Chapter 82
I stared at him in disbelief.
He was telling me to get out. Saying he never wanted to see me again.
This was exactly what I wanted, so why did it hurt so much?
"What's going on here?"
Donovan appeared, the butler helping him up the stairs.
Seeing me sobbing uncontrollably, he raised his hand to strike Leopold.
"Grandpa!"
I quickly grabbed his hand, shaking my head as I explained. "Don't hit him. It's not his fault. This is on me."
Donovan immediately pulled back. "Cindy, don't cry. I won't hit him."
"Ms. Guise, what are you doing here? And dressed like that?" The butler spotted Sophia and demanded answers.
Sophia put on a wounded expression. "Cindy invited me here..."
She repeated to Donovan everything she'd just told Leopold.
When she finished, Donovan gripped my hand tight. "Child, what were you thinking?"
Tears kept streaming down my face.
"Grandpa, I didn't know it would turn out like this."
I'd thought Sophia really used a sleeping pill. That everything would go smoothly without alerting anyone.
I never imagined she'd use an aphrodisiac instead.
Even if I explained all this now, there was no way to justify why I'd teamed up with Sophia in the first place.
If Donovan and Leopold found out I was planning to leave, they'd never agree.
What awaited me then would be an even more suffocating arrangement.
So I couldn't explain.
"Lucinda, you're ruthless! From this moment on, we have nothing to do with each other."
"Get out of the Percy Manor immediately, or I'll destroy your reputation!"
Leopold's cruel words twisted my heart like a knife.
My body couldn't take it. I nearly collapsed right there.
"Cindy!"
Donovan steadied me and tried to rage at Leopold, but I held him back.
"Grandpa, I need to go."
I released his hand and made my way down the stairs, gripping the railing.
"Leo, I—"
Sophia started to explain. I glanced back just in time to see Leopold take her hand.
"It's late. Let's get some rest."
My foot slipped on the step—I almost tumbled down!
Luckily, my reflexes kicked in, and I grabbed the railing, though the inside of my arm scraped raw.
The wound burned.
But no physical pain could match what I felt in my chest.
I continued down, one step at a time.
With each step, my heart emptied a little more.
By the time I reached the bottom, it was completely hollow.
Even the wind could blow straight through me.
I walked out the front door without the strength to drive.
I called Leo first.
Once...
Twice...
Three times...
No one picked up.
I stumbled to the manor entrance in a daze.
Then I called Ethan. "Ethan, can you please come pick me up? I'm sending you my location."
Ten minutes later, Ethan's car arrived.
Finding me sitting on the curb, he immediately got out and helped me into the car.
"Cindy, what happened? You're freezing."
A warm blanket wrapped around me, but I still shook with cold.
"Ethan, Leopold and I are completely done."
Ethan looked surprised. "How did things move so fast?"
I laughed bitterly. "Sophia's handiwork. She said she needed sincerity from me—told me she'd give Leopold a sleeping pill. You know what?"
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I knew about that. Didn't seem like an unreasonable request."
"But it wasn't a sleeping pill. It was an aphrodisiac. She didn't want to just sleep in the same bed as Leopold. She wanted him to completely despise me, to drive me out of his heart forever!"
My tears wouldn't stop.
Ethan wiped them away with tissues, sighing heavily.
"I didn't anticipate that. But Cindy, isn't this actually a good thing?"
I pushed his hand away. "Good? How? Leopold and I were together for ten years. I don't even deserve a shred of dignity at the end?"
Ethan fell silent for several seconds before speaking gently. "With Leopold's personality, even if things had gone according to your plan, would you really have gotten any dignity?"
The question stopped me cold.
"From the moment he got together with Sophia, dignity went out the window for you both."
"He made you suffer every humiliation for Sophia's sake. Made you swallow your pride for his grandfather."
"He even sacrificed your career and dreams to make you his possession."
"A man like that doesn't deserve your attachment!"
Everything he said was true. I had no rebuttal.
"Cindy, what Sophia did tonight was extreme. But if she'd talked to me first, I wouldn't have refused her."
"Though I might have negotiated to minimize the damage to you."
"Stop torturing yourself. The sooner you leave him, the sooner you can be yourself again."
Ethan's words tore through my already shredded heart.
I felt like I was being ripped apart.
Every nerve trembling.
My vision went black again. I lost consciousness completely.
When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hotel bed.
The moment I tried to sit up, Ethan rushed to my side.
"Cindy, you're finally awake."
"How long was I out?"
When I spoke, I realized how hoarse my voice sounded.
Ethan quickly poured me some warm water. "All night."
The water soothed my throat.
My voice cleared somewhat.
"Well, that's not too bad. It's getting late—I should head to the studio."
"Cindy." Ethan immediately held me back. "You haven't recovered yet. Rest a bit longer."
I shook my head. "I can't. You know I don't have much time. If I don't make it through the finals, my dance career is over."
Ethan looked pained. "But if you go to the studio like this, I'm afraid you won't make it."
"I'll be fine." I forced a smile. "Last night I was just in shock. My body couldn't handle it. But I'm okay now."
"Then let me drive you."
"No need. I'll go myself. Otherwise, if someone takes photos, we'll have more explaining to do."
I got out of bed and left.
Walking out of the hotel, I felt light-headed.
After taking a cab to Crescent Ballet Company, I felt somewhat better.
The moment I got out of the car, I spotted Sophia sitting by the entrance looking radiant, as if she'd been waiting for me.
I didn't want to deal with her. I headed straight inside.
"Lucinda, don't you want to know why I did it?"
My steps faltered. I turned and walked toward her. "Why?"
"You said it was a sleeping pill. Why did it turn into an aphrodisiac? You promised to cooperate—why'd you change your mind at the last minute?"
"I'm not a threat to you anymore. Why did you have to humiliate me like that?"
Seeing my fury, Sophia didn't get angry. Instead, she smiled.
"To completely crush your hope, of course."
"I'll be honest—from the moment Ethan approached me, I'd already planned this."
"If you wanted me to feel secure, to believe you weren't a threat, there was only one way: erase you from every Percy family member's heart."
"But I already decided to leave! To give Leopold back to you! How could you do this?" I didn't understand.
Sophia's voice turned harsh. "What good is you just leaving? Mr. Donovan Percy adores you. He'll force Leo to stay close to you, keep creating opportunities for you two to bond."
"Who knows when you might rekindle things?"
"Rather than become another 'you,' I'd rather eliminate you from the start!"