled up into a smile.

"What Sera?"

My jaw tightened.

"Serena!" I corrected him.

I had never allowed anyone to call me Sera. That name belonged to Matteo. Only him.

He chuckled throwing his head back.

"How adorable" he mumbled.

His smile widened as he looked down at me.

"Oh, how many times I have imagined you in my room. I never knew my dream would come true like this"

"You are sick!" I spat "You need medical help"

"Oh no darling" his smile widened as he took one step forward "I just need you"

His hand came up to hold my shoulder but I shifted away before his dirty hand could come in contact with me.

"Don't you dare to touch me!" I warned him.

I could feel my eyes turning red due to all the rage I was feeling in my veins.

"Oh, I have planned a lot more than that" he chuckled and took another step ahead, breathing in the same air.

His hands slammed against the wall beside my head. I didn't flinch. I stared into his eyes with equal intensity.

"I just love this fiery side of yours" his breath fanned my forehead, disgusting me to the core.

"Step back, Kayden" I warned him.

"What if I don't intend to?"

"Stay away Kayden... I am utterly disgusted by you!" I spat "I don't even want to see you"

"I already told you, Sera, I don't care what you think about me. I want you and I love you, that's enough"

"It isn't love. It is madness" I told him

"It is devotion," he mumbled, "Something Matteo could never do."

"Don't take his name from your filthy mouth"

"Oh, so much love," he chuckled, but in an instant, his eyes became dark. "But my love is greater than his. He may be my brother, but to get you, I will not think twice before removing him from our pa..."

Smack

I slapped him tightly across the face before he could say anything anymore about Matteo.

His hand rose to his cheek and his head tossed to another side. The slap was so harsh that my own palm started tingling. I could see his cheek turning slightly red. I got late. I should have done this before.

His head snapped to me. His eyes were now bloodshot red.

"Did you just slap me?" He asked.

"After what you have done, you deserve a lot more than just a slap."

I flinched slightly when he raised his fist, and punched the wall beside me.

"So, in your eyes what Matteo did to you was right. Huh?" He asked, leaning forward, "I always provided you with a shoulder to cry on. I was always there when you needed help. I always tried to lift up your mood, only to get this?"

"Because you were pretending all the time," I said, "you never showed me your real face. You were a coward to do all this behind our backs!" I spat

My words only triggered him. His eyes turned darker and his body language changed completely.

"Coward," he asked, repeating my word "Coward?"

"Yes!" I said back without any fear because this is exactly what he is.

He never came to the front because he was afraid Matteo would not leave him. He did everything behind his back while keeping the facade of his sweet and caring brother.

He is the biggest traitor of all.

"Let me show you, how much of a coward I am!"

His lips stretched into a slow, dangerous smile.

“You want honesty?” he murmured. “You want to see my real face. Right?”

He leaned more towards me, leaving no space for me to move away me.

“You think I stayed quiet because I was afraid of Matteo?” he scoffed. “No, Serena. I stayed quiet because I was patient. I wanted to win your heart first”

I didn't show fear on my face. I refused to give him that satisfaction.

“I watched you suffer,” he continued, voice low, controlled. “I watched you cry for him. I watched him hurt you again and again, and every time, I provided you with my shoulder with the hope that one day you might see my love for you. But you were so used to Matteo's abuse, you never saw my softer side"

I shook my head.

"Now, if you like abuse then let it be!"

Something snapped completely.

In one swift movement, he grabbed my shoulders and pinned me painfully against the wall. My breath was knocked out of me, but I didn’t scream.

His face hovered inches from mine. His breath was uneven and his eyes were wild.

"You are calling me a coward for loving you when you were with another man. Huh?" He asked.

“This is not love,” I shot back. “This is possession.”

"Let it be but now I am no longer going to keep quiet"

His grip tightened as he moved his face towards mine. I tossed my head away when he tried to kiss me.

"Move away, Kayden before I..."

"Before what!" He asked, grazing his nose against my cheek "What will you do, Sera? Matteo is already getting married, starting his new life, leaving you here. You are alone, now"

He chuckled

"With the bastard in your belly. What will you do huh?"

That was enough of it.
Without thinking, I just reacted. Summoning every ounce of strength, rage, and survival instinct, I drove my knee straight into his groin with brutal force.

I wasn't looking but I knew the impact was solid.

He gasped and choked, a painful sound tore through his throat as he stepped back, and his body folded forward instinctively. His palms covered his groin as he groaned in pain.

Without wasting a single second, I just pushed him away and ran. My heart was pounding in my ears as I bolted past him.

"Stop there or it won't end up good for you!" He warned me from behind, still in pain.

But I didn't.

I just ran.

For my life.