Chapter 16 – Words That Wound
684 Words
The ballroom shimmered with laughter, silk, and deceit. Seraphina stood at the edge of the marble floor, her fingers tightening around her champagne glass as she searched for Kael among the glittering crowd. Every woman seemed drawn to him—his cold charisma, his quiet dominance that made men step aside without a word.
She shouldn’t care. He wasn’t hers. Not truly.
But when she caught sight of him leaning close to a nobleman, his deep voice measured and controlled, her heart quickened. She took a hesitant step closer. It wasn’t jealousy that drove her—it was a strange pull, a need to understand the man who held her life in his hands.
Her husband. Her captor. The Beast.
The conversation between Kael and Lord Harrow drifted closer to her. She ducked behind a column, shame heating her cheeks for eavesdropping.
“She’s exquisite,” Lord Harrow said with a laugh. “I didn’t think a man like you would bother with beauty.”
Kael’s reply came after a long pause. “She’s mine. That’s all that matters.”
Seraphina’s breath caught.
The words were cold—possessive—and sharp as a blade.
“Possession suits you,” Harrow chuckled. “But surely you don’t care for her?”
Kael’s tone dropped to a cruel murmur. “Care? No. She’s simply part of my household now. Nothing more than a way to settle a debt.”
The glass in Seraphina’s hand trembled. She forced herself not to move, not to gasp, though the sound echoed in her skull. A way to settle a debt.
She had always known the truth, but hearing it… shattered something inside her.
Lord Harrow clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re colder than I imagined, Drayden.”
Kael gave a humorless smile. “Coldness keeps the heart from weakness.”
The conversation moved on, but Seraphina didn’t hear another word. She stepped back, her heels clicking softly against the marble as tears stung her eyes. Around her, the room spun with laughter and music, but she couldn’t breathe.
Her chest ached with humiliation.
To everyone here, she was nothing but a rumor—a fragile wife bought by a monster.
She turned, needing air, needing space away from him. But fate twisted cruelly when she collided with Kael himself.
His hand shot out to steady her. “Careful,” he said, his voice low, unreadable.
She jerked away, her composure cracking. “Don’t touch me.”
The words snapped between them like fire.
Kael’s jaw tightened. “You’re trembling. What happened?”
“Nothing that wasn’t already true,” she said bitterly, blinking back tears. “I just finally heard you say it.”
He stilled. “What did you hear?”
“That I’m nothing to you.”
The silence between them deepened, heavy and dangerous. He looked at her for a long time, his expression unreadable—part guilt, part frustration, part something darker.
“Seraphina,” he said quietly, “you shouldn’t—”
“Shouldn’t what?” she interrupted, her voice shaking. “Shouldn’t expect you to see me as more than property?”
Her whisper broke, raw and trembling. “You didn’t have to marry me. You didn’t have to make me believe you were anything more than the Beast everyone said you were.”
For once, Kael didn’t answer. His eyes flickered with something that almost looked like regret—but only for a heartbeat.
Then he turned away.
“Believing is your mistake,” he said coldly.
The words struck harder than a slap.
Seraphina stood rooted, watching him walk back into the crowd as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t just torn the last fragile thread that tied her to him.
The music swelled again. The world spun on. And she realized—whatever warmth she had begun to feel for him had turned to ashes.
But beneath the hurt, something else stirred. A quiet, growing defiance.
If he saw her as property, she would learn to become something else—something even the Beast couldn’t cage.
- Writer
