(Freya's POV).
"Be a good girl and obey my words, Fey," a whisper vibrated an eerie sensation that made my whole body shudder in horror. "You don't want to see Theo get hurt, do you?"
I paled. My lips felt dry. My throat felt so constricted that I could hardly breathe. My hands were shaking violently. I didn't dare move anymore after hearing Devan's threat.
All I could do was let Devan tighten his embrace around my waist. Pressing it so tightly, with a proprietary embrace. While I stared wide-eyed at Theo who had a worried and scared look on his face.
"Dev, please don't do this," I said, pleading.
"I wouldn't have come and rioted like this if you hadn't tried to run away from me. You think I don't know you're trying to escape along with Theo?" he said in a heavy, threatening voice.
I clenched my fists in fear.
"Let her go, you bastard."
"Don't interfere. I just want to bring my wife home," he said. I shuddered in horror as his breath brushed the back of my neck.
Theo stared at us, more accurately at Devan. His hands were clenched in anger.
"Well, Freya. Tell him you're coming home with me," he ordered.
I bit my lower lip. I was helpless.
"Dev! You bastard!"
"Shut your mouth," Devan scolded. He tightened his arms around my waist. "Be a good girl and tell him you're going home with me. Tell him you won't see him again!"
"What?" I turned to him.
"Say it."
"You've lost your mind!" Theo shouted. "Your current attitude is no different from the one I had in the past! Freya has done nothing wrong! Let her go and settle this with me, asshole!"
I felt Devan wince. "Her fault is for being your sister. She wouldn't be going through something like this if she didn't have a convict brother like you," Devan taunted.
"You're really crazy...."
"I don't care," he said.
"Theo, I'm sorry," I whispered.
My chest felt tight as I saw the sad look on Theo's face.
Just as Theo was about to approach me, I heard Devan shouting, loudly from behind me.
"Move forward and you'll see bad things happen today," Devan threatened. "I may have been lenient in the beginning, but that won't happen again. Now back off and let us go."
I stared at Theo without saying anything. More precisely, I couldn't say anything. Devan took me away from the house. Dragged me roughly into his car.
This house.
It felt more and more claustrophobic as my feet stepped into it. Ever since I moved into this house, there wasn't a single good memory I had. They were all bad memories of where Devan mistreated me. Making my chest feel so tight that it's hard to breathe.
I squealed as Devan pushed me roughly after we reached the room. But this wasn't my room, it was Devan's.
"This isn't my room!" I protested. I didn't want to share a room with him.
"Now this will be your room. From today on we will sleep in the same room," he said nonchalantly as he closed the door. "I'm not taking any chances and letting you run away again."
My hands clenched into fists. I glared, angrily at him.
"You're going to lock me up again?"
He shook his head. "That would be a boring drama."
"You're crazy."
"I don't care. As long as I can get my revenge." He looked at me sharply. "And don't try to escape again. This is my last warning if you still want to see your brother safe."
"Do you like being a murderer?" I smiled mockingly. I swallowed hard as he glanced at me with a pair of dark eyes.
"A murderer?" he laughed. I shivered with fear at the sight of his frightening-looking smile. "I can be even worse than that. So, don't misbehave and do as I say. If you still want to see your brother alive."
"You're crazy! You're out of your mind!" I shouted, but Devan didn't seem to care about my cursing.
I felt like my world was shattered. The person I loved hated me so much. Even determined to destroy me. What could I do with this miserable life? Everything felt heavy and difficult for me to deal with.
"I wouldn't be who I am today if Theo hadn't killed my sister," he said.
"But he didn't do it. And he's already been punished for what he did."
"Of course, you're favoring him," he smiled wryly, "you think a prison sentence will bring my sister back to life?! The wound he made to my family can't even disappear even if he apologizes a thousand times in front of my brother's grave!"
"But that doesn't excuse you from doing the same thing Theo did. How are you different from him? Do you think Greyta would be happy to see you living a life like this?"
I also have a brother. And if I were in Greyta's position, who had died, seeing my brother living in the shadow of revenge. I wouldn't be able to die in peace. Because all I wish for is to see my family let go of my death and live their lives well.
"Don't you dare mention her name like you know what my sister is like!" he snapped.
I gasped as he almost slapped me, but he held back. My body trembled with fear. The hatred in Devan's eyes made me feel a huge sense of guilt. In my mind, there would be no hope for our relationship to change for the better.
"Then is this really what your sister wanted? Getting revenge the wrong way?"
"Shut your mouth."
I smiled wryly. "An eye for an eye. Life for life. If you wanted it so badly, why didn't you just kill me and be done with it?" I clenched my fists tightly. Holding back my tears from falling.
"It's not that easy." He gave me a hateful look. "Suffer like this all your life. Until I have the satisfaction of seeing you destroyed, I will never stop."