Chapter 25 The Painful Anger
“SHUT UP, MOTHERFUCKER!”
Arabella gasped when he hit William as the sound echoed in the air, he fell lower in her perspective.
“Luke! How dare you hit him!?”
Her heart thumped madly against her chest, horror consuming her still her body reacted on its own and locked around her husband.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“Wrong with me?! What is wrong with you?!”
Quivering, she gripped onto William who stood immobilized, taking a long period to register what happened.
“WHY THE FUCK OF ALL PEOPLE YOU MARRIED HER!? HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME, ARABELLA!?”
William’s eyes staring at the ground, cheek stinging as he fell into a daze to comprehend what the fuck did just happen as his heartbeats grew louder.
Wheezing agonizingly, tears spilled down Luke’s cheeks as the hand he hit his brother with began to tremble tremendously.
And to hide the vulnerability, he screamed at him.
Using the worst possible words, just to replace the physical tingle with an irrecoverable emotional pain.
“YOU HAVE PROVEN TODAY THAT A STEP-BROTHER CAN NEVER BECOME A REAL BROTHER!”
William’s anguish enhanced explicitly through the tears filling his eyes, which ended up hurting Arabella too.
Causing her to sob as she screamed, “STOP IT, LUKE! JUST STOP!”
Moving away, stepping over the broken shards of the whiskey bottle, wincing in pain. Ignoring the pain, Luke continued glaring as those words shot a sharp pain through William’s chest.
“Wh- what…?”
William almost fell on the ground heartbreakingly but was held by Arabella who placed her hand over his back for support but it couldn’t cease his ache, drying his throat in appall.
Crying silently at his horrified state, Arabella glared at Luke for forgetting his limits and snapped outrageously at him.
“How can you say this!? Have you forgotten everything William has done for you and Helena!? How could you!?”
But since Luke’s mind had stopped functioning with unstoppable anger and disheartening feelings, he growled back at her.
“Stop acting like a damn good wife and siding with your husband, I don’t want to involve myself with any of you!”
Turning his attention back to William who let the tear shine on his cheek.
Curling his hand in a powerless fist as he could feel the gut-wrenching sensation dropping to his heart like a deadly poison.
‘After everything I did for them… this is what I get to hear?’
He was at a loss of words, any ability to react disappeared as he stunned like a robot until Luke shared his limitless hatred.
“I don’t even want to see you. I fucking hate you for what you have done to me, William,”
“I…”
He gulped hard, unable to lift his eyes even, or get furious.
“I understand your anger, I won’t appear before you, if that’s what you want, Luke,”
“No, William, he must apologize. Just because he is drunk and angry, that doesn’t give him the license to hurt people around him,” Arabella snarled, revolting him at this point.
“...Leave it, Arabella,” William breathed out shakily.
“No, William, How dare he-”
Placing his hand over her shoulder, he shook his head in denial, having zero strength to continue this conversation.
She could tell it was the anguish of finding her as his sister-in-law.
That she chose William over him made him senseless and feeling remorseful about it, she refused to let it slide.
It pierced her when Helena's words about their bond razing became true.
It scared her, she didn’t want that, not at least with her being the foundation of their hatred.
She turned to leave but failing to forgive him for the drama he created and humiliation towards William, she decided to take revenge.
For William.
If not by actions then by words.
“You know what, Luke?”
Stopping in her tracks, she wiped her tears and returned a cold, piercing stare as she hissed words that stabbed him like a sword through his chest.
“I am glad I choose William over you,”
His eyes widened, feet freezing to the ground as the realization of his actions sank in but it was too late.
Averting her gaze with disappointment, they went back to the room, leaving Luke in stagger to fathom what he ended up doing in spur of mindlessness.
The second they closed the door, William stood in the middle of the room, hanging his head low, surrounded by an ache for confronting his worst nightmare.
Meanwhile his bride was highly displeased and argued.
“Why didn’t you fight back? How could he hurt you like this? Why did you remain silent?”
Frowning, she stopped before him as he vaguely placed his hand over his heart, holding back the screen of tears as he whimpered painfully.
“H- How… Can I hurt my brother? He is my little brother… I promised myself I won’t,”
“He turned that love to dust without a second thought, William.”
She felt bad for him but declining to forgive him, she tried to rile him up because in all these years, this topic was never brought up.
And mentioning it today broke the bond they built.
“Today, he finally called you his step-brother. How does that make you feel?”
Losing his strength, William fell on the bed. His lips quivered which he held back by gritting his teeth.
“Horrible… absolutely horrible…”
Arabella shifted to one knee to glance at his woeful face, looking everywhere as a hopeless attempt to bury his ache.
“But.. I swore to myself when our parents died… to take the best care of them which I did… I had always loved them, protected them.. y-you know that, right?”
And stopping at her as a final source of relief, he held her hand weakly, praying she wouldn’t pierce his heart at least.
This time, he followed her gesture and intertwined their fingers, praying she would protect him emotionally at least.
“I devoted all my life to my siblings, I never saw them from a step-sibling point of view. You know that, right, Bella?” He whimpered.
Dejected at his hurtful state, she gave his hand a tight squeeze, placing it over her heart while wiping his tears that enhanced his heartbeats madly.
“I know, we all know, you have always been the best brother,” She whispered, hoping to convince him.
But, to no avail, ripping his hands away, he slammed them down angrily, endeavoring to shackle his emotions.
“Fuck!”
Noticing his hesitation, fury, and the disheartening glimpse, her throat dried in dread, moving her hands beside him.
“William…”
He looked at her heavily as she asked tentatively, afraid of the answer.
“...Do you regret marrying me?”
Gobbling his ache, William realized his reaction might be distressing her and loosening his shoulders, he exhaled to grasp his composure.
Gradually, he placed his large hand over her head while pressing his forehead against hers, confessing wholeheartedly.
“Out of my many regrets in my miserable life, this one isn’t.”
Her heartbeat amplified, staring at the man who had shut his eyes, breaths becoming unstable but not allowing it to scatter his determination.
“I became selfish, I wanted you to be mine… I don’t regret anything, even if you do-”
To which she replied immediately, “I don’t, not anymore,”
His words brought a tear in her ears.
Staring at him in admiration for the support he was providing, for the fondness he conveyed, all of that dug a grave of emotions.
“Please say it again, tell me I am not imaging,”
“You are not. I don’t regret choosing you over Luke, I don’t regret marrying you,”
Smoothly pressing her hand over his heart, he shut his eyes more, considering it a non-existent moment that he was imagining.
Smiling at his hopelessness, she allowed his hands to hold her for comfort as she declared what he was dying to hear.
“From now on, I am here for you, William, I will support you as your life partner, and I am fully allowing you to hold your rights as my husband too,”