Chapter 41 Pound of flesh
CHAPTER 41: Pound of Flesh
Silas
The moment that Damien had mentioned Simone earlier today, I had lost it. But after watching the video clip that he handed to me…for a price, I wanted to make Vera pay.
I had been on the hunt for the driver that had ended my wife's life, not knowing that it was the woman in my bed. My new wife who I couldn't seem to get out of my mind.
Tonight, the room was stagnant, poisoned by the very presence of the woman trembling on the bed.
I looked at her…at the wide, tear-filled eyes, the shaking hands, and felt a wave of self-loathing so potent it tasted like bile. I was disgusted at how my body always reacted to her, wanting her…even now.
Now every moment I had spent in her company felt like betrayal and a desecration of Simone’s grave.
“Your boyfriend had quite a lot to say today,” I said, my voice dropping to a low, serrated edge. “He stood in my office and sang like a bird.”
“He's not my boyfriend—”
“I don't care—” I snapped, bitterly, “what he is to you. He told me how you’ve been pleading with him, offering him bribes and whatever else you have to give—” I spat with deep disgust and loathing because of the meaning that Damien had implied, “—just to keep your black secret buried in the dirt.”
It was almost insulting to me that Vera had been able to fool me into believing the persona and meekness that she could easily turn on like a tap.
She gripped the sheets tightly, eyes wide and frantic.
“It's not true. He's lying to you, pleas…he’s twisting it!” she cried, her voice hitching as she tried to crawl toward the edge of the mattress. “It wasn't like that, he’s been blackmailing me, he—”
“I thought he was just a random stranger asking for directions?”
She froze.
“A ghost that never existed on that rooftop that night?” my voice rose an octave higher. “I asked you, Vera. But each time, like the disgusting liar that you are, you looked me in the eye and lied.”
“I made a mistake,” she sobbed. “I wasn't trying to make a fool of you—”
“Do not fucking lie to me!” I thundered, the sheer volume of my voice making her flinch back as if I had struck her. “I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth.”
That shut her up effectively.
“Did you think I was a fool? I’ve always known something was not right since that day at the hospital.” I paced the room in small steps. “Then after the rooftop at the gala. Then I learned the truth.” I stopped pacing, pinning her with a burning stare. “I also knew the second you withdrew that five million dollars from the account.”
I had lost so much because of her. I almost went crazy when Simone and our baby died. And then, as if fate was mocking me, I had married and brought their killer into my home, my life.
The overwhelming urge for retribution welled up inside me.
“Tell me,” I said, stepping closer until my shadow swallowed her whole. “What is a fitting punishment for a woman like you?”
I saw the moment, her panic and fear sharpened.
“Should I send you to jail where you belong? So you can rot away for the rest of your miserable life.”
The thought had crossed my mind. Very tempting. But the cold, calculating part of my brain…the part that had built an empire, stayed my hand.
If the truth got to the public now, the scandal would be a tidal wave. It would shatter my reputation…annihilate the Rutherford name, and jeopardize the delicate plans for the finalisation of the partnership with LutherCorp.
I was stuck with her.
I couldn't destroy her without destroying myself in the process. Not yet.
The word jail seemed to have snapped something inside her.
Vera shot off the bed, and bolted for the door. She seemed to have forgotten that I had locked the door.
I caught her at the door which she was frantically trying to open.
“Where the hell do you think you're going?” I growled, hooking my hand around her waist and carrying her back to the bed while she pleaded and struggled.
I threw her on the bed, and hovered above her, joining her hands together, and pinning it above her head.
The next second, her eyes snapped shut, and she began to hyperventilate. The other part of my brain that I had shut off, reminded me that she was pregnant.
I let go of her wrists with a jerk, swearing harshly under my breath.
I paced the room agitatedly, my hair gripped tightly in my hands. My mind was a mess of tangled emotions and chaos.
Vera sat up slowly and slid down the bed. She collapsed onto her knees on the hard floor, then joined her palms together in a plea, her body shaking with sobs.
“I know that I have wronged you…deeply,” she began. “But please, Silas! I’m begging you, don't send me to jail! I’ll do anything, I’ll sign anything... just please wait…at least until I give birth!”
Rage and bitterness arose and surged inside me.
My gaze trailed downward, settling on the small curve of her stomach. The sight of it made my skin crawl.
“You have the nerve to beg me for the life of your child?” I asked, my voice trembling with a dark, volatile energy. “You have the audacity to ask for mercy from my hand…for your baby, while yours were the hands that tore mine away from me?”
She shook her head. “I didn't know.”
“Ignorance is no excuse.You stole my son's first breath before he even had a chance to take it.”
I leaned down, my face inches from hers, my teeth bared.
“Maybe I should return the favor. Maybe I should have you thrown in jail… wait for you to deliver that child just so it can't be ripped away from your arms the way you did to me.” I paused, stopping myself from grabbing her again. “An eye for an eye. Isn't that what the Bible says?”
She went frantic, a broken, high-pitched wail tearing out of her throat. She gripped my hands, desperately.
“No please... please, Silas, I’m begging you! Hold off until the birth! You can do whatever you want to me, I deserve it,” she stuttered. “But please, let me make arrangements for the baby... for my sister! I’ll go to prison, I’ll do whatever you want, just let me make sure they’re safe!”
I scoffed. “Arrangements?” I spat the word out like it was poison. “You think you have the right to ask for that, or anything at all, after what you—”
I cut off as her grip on my hands suddenly slackened. Her head lolled to the side, her eyes rolling back into her head, all colour drained from her face completely.
Before I could even bark another insult, her body went limp, and she slumped onto the hardwood floor, unconscious.