Chapter 68
I stared at the phone Leopold held out to me, disappointment thick in my voice.
"Leopold, if you truly trusted me, you wouldn't make me place this call."
If trust needed conditions to exist, then it wasn't trust at all.
"See? That's your answer right there." Leopold's voice dropped to a gravelly rasp. "In your heart, he matters way more than I do."
"This isn't about who matters more. I just don't want to be forced to choose." My voice cracked despite my best efforts. "Leopold, we've been together for ten years. You don't trust me even a little."
"But you could take Sophia's word over mine in a heartbeat. You actually believed I hurt her. You even suspected something inappropriate between my senior and me."
"Is that really who you think I am? Someone that disgusting?"
Leopold's gaze turned suddenly razor-sharp.
Shadows carved harsh lines across his features, sending an involuntary chill down my spine.
"Lucinda, is there a single honest word that comes out of your mouth?"
That question backed me into a corner.
No matter what I said, he wouldn't believe me.
Continuing this conversation was pointless.
"I don't want to fight anymore. If neither of us can give the other what they want to hear, then let's just end this."
I broke free from his grip and braced myself against the bed to stand.
I'd barely taken a step when Leopold seized my hand again.
His skin felt scorching. I hesitated. "Are you okay? If you're not feeling well, let me call a doctor."
Leopold's head snapped up, eyes blazing with something fierce and dangerous.
"You actually drugged me!"
"Drugged you? What are you even talking about?" I tried to shake off his hand.
Instead, he shoved me down onto the bed.
When his full weight pinned me, breathing became a struggle.
"Let me go! Don't touch me!"
"Lucinda," Leopold's expression twisted into something frightening, "at a time like this, drop the innocent act!"
"It wasn't me. It really wasn't..."
I shook my head frantically.
But nothing could stop Leopold's invasion.
His body burned against mine, the heat spreading until the very air felt suffocating.
This heat left me completely at a loss.
"Lucinda, kiss me."
His voice came low and coaxing.
I wanted to refuse, but my body betrayed me, following his command.
Again and again.
Tears slid down my temples, silently soaking into the sheets.
Only when I was utterly exhausted did this absurd scene finally end.
I pretended to sleep, refusing to look at Leopold.
With my eyes closed, my hearing sharpened.
I heard him shift closer, his breath ghosting over the crown of my head.
The next second, his fingers traced lightly across my face.
"Lucinda, why is telling me the truth so hard for you?"
My hand, resting at my side, curled into a silent fist.
From beginning to end, I'd told nothing but the truth.
He simply chose not to believe it.
After a moment, his fingertip came to rest on my lips.
"Why do you have to stay tangled up with your senior? Why won't you just obey me? Should I trust you or not?"
When he said those words, his voice carried a low, husky quality.
I caught the thread of genuine struggle beneath it.
The cold feeling in my chest only deepened.
I wasn't his pet. I couldn't unconditionally obey him.
Just when I was about to lose control, Leopold suddenly released me.
A moment later, the mattress lightened.
Then came the sound of running water from the bathroom.
Only then did I slowly open my eyes.
Looking around the familiar bedroom, I felt no nostalgia whatsoever.
At this point, Leopold and I truly seemed to be at the end.
While he showered, I changed clothes and headed downstairs.
The moment I descended, I spotted Donovan sitting on the sofa with a cheerful smile, chatting with the butler. When he noticed me, he waved eagerly.
"Cindy! Did you and Leo finish talking?"
I looked at him silently, offering no response.
Donovan's smile faded. He dismissed the butler, then slowly rose to his feet and asked again, "What's wrong? Did Leo bully you again? That rascal—I'll go straighten him out right now."
As he turned toward the stairs, I finally spoke up.
"Grandpa, why did you put that drug in our drinks?"
Donovan's expression froze. He turned back around, guilt flashing across his face as he glanced at me.
"I... I..."
"Don't do it again." I couldn't bring myself to be truly angry with him, so I settled for a stern warning. "Or I won't come back anymore."
"I was wrong. Please don't be upset." Donovan quickly apologized. "Leo's always at the office. The house gets so quiet. If you stop visiting, too, I'll truly be a lonely old man."
I knew he was deliberately playing pitiful to soften my heart.
But I couldn't keep making the same mistakes.
"Grandpa, actually I—"
"Grandpa, it's this late already. Why hasn't dinner been served?"
Leopold's voice drifted down from above, cutting off my words entirely.
Only then did Donovan react, quickly instructing the butler to serve dinner.
I looked up at Leopold descending the stairs, resentment stirring in my chest.
Leopold read my mood, reproach flickering in his eyes.
As if reminding me not to say things I shouldn't.
I had no desire to play along with his charade. I turned directly to Donovan. "Grandpa, I have something to take care of later, so I won't stay for dinner. I'll visit you again next time."
Without waiting for Donovan's response, I turned and left.
"You ungrateful fool—go see Cindy out!"
I didn't care. I kept my head down and hurried toward the exit.
I'd only gone a few steps when my knee started throbbing again.
I had no choice but to stop and catch my breath.
"Get in. I'll drive you."
Leopold had followed me out and opened the car door.
I didn't even glance at him, continuing toward the gate.
Leopold's expression darkened. He caught up and without a word, began steering me toward the car.
The anger I'd been suppressing suddenly erupted.
I struggled violently.
"Let me go! I don't need you to drive me! Why are you forcing me? What gives you the right to treat me like this?"
But no matter how hard I fought, I couldn't escape his grip.
I ended up deposited in the back seat.
"Drive."
Leopold instructed the driver to depart.
I held back the tears threatening to spill and turned to stare out the window in silence.
I'd assumed Leopold would finally leave me alone. Instead, he reached for the hem of my skirt.
"Can you please stop pushing me?" I snapped, unable to take it anymore.
But after my outburst, I froze.
Leopold had indeed lifted my skirt—but his other hand held a cotton swab soaked in iodine.
After I'd yelled at him, he didn't get angry. He silently used the swab to treat the bruise on my knee.
His constant contradictions had drained me of any remaining energy.
I stared at him in a daze as he applied the medicine, then gently blew on the wound.
Something sour and bitter twisted in my chest.
"Leopold, why are you doing this?"
After finishing with the medicine, Leopold smoothed my skirt back down. "I caused it. Naturally, I'm responsible for treating it."
I shook my head. "But I really don't need you to."
Leopold tossed the swab into a trash bag, his tone unreadable as he pressed, "Then who do you need to be responsible? Ethan? Or that pretty boy of yours?"
I gave up on correcting what he called Leo. "I don't need anyone to be responsible for me," I said flatly.
The car stopped outside Bayview Villas. I'd just started to get up.
Suddenly, my legs went weak—completely powerless.
Terror flooded through me in an instant.