THE OBSIDIAN PRINCESS

CHAPTER 14 : THE ACID

2:13 AM.

Black Mansion was silent.

Aria was sleeping deeply for the first time in 20 years. The pink diamond ring was glowing on her finger under the moonlight.

Outside her balcony window, Chloe was breathing hard. She had climbed the pipe from the garden. Her hands were bleeding.

She had the small bottle.

In it - not acid from market. Real acid. From her friend who works in a lab in Yaba. She told her friend, "I want to bleach my knuckles." Her friend gave her concentrated sulfuric acid.

"This will burn her face," Chloe whispered, smiling in the dark. "Then Ethan will see who is beautiful."

She unscrewed the bottle and poured it directly onto the glass door handle, so when Aria touches it in the morning, it will burn her hand and face.

But Chloe did not know one thing.

Black Mansion has night vision cameras everywhere. And Ethan Blackthorne does not sleep.

---

*SECURITY ROOM - SAME TIME*

Ethan was not in the guest house.

He was in the security room, watching 20 screens.

He had been watching Aria's room camera since 11 PM. Not inside - he put the camera facing the balcony only. He would never put a camera inside his wife's room.

He saw a shadow.

He zoomed.

A girl in dirty hospital gown climbing.

His face changed.

"Chloe," he said quietly.

His head guard, Sule, stood up. "Sir, should we shoot?"

Ethan stood up. He wore only black shorts, no shirt. His body was full of tattoos and scars.

"No. Don't shoot. Bring her to me alive. And call Doctor Bello. And call Madam Vera."

---

*BALCONY - 2:15 AM*

Chloe finished pouring the acid. She laughed.

"Goodbye, fine girl."

She turned to climb down - and saw Ethan standing behind her on the balcony.

No shirt. No shoes. Eyes red.

Chloe screamed.

"YOU! HOW DID YOU -"

Ethan did not talk. He grabbed her wrist. The same wrist that held the acid bottle.

He squeezed. The bottle fell, but some acid splashed on Chloe's own leg.

"AHHHHH!" Chloe screamed. The acid burned her leg. Small smoke.

Ethan looked at the acid on the door handle, then at Aria sleeping inside through the glass, innocent.

His anger became fire.

He dragged Chloe off the balcony, across the garden, to the fountain with Aria's statue.

He threw her into the cold fountain water to wash the acid off her leg.

"YOU WANTED TO BURN MY WIFE?" His voice was no longer calm. It was like a beast.

Chloe was crying in the fountain. "I... I just... she took everything!"

"She took NOTHING that was yours," Ethan shouted. "That house, that company, that life - it was HERS. You were the thief!"

Vera and Dante ran out in their nightwear. Vera saw Chloe in the fountain.

"CHLOE EVANS! YOU AGAIN!"

Aria woke up from the screaming. She came to the balcony.

She saw - Ethan, soaking wet, holding Chloe's hair in the fountain. Acid bottle on the floor. Her door handle smoking.

She understood immediately.

She ran downstairs, barefoot, in her silk nightgown.

"ETHAN! LEAVE HER!"

Ethan turned. Aria was standing there. Her eyes were not angry. They were sad.

"She tried to burn you," Ethan said.

"I know," Aria said quietly. She walked to the fountain.

Chloe was shivering, her leg red from her own acid.

Aria knelt beside her.

Chloe expected a slap.

But Aria took the fountain water in her hands and poured it on Chloe's leg to cool the burn.

Chloe was shocked.

"Why... why are you helping me? I wanted to spoil your face..."

Aria looked at her.

"Because 20 years ago, when I was 7, I had chickenpox in the orphanage. No one touched me. Sister Agnes was sick. I was scratching my face with my nails, crying alone. I know how it feels to burn alone."

Ethan watched his wife. This was why he loved her before meeting her.

Aria stood up and looked at Ethan.

"Don't kill her. Don't beat her. Just... take her back to Evans Villa. And tell my parents - if they ever come near Black Mansion again, I will not be this nice."

Ethan stared at Aria for 3 seconds. Then he obeyed.

He pulled Chloe out of the fountain like a bag.

"Did you hear your owner? You are free. But if you come near this house again, I will not put you in water. I will put you in fire."

He threw Chloe to his guards. "Take her to General Hospital again. Same ward. And tell Evans family - their daughter tried to kill Aria Blackthorne. The debt is now 100 million, not 50 million."

The guards took Chloe away, her leg burning, her gown wet.

Vera hugged Aria. "My baby, you are too kind! That girl wanted to burn you!"

Aria looked at the acid eating the metal door handle.

"Vera... kindness is not weakness," she said. "If I become like her, then Evans family won. I want to win differently."

Ethan came closer. He was wet. Water dripping from his hair.

"Are you okay, wife?" he asked softly.

Aria looked at him - this dangerous man who was ready to kill for her.

For the first time, she touched him. She touched his wet shoulder.

"I am okay. Because you were awake."

Ethan closed his eyes at her touch. Just a small touch, but it was the first time she touched him.

"From today," he whispered, "I will put two guards on your balcony. Not to watch you. To watch anyone who wants to hurt you."

Aria nodded. She was tired.

Ethan carried her again. Back to her room. But this time, she did not say no.

He laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

He was about to leave when Aria held his hand.

"Don't go to guest house tonight. Sleep on the sofa here. I... I am scared."

Ethan's heart stopped.

His wife, his Thorn Heart, who never asked anyone for anything, was asking him to stay.

He sat on the sofa, far from the bed, like a guard dog.

"Sleep, wife. I am here. No acid, no Evans, no devil can touch you tonight."

Aria slept. Ethan stayed awake all night, watching the balcony, his gun on his lap.

Outside, in a taxi going to Ikeja, Chloe was taking a selfie of her burnt leg.

She posted it.

Caption: "ARIA BLACKTHORNE POURED ACID ON ME! HELP ME! SHE WANTS TO KILL ME!"

By morning, it had 50k likes. And one person in Dubai saw it and booked a flight to Lagos.

Charles Blackthorne - Ethan's father.