Chapter 178 He Is Innocent
When the man undid his belt, William swung. The tip found its mark, sinking deep into the man’s chest, throwing him to the ground.
William didn’t think twice, he picked the fruit knife and stabbed him, again, and again, until his body went lifeless. The blood splattering on his face, he was screaming wretchedly, tears miserably falling down.
The library was eventually filled with a different kind of silence. the wet, heavy sound of a body collapsing.
William stood over him, the silver blade coated with red. His eyes were wide, unblinking, his mind fracturing under the weight of what he had just done.
He was seventeen, and he was covered in the blood of his monster.
He turned to Luke, his stare turning into a glare, “Run.”
Luke didn’t think twice. He sprinted. The guilt bubbling in his chest that he watched it all but didn’t dare to come and help. To step forward or distract the man so William could have run away.
Luke did nothing but to watch and run.
The doors swung open.
Liyah stood there. She didn't scream. She didn't rush to her husband’s side. She didn't even check for a pulse, a haunting pleasant look was plastered on her face.
"You've been a busy boy, haven't you?" Her voice was smooth and cold, coming closer and poking the body with her heels with sheer indifference.
“You finally did the only good thing in your life and got rid of this piece of shit for me.” She commented.
She looked at the body on the floor with the detachment as a cruel smile playing on her lips. Then, her eyes drifted to William who was filled with blood, his back resting against the table.
"Auntie, He... he tried to..." William’s voice began painfully, pointing at the scratch marks on his bare chest, towards the belt, tears spilling endlessly.
He began to shake, the adrenaline fading into a soul-crushing terror of what he had done, a wailing escaping through his throat.
"I had to... Liyah, please..."
Liyah walked toward him, stepping over her husband’s cooling corpse as if he was a minor inconvenience. She grabbed William’s chin, forcing him to look at her.
"The police won't care what he tried to do," she whispered, her eyes gleaming with a sudden, opportunistic fire.
"They will see a boy who murdered a pillar of the community. They will take you away.”
William’s eyes widened in appall, shaking his head in denial, releasing muffled sobbing.
“And Luke? And Helena? Do you think the state will care for them? They’ll be tossed into the streets, stripped of their name, left to rot in the system."
"No. Not them. Please, Liyah... they have no one else.” William’s heart stopped at the mention of his siblings.
“Help me, Auntie, please, please, I will do anything you say. I will be your slave forever but please don’t take them away from me."
William threw himself at her feet, his forehead to the ground, bearing the insulting feeling while crying his head out, grasping his only chance available.
Liyah stood straight, her ruthless eyes locked on the boy accompanied by a smirk.
"Then you belong to me now," Liyah hissed, lifting his head using her foot, her eyes darkening.
"You will never speak of what he did. You will never speak of this blade. You will be the perfect, dutiful nephew, okay?”
He nodded weakly, “Y-Yes.”
“You will do whatever I say, whenever I say it. In exchange, I will make this 'accident' disappear."
William looked at the doorway, where he could just barely see a gone shadow of a young Luke, terrified, watching the nightmare unfold.
For his brother. For his sister. William bowed his head, letting the blood-stained blade fall from his hand.
"I agree," he whispered, his soul falling apart, the night dying along with this incident.
Liyah smiled, a cold, triumphant expression that stayed with William for the next 13 years.
"Good. Now, go wash your hands. I have an accident to arrange."
PRESENT:
With an inexplicable amount of disgust filling her heart, Arabella’s urge to lay Liyah in her monstrous husband’s grave too grew uncontrollable. She knew if she saw Liyah, she would lose control.
But, amid the fury, the pity for William, for he had gone through doubled.
“Not this time, William.” She recalled all the times William had suffered a painful loss.
“Not this time you have to lower your head and accept defeat. I promise, my love.”
Arabella made an eternal promise to herself while clutching his biological mother’s pendant. She was prepared to appear as his bride before the world and shelter him.
Arabella approached, her gaze locked onto Liyah with a ferocity that made the older woman’s fake acting before the media falter.
Arabella emerged, keeping Helena’s warning on what ‘not’ to say in front of the camera in her mind and walked closer.
“Mrs. Grayson. Mrs. Hartman has placed some serious charges against her nephew. What do you have to say about it?”
"This perfume." Arabella ignored the question and walked towards Liyah, "Does it help mask the scent of the rot, Liyah? Or is vileness something you just are used to?"
“What vileness?” The reporter asked.
Arabella smirked, “To hide the ugliness of her home. Why don’t you tell the media how or why it happened too?”
Liyah straightened, "Careful, Arabella. You’re speaking to the woman who saved him for years. You should be thanking me for my... discretion."
Arabella grabbed the front of her shirt, staring dead into her eyes, scaring the woman, “Fuck you and your discretion, Bitch.”
“You- you.. How d-dare you–”
“I don’t have time for your theatrics, woman. Stop dragging my William's name to the mud and giving half-truth.”
Pushing Liyah away, Arabella turned towards the camera where a deep silence had settled, afraid to let out a single allegation they heard about.
Arabella stared into the lens and enunciated before walking away.
“My husband is innocent. And soon, it will be proven in court too.”