CHAPTER 7: A DANGEROUS SPARK
1168 Words
DAPHNE
I rose slowly, sniffling, chest heaving, heart thumping, head banging. He finally found out! I'm screwed. No! My parents were screwed.
“What the hell!!” He muttered, his voice low and lethal,his eyes burning with rage.
I swallowed, fluttering my eyes close.
Maybe this was where he deserves to know the whole truth. I exhaled sharply, parting my lips to speak.
“I swear I didn't mean to do this. After Daisy went missing, my parents couldn't think of how to break the news to you. Out of desperation–”
He let out a loud scoff, making me pause.
“Out of greed…” He growled, his eyes dark with rage. “correct that…” He snapped, a twisted scowl on his face, cutting me like a blade.
I nodded, taking my lips in. He wasn't wrong after all. My parents did this out of greed.
“Out of greed–” I continued, a dark smirk playing on his lips.
I froze, a lump rising in my throat.
“My parents made me wear her dress and walk down the aisle, pretending to be her.” I paused, shame burned me alive. I had just stained my parents name in the mud. “It was never my will to do this.”
For a moment, he stood, hovering over me in silence, his expression, unreadable but I could still see a glint of rage burning in his eyes.
Then slowly, he backed away as I finally exhaled, my chest heaving as my tears gradually seized.
He watched me without a word, his hands stuck in his pocket. I couldn't hold his gaze as I bowed my head, fiddling with my fingers.
I didn't dare to look him in the eye.
His gaze was still on me–I could feel it, like knives piercing my skin. Even from that distance, I couldn't help but tremble, my legs wobbled, struggling to maintain stance.
Damn his aura! His silence was worse, it ate me.
And then; I heard his voice, low but firm. “Get your things and leave.”
My breath hitched, I didn't misheard.
My chest tightened, air escaping my lungs. I opened my mouth to speak but the words died in my throat.
I had nowhere to go. I couldn't imagine returning home. After what Daisy and my mother did to me.
My head struck as the memories came flooding back. I recalled rolling down the staircase, crashing my head onto the railings. I took a step backwards, my knees failing me as it weakened. Before I could stop myself, I crashed to the floor with a sickening thud, my lips quivering, my head bowed.
“Please–” The word luckily escaped my dry throat. I swallowed, my eyes brewing with hot, fresh tears. “Don't send me back there.” My voice broke, my heart arched.
They were going to kill me. No! Daisy will ruin me for messing things up.
My damn life!
I waited–three seconds–five seconds–thirty. He didn't utter a word, his silence made me feel uneasy.
I lifted my chin slowly, daring to glance up at him. For a fleeting second, I thought I saw something soft in his eyes. Hope sparked in me—fragile, foolish hope.
But it vanished in an instant, replaced with his cold gaze once more. I should’ve known. I was hallucinating mercy where there was none.
I gulped down nothing. My tiny spark of hope shattered, leaving nothing but a hollow ache.
“Do you think–” He began, his voice cold and dangerous. I'll let you stay after everything?” He mumbled, his teeth gritted as I swallowed, biting my lips.
What was I even thinking?
Why was I saying this to him? If he didn’t send me back, it meant I would stay here… in his house. The same house I once tried to run from. How could I even think of this place as safe now?
But still, something in me clung to the walls, to the silence, to his piercing gaze—like they were better than the hell waiting for me at home.
When did his presence, his anger, his suffocating aura become less terrifying than Daisy’s cruelty? When did this house—his house,turn into a strange kind of comfort zone?
I knew the answer. Because no matter how cold his voice was, at least here, I wasn’t prey to my parent’s cruelty or Daisy’s vengeance. At least here, survival felt… possible.
I bit my lip hard, shaking. But still… How pathetic am I? To even think of begging him after everything?
Yet what choice did I have? Going back meant ruin. Going back meant death in slow, painful pieces.
Even if I had to seem desperate. Even if I had to crawl and let my dignity rot at his feet. I’ll beg. I’ll plead. I’ll sell my soul if I must.
Because deep down, I knew one thing for sure—staying here came with a price. And I was ready to pay.
I lifted my head, lips trembling. “Please…” My voice cracked, weak but heavy with fear. “Don’t send me away. I’ll do anything—just don’t make me go back there.”
“Please… I’ll prove myself. I’ll show you I’m not like them. Just… let me stay.”
His eyes didn’t soften. If anything, his cold stare seemed to weigh me down further. “Stay? After everything? You think I’m that easily swayed?”
My lips trembled. He doesn’t believe me. He never will. But if I stop talking, I’m finished.
“I… I can’t go back,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “They told me to leave. Earlier today, my mother and Daisy…” My throat tightened, the words spilling out. “They came here. Since Daisy is back…I needed to step aside. That my time here is over.”
I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood. My hands twisted together, knuckles white. Why am I saying this? Why now? He’ll think I’m pathetic. But it’s the truth…
Tears blurred my vision. “If I go back with them… I won’t survive it. They’ve hurt me before. I–I didn’t just fall.…” My breath hitched, and I lowered my head, voice almost too soft to hear. “They pushed me… down the staircase. That’s why I ended up in the hospital.”
The words slipped out like a broken confession, each one stealing air from my lungs. My shoulders shook, shame crawling through me for admitting such weakness.
Silence crashed down, heavy and suffocating.
I dared a glance at him through the blur of my tears—and froze.
Something dangerous flickered in his eyes, cold and sharp, like a blade unsheathed. The rage there wasn’t just anger; it was lethal, deadly.
I swallowed hard. I shouldn’t have said it. God, what have I done?
- Writer
