"Don't test my patience tonight," he warned, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous vibration. "I don't want to do something we'll both regret."
"What will you do? Harm me, too?" She countered.
"Do you think I won't, if you keep being this unpleasant?" He retorted.
Selina went momentarily numb. The air between them felt thick and chilly, as she didn't mind the freezing air piercing into her bones, which felt nothing to the gnawing ache she had been containing for years.
"Then do it, Zane!" Selina growled, her face wet with rain and tears. "Do it and set me free from this snare. I'd rather be gone than spend another minute being 'dutiful' to you!"
Zane let out a dry, dark chuckle that echoed off the stone walls, sending a cold shiver down her spine. "Not every incident needs an explosive reaction like this. Come inside before you catch a cold. Hmm, wifey?"
"Don't dare call me that name! We share no bond!"
"We share that bond, Selina," Zane corrected, his calm returning in a subtle frustration. "You can speak to me nicely. If you won't, then I have nothing to say."
"Why, my father? Why did you hurt him?"
A sneer settled on his lips. He tilted his head back, shaking his head in displeasure. "I see Hudson is still breathing. That's almost disappointing news."
"What? How is that disappointing?"
Zane ran a hand through his hair, letting out a performative sigh. "Your father traded everything he lost for my 'love.' He wanted me to cherish you. And I might consider doing that willingly now. Let's start over, Selina. Forget the divorce. What do you think?"
"Zane!" she screamed his name through gritted teeth. His mockery was a physical blow. Her eyes grew misty, her voice a heart-wrenching rasp. "You promised me. You promised you wouldn't harm this marriage. I trusted you."
"I have given enough," Zane uttered, nonchalantly flicking ash into the rain. "It was time for accountability. I believe I kept to my promise."
"You didn't!" Selina countered.
"You really think sparing Hudson until now, after being part of my parents' tragedy, wasn't generous enough?"
Those words sounded like a thunderclap.
Selina's jaw dropped in bewilderment as a broken gasp escaped her.
No. No. That can't be.
She shook her head with her piercing eyes on Zane. She searched his face for an excuse, but it wasn't there.
The restrained grief burning behind that stoic gaze was unmistakable. It struck her hard—the reasons for his cold treatment and distance in their marriage.
How could fate toy with her this way? The cruelest part was that she had prayed daily, desperately, to be by his side—like a devotion—even if he hardly noticed her back then when she was crushing on him secretly.
How did all this happen? For what reason? She thought, closing her eyes as tears stung at the corners, streaming uncontrollably. Her hands clutched the hem of her dress, her knuckles turning white.
A strange, taunting smile settled on her lips—a look of someone who had finally reached their breaking point. She reminisced about the day she signed the marriage contract, how she had smiled as if she'd won the lottery of her life.
But….she just won the biggest retribution of her life in the end.
"Ms. Selina! Get out of the rain, you'll catch a cold!" the familiar's voice echoed from the entrance.
The housekeeper, Eloise, rushed to her side, hovering an umbrella over her. She wrapped a comforting arm around Selina's shaking shoulders.
"Please, don't stay here. Come inside." Eloise begged, her face twisted at the sight of Selina's aggrievance.
"I'm not going back into that house," Selina murmured, shrugging off the woman's hand.
She had nowhere to go. Yet, the open, rain-slicked streets were better than the cage Zane had built for her. Selina turned her back on the estate, walking away into the darkness.
"Selina! Where are you going? It's already late!" Eloise cried out, glancing up at the balcony. She expected that young man to say something.
At least come down to persuade her from leaving. Or stop her.
But Zane….he remained there, high above them, watching her walk away with an unbothered, icy stare.
"Good Gracious!" Eloise exclaimed, saddened.
Without hesitation, Eloise hurried after her, the umbrella swaying as she pleaded with the woman who no longer wanted home.
…..
[City Hospital]
The hospital entrance door was pushed open. Selina ran inside as her chest rose and fell with a tight dread while battling to catch some air. She darted her gaze across the doctors and nurses rushing down the hall in a frenzy, as if responding to an emergency.
Overwhelmed by the scene and unsure of whom to approach, she was suddenly bumped by someone, stumbling backward.
"I'm so sorry, miss. I'm in a hurry to fetch a doctor." He apologised quickly. Then he recognised her.
"Miss Selina," he whispered, not expecting she'd be fast to reach the hospital. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"D-Dad, where is he?" Selina's voice came out in a hurry. Her eyes were glued on her father's chauffeur.
The man glanced around, weighing whether to share details with Selina, who was considered to be an outsider in the Everett family.
Since she had been ostracized from the Everett family at fifteen, forced to live in disguise to mingle in society, and estranged from them.
She frowned, seeing his hesitation. "Please, tell me where he is. Nothing had happened to him, right?" she asked at last, her voice quivering with unease and desperation for any good news.
"He's alive, but in critical condition. He's lost a significant amount of blood and needs an urgent transfusion. Fortunately, the hospital has a compatible supply available," the man explained, glancing down at the consent form in her hands. "I've contacted Chairman Gilbert; they should be on their way. The consent form needs legal—"
Selina snatched the form from her hands and quickly scribbled a name that came to mind. "Gilbert Everett," she said, forcing steadiness into her tone.
"Please tell the doctors to save him. I'll reach out to others now." Selina pleaded, handing the form back.
The chauffeur gave a brisk nod. "I will,"
He spun around, running down the corridor.
Selina knew she needed to inform the Everetts at once to ease their anxiety. But what could she possibly say?
Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a vibrating motion in her thighs. She opened her purse and pulled out her phone. She unlocked her phone, seeing the twenty-four missed calls from her sister.
Opening her inbox, she found it crowded with concerned messages as her thumb scrolled through them almost unconsciously.
[Sis, where have you been? Everyone has been worried about Father's whereabouts since the previous day. Is he with you this time?]
[Say something if you know where he is]
Would Everett even believe her if she told them the truth? And yet, Zane's warning to keep the incident a secret echoed in her mind like a deafening bell. It crumbled every explanation she thought she'd have to give them.
Selina tapped into her sister's thread. Her fingers moved slowly across the screen as she typed out the hospital's name from the consent form, then hit send.
With her hands clasped and eyes shut, she sat dazed in the lobby, silently praying. "Please, God, don't let him slip away from me. I won't be able to bear losing him. I might never recover." Her voice trembled, filled with despair and fragile hope.
She knew her father so well that she wouldn't forget those days he'd struggled hard to take care of her, even if he had to starve for her to feed twice a day after her mother's death. She swore on his character that he was someone who had avoided conflict at all costs.
As time dragged on and the doctor and nurses remained in the operating room for what felt like an eternity, Selina's mind swirled with anticipation for good news.
Suddenly, her attention snapped to the sharp sound of heels clicking against the tiled floor from the hospital entrance.
Her blood ran cold at the sight of her mother, Leah. And behind her stepmother is her half-sister, Clarissa, who is the same age as her.
"Why is this jinxed child here after hurting my husband?!" Leah's voice thundered across the room as she advanced closer.
Selina frowned, confused by the sharp accusation aimed at her. "What are you saying again, Madam Leah? Why would I hurt him?"