Chapter 115 Chapter 115: Shattered
\[Lilia\]
Fuck it!
I cursed internally as I stared at him, standing right behind the large pillar. A coldness ran from the tips of my toes up to the very top of my head, yet my face burned hot with humiliation.
How long has he been here? Had he heard everything I just said?
The expression on his face revealed all. That little smug smirk lifted at the corner of his lips as if he was trying to tell me he was very pleased with everything I had said.
“C-Careful, Aya, there’s glass everywhere,” I stammered, snapping back to my senses and pretending as though nothing had happened. I turned my back on him almost immediately to hide my face and continued picking up the larger bits of broken glass before I could use the vacuum.
But I was too disoriented. My mind was as scattered as the pieces when I picked up the broken glass. I hadn’t noticed the sharp edge I pinched, and another shard pierced through the slipper I was wearing, puncturing my foot.
I didn’t feel any pain at first, but blood instantly started spilling from both cuts.
“Oh, good God, Lilia!” Aya frantically shouted and was about to carelessly rush to my side.
“No! Stay there!” I abruptly stood up in a rush, paying no heed to my wound, and held my hand up to stop her. I was glad she listened.
She couldn’t just throw herself around here. Too many shards were lying on the floor, which could also cut her if she wasn’t careful.
I looked at my hand, falling into a deep trance as I watched the blood oozing from my thumb. My left foot began to feel slippery against my slipper. I knew the cuts were deep—another addition to my collection of wounds—and the pain was starting to set in.
“Damn it, woman!”
I was startled out of my daze by a low growl from behind me. The next thing I knew, a pair of hands wrapped around my torso and lifted me off the ground.
“You can never be careful, can you?” he hissed, whisking me out of the living room with brisk, long strides.
Everything was happening too fast for my brain to process. I turned my head and looked at his face. His brows were dipped low into a scowl.
“Put me down,” I protested, pushing his chest furiously and thrashing my feet, but he just pressed my body tighter to him.
“Hold still,” he glowered, snapping his head closer to my face so our noses touched. I could even smell his minty breath, which intoxicated me for a moment.
“Lilia? What happened?”
Val suddenly appeared, breaking our trance with his worried voice as he strode closer. I tore my gaze away from Kael and turned to him. He took my hand and inspected the wound on my finger.
“Val, get the first aid kit and bring it to my office,” Kael said with a detached tone, swaying me away from Val as though he detested the very sight of him touching me. I remembered what we did yesterday and thought it would take some time before Kael forgot all about it. Though both remained casual, Val did little more than nod before removing his hand from the air, stuffing it into his pocket, and walking away.
“Bring me to my room,” I demanded as Kael began weaving his way to a different corridor, which I believed led to his office.
“I told you to hold still,” he snapped back, ignoring my constant protest.
I groaned in frustration and shot him a stern glare, conceding against my will. I steered my sight around the hallway we were now treading. The last time I was here was when Val brought me to this place for the first time, and where Kael pointed a gun at my head.
All just because I was damaged goods.
I guess that has been my trademark since then. I just realized now that since I got here, I've been giving myself a lot of scrapes and cuts on a regular basis.
Kael halted in front of a familiar door. Vivid images spurted into my mind from the first time I came here. I had been hiding behind Val’s back, my heart beating in my throat with dread and terror, with no knowledge of what my life would become when I finally met the man who had purchased me. I wasn’t expecting him to be like this. I had honestly been preparing to see a perverted, warty-faced old man.
I had even thought I wouldn’t last this long, much less fall for the very man who caused me so much pain.
It was a miracle indeed.
Kael opened the door, and my eyes immediately roved over his office. It was all the same as the last time I was here, except for a few new items on his desks and shelves.
He carefully laid me down on his maroon leather couch, lifted my wounded thumb, and examined it more closely. It was covered with blood but had fortunately stopped bleeding. Kael also elevated my leg, took my foot, and carefully removed the glass protruding from the sole of my slipper before pulling the footwear off.
“That bitch!” I hissed, clenching my teeth as the pain began to travel up my leg and the wound throbbed.
“You certainly made quite an impression on her,” he said, somehow in an amusing way, which immediately flustered my face with embarrassment.
“You… heard,” I faltered, swallowing the unease that had settled in the back of my throat as I averted my gaze. I didn’t want to see that smug face, knowing far too well the lewdness of everything I had said to scare his fiancée.
“Everything,” he admitted as he rubbed his thumb over the joint of my ankle, massaging it so tenderly and intimately that I had to suppress a moan.
He definitely knew what he was doing, and it was highly affecting me, but I tried my best to keep myself from falling into it.
“I didn’t mean it all,” I drawled, removing my foot from his grasp and crossing my legs.
The tension between us was beginning to increase, but it was immediately relieved as the door creaked open just in the nick of time. Val slid past the door, pushing a table cart with a basin of warm water and a first aid kit, everything needed to clean wounds.
“What happened?” he asked, taking the basin and placing it on the floor in front of me to wash my bloodied foot.
“Just an accident. I was helping Aya with her chores,” I said, turning my attention to him and smiling before continuing. “And someone’s fiancée decided to spill her wine on the white carpet and drop her glass on the floor. Purposely,” I emphasized the last word with heavy diction.
“Sabina?” His brows shot up to his hairline, and he darted his gaze to Kael.
“None other than,” I huffed, fighting the urge to roll my eyes and glare at the man kneeling before me.
Kael stared at me blankly and addressed his friend without turning to him. “It’s alright now, Val. You can leave.”
Val and I exchanged glances for a minute, and I could see the hesitation in his eyes as though he didn't want to leave. However, I quietly nodded to let him know I was okay, and he simply smiled in response.
“Yes, boss.” Without wasting another second, he vacated the room, leaving Kael and me alone once again.
Silence fell between us. No one spoke while I kept my eyes fixed on him. He heaved a deep sigh and removed the bottle of alcohol from the kit. He squirted some liquid into his palm and rubbed it all over his hands, disinfecting himself before touching my exposed wound to avoid infection.
After ensuring his hands were thoroughly cleaned, he gently cleaned the wound with a white cotton cloth soaked in soap and warm water. He was so focused on his task that I followed his every movement. He held my foot delicately, as though it would break if he held it too tight.
Thankfully, it wasn’t so deep or long that it needed stitches.