Chapter 7 Was It Really Love?
515 Words
"I want to know who took these photos."
Alicia went stone-still.
Seeing the woman's ice-cold expression, Carlos's smirk grew more mocking, confirming his suspicions.
"Alicia, you're full of schemes, but you lack the brains to pull them off."
If he hadn't caught on, he might've already strangled her and dumped the body by now.
Damn it!
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Alicia had never considered this fatal flaw.
Regret twisted her brow—how utterly maddening! Everything had been perfectly planned, only for her own stupidity to ruin it all!
Watching Alicia's seething expression, Carlos scoffed and deleted the photos one by one.
Each deletion stabbed through her like a blade.
"Consider this incident erased. From today onward, if you dare pull another stunt like this, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
Tossing the camera onto the bed with disdain, Carlos stood, his imposing frame backlit as he coldly glanced at the bound woman.
"Alicia, don't use your position as Mrs. Radiance to scheme behind my back."
Without another look, he turned to leave.
"Carlos, why are you doing this to me?!" Alicia finally exploded, her voice shredded with hatred. "Elvis and I are through forever! All I want is freedom!"
"You could have any glamorous woman you want—why torment me?!"
She yanked at her restraints, her emotions spiraling. Was it just because she'd grown up with the two brothers? If so, she'd rather have starved to death than been taken in by the Radiance family!
Carlos's fingers paused on the doorknob. His lashes lowered slightly at her outburst.
"I gave you the reason that night."
"Can you honestly call this love?"
Alicia wanted to laugh, but it choked into a bitter sob. "Tell me, Carlos—was everything you did really because you love me?"
She always knew exactly where to twist the knife. Like ice water dousing his rage, Carlos's lips pressed into a thin, silent line.
He'd once asked himself—did he really need Alicia in his life?
Yet the gruesome image of his mother's mangled body from childhood haunted him relentlessly. Carlos's dark eyes flared crimson with remembered bloodshed, forcing him to squeeze them shut.
When "love" had been a distorted concept since childhood, only to trap him in its cage as an adult, he knew he could never speak that word to Alicia again.
For someone like him, "love" was too precious—and utterly pointless.
He gave no answer. Instead, his next words slammed into her like a physical blow.
"Almost forgot to mention—Bruce and Elvis will be back from abroad in a week." Even with his back turned, he could vividly picture her stunned expression. "You won't set foot outside until they're back."
Elvis...coming home?!
The news smashed into Alicia's skull like a sledgehammer, leaving her breathless.
"Alicia, I never imagined you'd be this cheap."
"From this moment on, we're through."
The man's frostbitten farewell at the airport years earlier, his frame dissolving into the terminal's harsh fluorescence—now they transformed into a thousand needles, stabbing deep into her mind.
- Writer
