You Humiliated Me, I Left No Trace

Chapter 3

Outside the Sterling villa, the silence was suffocating.

Lila's face remained a mask of ice, but the rage beneath her composure crackled in the air.

She bridged the space between them, her voice dropping into a lethal whisper. "Still playing games, Adrian? Trying to coerce me in front of the world?"

Adrian went completely rigid.

Before he could pull back, Lila seized his jaw in a vise-like grip, forcing his face up to meet her icy stare. "Do you truly believe that at this point, you still hold any leverage over me?"

The raw, undisguised contempt in her eyes cut deeper than any physical blade.

Adrian knew full well that kneeling at her gates was a desperate, humiliating ploy. It was a low move, and nobody despised him for it more than he despised himself. But with his sister's future hanging by a thread, he had no other cards to play.

Lila shoved him away, then grabbed his wrist and hauled him to his feet.

He was limp, offerring no resistance. He had no strength left to fight her.

A flicker of surprise crossed Lila's mind as her fingers wrapped around his thin wrist. When had he become so frail? So light?

The thought vanished as quickly as it came, swallowed by her irritation. Dismissing the fleeting doubt, she dragged him behind her, straight through the grand archways and into her private courtyard, shoving him inside.

"You stay here," she commanded coldly. "Don't go outside and make a spectacle of my name."

Adrian stumbled, barely catching his balance on the flagstones. Seeing her turn to leave, panic surged through him. He reached out, his fingers catching the hem of her coat. "Lila, wait—"

She whipped her coat away as if his touch were venom, her disgust absolute.

A sharp agony squeezed his heart, robbing him of breath, but he forced his parched throat to move.

"Lila, I know you hate me. You hate that our families forced us into this marriage. You hate that my grandfather drove Dorian out of the city..."

His voice cracked, raspy and desperate, his eyes rimmed with red. "Blame me for all of it. Tear me apart if you want. But my sister is pregnant. I'm begging you... spare Victor. Leave them out of this. I'll do whatever you want—I'll apologize to Dorian on my knees. I'll work as his servant if that's what it takes!"

The thick, metallic taste of blood welled in his throat again. He swallowed it down, fixing his desperate, bloodshot eyes on the woman he had loved his entire life.

Lila paused, a cruel smile curling the corner of her lips. "So this is the famous Sheldon pride? Doesn't look like much from where I'm standing."

She looked down at his broken posture, her words dripping with venom. "If every Sheldon bent as easily as you, perhaps your empire wouldn't have crumbled so quickly."

Adrian's fingers curled into fists, his nails digging into his palms until the skin broke. The physical pain radiated up his arms, numbing the agony in his chest.

Lila watched him struggle in silence, then turned. "Follow me."

Lila's private courtyard was a sanctuary of quiet opulence.

Adrian stood near the entrance, momentarily disoriented. In four years of marriage, he had been forbidden from stepping foot in her private wing. This was the first time he had ever seen where she truly lived.

The courtyard was meticulously manicured, surrounded by rare blossoms in full bloom. Off to the side stood a white wrought-iron swing. Dorian was seated upon it, looking frail and ethereal in the soft light.

When Dorian saw Lila enter, he rose at once, a tender smile brightening his face. "Lila. You're back."

She hurried over, naturally taking his hand as her expression melted into a warmth Adrian hadn't seen in years. "The doctor told you to stay in bed. Why are you outside?"

Adrian's chest tightened so hard it felt bruised.

That soft touch, that gentle concern... it was a side of Lila he had never been allowed to witness in four years of marriage.

Dorian smiled softly, his eyes drifting over to Adrian's ghostly face. "What happened to him?" he asked, his tone innocent.

Lila's voice turned flat and dismissive. "He claims he feels guilty about what happened to you. Starting today, he's volunteered to do odd jobs around your quarters. Use him however you see fit."

Her casual degradation, paired with Dorian's feigned surprise, stripped away the very last shred of Adrian's dignity.

When Adrian remained rooted to the spot, Lila snapped, "What are you waiting for? Greet him."

Adrian felt cold from the inside out. His blood seemed to turn to ice. Like a hollow marionette, he shuffled forward, forcing sound from his raw throat.

"Mr. Lennox. Good evening."

Those four words took every ounce of life he had left.

Dorian's smile remained gentle. "I've heard you were once a brilliant pianist. Would you play a love song for Lila and me?"

Adrian's head snapped up, his face drained of all color, his eyes wide with shock.

Dorian was doing this intentionally. Forcing him to play a tribute to their love.

When Adrian didn't move, Lila frowned, her command absolute. "Bring a piano out to the terrace. Let him play."

The taste of copper flooded his mouth again. Adrian clenched his jaw, fighting back the physical nausea and the humiliation threatening to drop him to his knees. Trembling violently, he somehow remained standing.

Within minutes, two servants rolled a gloss-black grand piano out onto the marble patio overlooking the garden.

Adrian sat down slowly. His trembling fingers hovered over the keys before pressing down. A soft, haunting melody drifted into the night air.

Dorian leaned against Lila, his voice silky. "He plays beautifully, Lila. Listening to this while you rest would be so comforting."

Lila smiled down at him softly. "If you like it, he can play all night until you fall asleep."

Taking Dorian's hand, she turned and walked inside.

Night fell complete and heavy. The main villa was ablaze with warm light spilling through the floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

Against the illuminated glass, the silhouettes of Lila and Dorian holding each other were stark. Intimate. Unbroken.

Adrian tore his eyes away, his vision blurring with hot, desperate tears. The relentless, mechanical repetition of the keys sent a grinding agony shooting up his fingers, making his entire frame shake.

But he couldn't stop. He didn't dare. For his sister, for the unborn child, he had to endure.

As the hours dragged into the dead of night, the skin on his fingertips split open. Fine cracks widened, and droplets of blood seeped out, smearing across the ivory keys until the keyboard was stained in streaks of deep crimson.

In the pitch-black night, his tears and blood fell silently onto the instrument. Nobody saw. Nobody cared.

Dawn broke, painting the sky in pale gray.

Lila opened her eyes as the faint, ragged sound of the piano drifted through the window. It had gone on without pause all night.

Her expression unreadable, she dressed at her own pace and stepped out into the morning chill.

The moment she reached the terrace, she froze.

Adrian sat at the piano, his face so translucent he looked like a ghost. Yet his back was rigid—unbent, unyielding.

The grand piano before him was a macabre sight. The ivory keys were caked in dried, rust-colored blood.

His mangled fingers, raw and bleeding, were still striking the keys in a slow, agonizing rhythm. He seemed entirely beyond physical pain, lost in a quiet numbness.

Snap.

A harsh, dissonant screech shattered the air. A stress-strained key jammed completely under his weight, the hammer locking in place. The song died mid-note.

Adrian stared at the broken key for a long moment. Then, slowly, he turned his hollow eyes toward Lila.

His voice was a dry, rasping whisper. "I played all night, Lila. Are you satisfied?"

His eyes were completely vacant. Dead. Not a single ember of hope remained.

Something about that lifeless stare made Lila's heart twitch with an unfamiliar, jarring discomfort.

Before she could speak, Adrian doubled over, a violent cough wracking his thin frame.

He lurched forward—and a spray of vivid, hot blood splattered across the crimson-stained keys.