Page 70 of Deliria

I can hear him putting himself away, zipping up his pants. “Maybe this will be the lesson you need. Maybe now you’ll actually remember for once.”

Alex nudges me with his foot, the way one does to check that a dead thing is really expired. I’m on the floor, my body wracked with sobs because I’m too broken in this moment, too weak to even try to move. Was whatever I did so bad that I deserved this?

I can feel the warm, sticky mess on my face. I want to scrub it off, to scrub away the shame and humiliation of Alex’s cruelty, but I can barely lift my head.

The room is silent except for the sound of my ragged breathing, but I can sense Rafe still standing there, his presence a silent, accusatory shadow.

I want to scream at him, to rage against his inaction, but I can’t find the strength.

I’m hollowed out, a shell of the person I know I once was. My heart sinks as I realise that they’ve done it, they’ve truly broken me now.

Alex walks around the table, his footsteps echoing in the silent room. He stops beside me, looking down at me with a cold, disdainful expression. “Clean yourself up, Scarlett,” he says, his voice completely devoid of emotion. “You look pathetic.”

He turns and walks out of the room, but not before making some snide remark to his brother about having ‘actual work’ to do.

And then I’m alone, alone with Rafe. The silence stretches between us, a chasm filled with unspoken words and accusations. I can’t look at him, can’t bear to see the indifference in his eyes.

Christ, I was so stupid to even think this man might help me. So fucking stupid.

Finally, I hear him move. He walks towards me, his steps hesitant. He crouches down beside me, and I can feel his gaze on my face. I keep my eyes fixed on the floor, unable to meet his stare.

“Scarlett,” he says, his voice soft. He reaches out a hand as if to touch me, but I flinch away, a fresh wave of tears spilling down my cheeks.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” I whisper, my voice hoarse from Alex’s abuse. “Just leave me alone.”

He withdraws his hand, his expression closed off and I think then that he’ll just walk out, just leave me here like his brother has.

My tears become an eruption I have no control over. I sob harder and my eyes sting from the mess now mixing with my tears.

There’s no escape here. No way out.

This place is purgatory, and I’m as good as dead already.

Rafferty

She’s breaking right in front of me, shattering like the perfect porcelain doll she resembles. And I can’t fucking stand it. Not when I know who she was. What she was before.

I reach out again, ignoring her plea for me to leave her alone.

She flinches but doesn’t pull away this time, so I scoop her up into my arms, her body trembling and slick with Alex’s cruelty.

Her sobs have subsided into hiccups, her breath shuddering as she buries her face in my chest. I walk towards the door, myjaw clenched tight. I’m not leaving her like this, not again, not after yesterday.

The hallway is empty, thank fuck. I’m not sure what I’d say if I bumped into my father or mother right now.

I stick to the back stairs, the ones the servants use, avoiding the main areas of the house. The last thing Scarlett needs is an audience to her pain. The stairs creak under my weight, but the sound is swallowed by the thick silence of the mansion. It’s like the very walls are holding their breath, waiting for the storm to pass.

I make it to my suite without encountering anyone. But as I get through the door, she becomes manic. She starts fighting, lashing out, landing slaps like I’m the monster here.

I grab her wrists, try to calm her but it has absolutely no effect whatsoever.

She raises her leg, landing a hard blow to my cock just like she did back in the woods, and I see red.

My body reacts as I drop my grip and in those few seconds, she takes off running, screaming bloody murder. I can’t have that. I can’t let Alexander know that she is here.

None of this fits the plan. None of this ismeantto be happening.

I chase after her, easily overpowering her, and within seconds she’s on the floor beneath me.

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