Chapter 35

Chapter 35
BENEDICT’S POV

The three weeks that followed since Louisa moved into my room were calmer than I ever could have expected. I wouldn’t say it was simple, because Louisa never made anything simple, but it was calmer. And in my world, that was rare enough to count as peace.
Every morning had a pattern now. I drove Louisa to the orphanage before heading to the firm, and every evening I picked her up. At first, it had been for convenience. More accurately, it had been for protection. Keeping her away from my mother’s prying eyes and condescending tone, from Justin’s snide remarks, and from Sabrina’s evilness.
But somewhere in the midst of that control, I found myself longing for every evening where I would go to pick up Louisa.
The moment she got into the car she would start telling stories about the children. About the way one little boy had tried to climb a tree taller than the house, or how one girl insisted she was destined to become a queen, or how the older kids laughed at her braids and Louisa threatened to wear them the same way just so the child wouldn’t feel alone. She painted them vividly, so much so that I could picture them though I had never stepped foot inside those walls.
It should have been irritating. It should have been noise after long days at work. Yet I found myself anticipating it. She would fill the car with her light, with her silliness, and God help me, I would catch myself smiling without even realising it.
Now three weeks had passed since I opened my room to her, something I should have done since we first got married, and things felt like they were, at last, falling into place. She slept beside me. She laughed beside me. She made me forget the stretches of time and the bitterness that has been in my heart since Sabrina’s betrayal.
It was late afternoon when the illusion cracked.
I was wrapping up a file, loosening my tie and already planning how Louisa would no doubt rush into the car with news about a boy named Daniel who had a “magic marble” and refused to let anyone touch it. I almost smiled at the thought when voices rose outside my office door.
I could hear my assistant, Camilla’s voice firmly outside. “I told you, Mr. Blackwood is unavailable. He’s finished for the day.”
A sharper voice answered, one I had made sure to avoid in weeks but could never mistake. “I don’t care. He will see me.” I stilled instantly, my pen tapping once against the desk.
Before I could press the intercom, the door burst open. Sabrina stormed in, her presence as brazen and polished as it had always been. Camilla followed behind, giving me an apologetic expression.
“It’s fine, Camilla,” I said, waving her out. She hesitated for a while but then retreated, shutting the door quietly behind her. There was silence, save for the faint hum of buzzing cars beyond the window.
Sabrina stood before me, her chest rising and falling as though she had been climbing a mountain. Her eyes flashed with accusation. “Why have you been avoiding me?”
I leaned back in my chair, deliberately indifferent. “Because I have no reason to see you. You made your choice.”
Her mouth tightened. “But you know it’s you I love.”
I arched my brow, fighting back my laughter. “You’re engaged to my brother. Forgive me if I don’t waste sympathy.”
Her hands balled at her sides. “You don’t understand, Benedict and I don’t know how else to tell you this. None of this was supposed to happen.”
A humorless laugh escaped me. “You’re right, it wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to walk into that dinner and find the woman I intended to marry sitting beside my brother, smiling as though she hadn’t promised herself to me first.”
Color drained from her face. She opened her mouth, but I didn’t give her the chance. “You knew what it would do to me. You knew how I felt about you and how strained my relationship with my brother was, and you did it anyway. So don’t come here now, demanding explanations and faking emotions as if I owe you anything.”
She took a step closer, desperation flickering in her gaze. “Benedict, I was pressured. I thought wasn’t good enough for you, that Justin was easier to… handle. I—”
I cut her off with a raised hand. “Don’t you dare try to play the victim, Sabrin. You had a choice. You could have said no. But you got so selfish thinking my brother would inherit everything so you threw yourself at him.”
Sabrina faltered and her eyes glistened, although I couldn’t tell if it was genuine regret or she was just very good at acting. 
Not wanting to waste another second, I stood, buttoning my jacket with deliberate calm. “I married Louisa to close that door. Permanently. Whatever we were, whatever you thought we might still be, it’s over. You forfeited that the moment you betrayed me.”
The word betrayed hung heavy between. Sabrina’s lips parted trembling, as though she might beg or lash out. But before she could, her face blanched and then she swayed.
I frowned. “Don’t start with your drama, Sabrina. I’m not in the mood for games.”
But then she crumpled. I stepped forward automatically, irritation sharp in my chest as I was ready to tell her to stop this ridiculous performance. Yet when I knelt beside her, the sight froze me. White frothing foam seeped at the corner of her mouth.
“Damn it,” I hissed, the bottom dropping out of my composure. I shook her shoulders lightly. “Sabrina. Can you hear me?” There was no response. Her body jerked and then stilled in spasms.
This was no act. I lunged for the phone on my desk, hitting the intercom. “Camilla—call an ambulance. Now.”
My pulse thundered in my ears as I dropped back down beside Sabrina. I tilted her onto her side, making sure her airway was clear, fighting down the surge of panic clawing at my chest. But the foam bubbled again and her breaths became shallow and erratic.
“Stay with me,” I muttered, pressing two fingers to her pulse. “Damn it, stay with me.”
The door burst open again and Camilla came rushing in with a kit. I barked instructions at her, my voice cracking through the air. “Ambulance on the way?”
“Yes, sir,” she said breathlessly.
I loosened Sabrina’s collar, checked her airway again. Time crawled, every second heavier than the last. I haven’t felt this helpless since forever. Minutes stretched like hours until the distant wail of sirens reached us. My relief was instant as paramedics rushed in.
As they lifted her, I stood back, my fists clenched at my side.

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