Chapter 45 45

Chapter 45 45
Nora’s POV

As I stared at Aria’s cold face, I couldn’t hold it anymore. My tears began to fall.

“Why are you doing this?” I cried, unable to bear the pain any longer.

“Because I can. Now, sit your ass down if you don’t want the whole world seeing a clip of you fucking my unconscious husband,” she spat.

“I won’t. I didn’t do anything and I am not going to do your dirty job for you.”

“You think you’re tough?” Aria asked, her eyes filled with disdain.

“I didn’t do any of it! You framed me into this hell of a marriage and now, this? Why do you want to completely ruin me?” I cried.

“Because I can,” she replied nonchalantly.

“I will not do this,” I said, standing my ground. I looked around the restaurant with hopes of getting some help but nobody was around. Even the elderly shop owner was sleeping in a corner. And then, it dawned on me.

This was a trap to lure me into a situation of helplessness. She knew asking me to come to a restaurant was going to lower my guard, but here, nobody could be seen. She could decide to kill me right here and no one would say a word.

As fear filled me, so did determination.

I wiped my tears and tried to squeeze my way past the guard but he only pushed me back roughly, causing me to hit the wall. I staggered as my head collided with the wall. My vision blurred for a moment.

“You never cease to amaze me. Do I need to teach you some lessons?” she asked. She got off her seat and walked to me.

“Leave me alone!” I yelled, moving more into the wall.

“Do you want to do this the hard way? Be my guest. No one cares about you either way,” she said.

Her words only seemed to get me angry. Seeing as I needed to fight for my life, I lunged at her, sticking my hands in her hair and pulling hard. We both fell to the ground and she screamed as I pulled her hair with all my might.

I got on top of her and returned the slap she gave to me moments ago. Her head whipped to the side as a scream tore from her lips. I raised my hand to give her another slap but I was pushed off her by the guard.

I tried to attack again but he pulled me off the floor, pinned my hands to my back, and made me helpless against Aria’s attack.

“You little whore, how dare you put your filthy hands on me?” she asked as she got off the floor. She hurriedly reached for her purse, took out a mirror, and checked her face for any damage. Only her hair was all messed up.

I bet she had a bruise from the slap but her makeup hid it well. Even so, the makeup was ruined and her lipstick was smeared. Her eyes darkened with fury at the mess.

“How dare you ruin my makeup!” she yelled. Fuming, she lunged at me but I couldn’t do anything because my hands were pinned against my back by the guard.

She attacked my face, clawing her fingers roughly into my hair as I lowered my head and tried to knock her away. I tried to use my legs to push her away but it was of no use. When she saw she wasn’t able to target my face, she delivered a heavy punch to my stomach. I doubled over as pain filled me. I gasped for air as my vision blurred.

“Bold of you to think you can raise your hands on me and go scot-free! Fight all you want, you’re going to bend to my rules at the end of the day,” she spat.

I began to cry bitterly.

“Please….” I begged.

“I will have to refrain from putting injuries on you so that your husband doesn’t get suspicious, but don’t you dare me,” she spat.

I cried hard, pained by the fact that Aria could treat me so badly like a lowlife slave.

“What is dad going to say about this?” I asked. He wasn’t as evil as my stepmother. No, he wasn’t devil at all, he was just brainwashed by my stepmother to make him hate me. But he is still my father regardless.

“What?” Aria asked.

“What is dad going to say when he finds out you’re beating me up so I can go steal for you?” I cried.

She burst into a round of laughter, her mean voice filling the small restaurant.

“What makes you think he bloody cares about you?” she laughed. “I mean, what in the world makes you think he would lift even a finger to save you? Have you wondered why he hasn’t bothered to reach you since your silly marriage?” she asked.

My heart ached at her words. And what hurt even more was the fact that her words were true. They hadn’t tried to reach me for so long and it only meant they didn’t care. I know this, but I’ve tried not to accept it to numb the pain.

When she saw I wasn't going to respond, she chose to say it anyway.

“It’s a pleasure to let you know that no one cares about you. Not even your father or my mother, I bet you know that already. Not even your insanely rich husband that seems to have married you for his own selfish reason,” she said, each word colder than the last. “You know the even better part? It wasn’t a marriage, you were sold off to him.”

At my horror-filled expression, she burst into another round of laughs.

My ears rang.

My own father sold me? But for what?

Julian had said something like this a couple of times already but I only thought he was being a jackass. I only thought he was trying to hurt me. But right now, hearing it from Aria destroyed me.

All this while, I told myself that perhaps he didn't try to call me because he was still mad at me since he thinks I really forced myself on Julian. I blamed myself for not trying hard enough to make him understand, but now the truth was in the light.

My own father sold me. My heart squeezed painfully like it was being trampled upon. The guard seemed to notice I was losing my wits so he let me go and I fell to the floor in a dump.

I doubled over in pain.