Chapter 51: Argument
“Leo, please give me that,” I hold out my hand.
“I’m sorry,” he shakes his head. “I will get you bodyguards if I have to, but I’m not staying.”
“You are being unreasonable! You are being a coward.”
“Willow, what you are trying to do won’t work. I deserve this.”
“Every night before I fell asleep, I imagined myself making a person who created limbicus suffer. When Liam told me it was you, I got so mad, I felt betrayed. I wanted to make you pay.” I blink back the tears. “I never thought I would meet the person who created limbicus and say these words to him, but I want you to forgive yourself. You are a good person, I don’t care what you think.”
“How did you buy this?” He wrinkles his nose as he gazes at the packet in his hand.
I feel a sting after my ignored speech. “Liam did.”
“I thought as much.” He clenches his jaw. “If I go to jail, I think he will set you free. You will be of no use to him.”
“Use?” I chuckle awkwardly. “Liam and I started dating before I met you, we didn’t start dating so that he could use me. We were happy, I can be in a normal relationship. I’m not just a tool, you know.”
“That might be true, but things changed. He got married and wanted to break up with you...”
“It is an arranged marriage,” I interject defensively.
“Call it an arranged marriage if it makes you feel better, but he wanted to break up with you. Asclepius stopped him.”
“What does Asclepius know about human relationships?”
His glare makes me shift uncomfortably.
“Asclepius is my friend,” I say in defence.
“Really?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Yes, and I feel bad for what I said,” I mumble. “Liam told me that Lucy sent you to me on their wedding night. Why?”
“Do I look like someone Lucy could order around?”
“If it would work to your advantage. No, what am I doing? We have to get rid of that thing before the police arrive.”
“This is for the best, for all of us. I’m doing this for your protection, too. Let me go to jail, and you will live in peace. No more kidnapping and unfortunately Liam is going to break up with you, but that will be good for you.”
“I don’t care about Liam!”
“Two seconds ago, you just gave me a speech about your perfect relationship.” He says sarcastically. “Tell me right now that your feelings for Liam have disappeared. Tell me that you don’t feel guilty for coming here and going against his orders. You know that no matter what he does, you will always feel lonely when he is not around.”
“He is not ordering me to do anything. I...”
“You will always be his puppet,” he chuckles bitterly.
“You are trying to get me mad, and it won’t work.” I take a deep breath.
“Leave, right now. I don’t want the police to find you here.” He says sternly.
“What about you? Are you doing this because you love me? Is this your idea of self-sacrifice?”
“I never loved you. Everything I did was to keep you alive so that I could use you in the future for revenge.”
I swallow to keep my voice from being shaky. “And did you get your revenge?”
“What does it look like? Liam won, like he always does. To answer your question, I didn’t get my revenge.”
“Chloe told me that you love me.”
“She misjudged me. I was trying to get rid of my guilt.”
“Thank you for your honesty.” This time I feel it, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. He finally did it, he got to me. I stare at his face, hoping to see any hint of regret.
“Now that you know the truth, leave.” He murmurs, his face showing no emotions.
“No!”
“What?”
“I choose to let you win instead of Liam. I love Liam, but I’m aware that he has turned into a monster.”
“He has always been a monster. If he loses, he is coming for you.”
“I know,” I sigh.
“Let me end this.”
“You are right, let’s end this. He gave me another pack, a small one, thou. Very small, I was supposed to leave it here as well.”
I open my handbag, and I steal a glance at him to find him looking at me expectantly and suspiciously. My heart races as I size up the limbicus in his hand. “My bag is filled with stuff. Here, I finally found...”
His shoulders relax. I snatch the packet from his hand, and I don’t waste time turning the other way running.
He chases me around the house, and every time I have to slow down to open the door, he gets close.
"You are very fast for someone who looks so sick," I say breathlessly.
"You underestimate me," he says, his voice too close.
I open the packet, and skip to the sink. I let the contents fall into the sink before washing it down with water. The sink gets filled with blue liquid, and I run the water to get rid of blue liquid.
Leo stares at me, his mouth wide open and then he gazes at my hands in the sink before slowly walking away in defeat.
"I knew you were planning something when you agreed with me so fast." He exhales before sitting on the floor, covering his face with his palms.
I use the hand-wash soap to wash the plastic packet until it is clean and transparent.
I sit on the floor near the sink and a few feet away from Leo.
I gaze at the clear paper, all traces of limbicus gone, and a new feeling gnaws at my chest. Guilt.
I let my tears fall like rain, accompanied by hyperventilating and sniffling. I have just betrayed my brother.
With tears that won't stop, I get up to go to the living area.
I leave Leo sitting on the kitchen floor, with his hands still covering his face. I turn on the fireplace, and I watch the plastic burn.
After a few seconds, I stare at the fire. All traces of plastic gone. The sound of the door opening with a bang startles me, and I take a deep breath to prepare for the questioning.