Chapter Fifteen
IT WAS ALREADY CLOSE to midnight by the time she and Lucius were on their way back to San Antonio, and for the first few minutes of the ride, Tassy found herself reliving the incredible time she had with her husband's family. She had feared and expected the worst, but instead all of them had been a dream while the presence of Stella and the other couples was like icing on the cake.
Her gaze drifted absently to the window, noting how a thin layer of frost had covered the ground. She then glanced at her husband's profile, and just staring at him still had her catching her breath. Everything about him was just perfect, and when she thought about how this man, who was infamous for his aloofness, was instead gentle and possessive towards her alone...
Tassy mustered the courage to place her hand on his thigh for the first time. She had never thought she'd be the type to seduce a man before, but...why was he taking her hand away?
His gaze turned to her then, and it was then she saw the coldness in his eyes – colder than the winter air outside.
"Stop the car."
The terse command had Jacob's startled gaze swerving to the rearview mirror.
"Now, dammit."
The chauffeur slammed his foot on the brakes, and Tassy's side slammed painfully against the door as the tires underneath them screeched to a stop.
She turned to her husband in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Lucius' fist clenched. Damn her . How long did she plan on keeping up with this whole fucking charade?
"L-Lucius?" His handsome features seemed encased in stone, and it terrified her.
"My lawyer will call you—"
Why?
"Now, get out."
The door her back was pressed against suddenly unlatched, and Tassy would've tumbled out onto the gravel if she had not grabbed hold of the armrest in time. She pushed herself up, thinking he would help her any moment...but he didn't.
And that scared her even more.
She turned to him again, and her heart started to break at the impassive expression on his gorgeous face.
"I d-don't understand." Was this some kind of sick joke? Why was he looking at her like the very sight of her filled him with contempt? It would only make sense if he already knew...
Oh God, he knew.
Xylan.
He knew about Xylan .
The night air hit Tassy like a physical blow as she stood half-in, half-out of the car. Her dress offered little protection against the unusual chill, and goosebumps immediately rose on her exposed skin.
"I'm s-sorry." She couldn't say it fast enough, knowing instinctively that Lucius was not the type to give second chances. "I wanted to tell you earlier—"
"Of course you have." His voice was as brittle as the ice crystals forming on the roadside grass.
"I'm not lying," she insisted shakily. "I swear—"
"Stop wasting my time," Lucius snapped.
"P-Please don't do this," she begged. "I love you—"
"Enough," Lucius snarled. It pissed him that she was still trying to make a fool out of him, but what pissed him even more was how the tremor of her voice still had his chest clenching in pain. "Did you really think you could keep me by your side like a fucking idiot forever—"
"No!"
"Maybe even planning to turn me into your fucking lapdog—"
She could only shake her head as her heart continued to break in pieces. "P-Please, it's n-not—"
Tassy ended up crying out as his fist slammed into the car door with enough force to make the entire vehicle shudder.
"I know everything about you now, damn you. I know you've been with Xylan for years—"
All she could do was shake her head. No. No. No.
"Damn you, damn you, Tassina—"
She looked at him pleadingly. "We b-broke up—"
Lucius punched the car door again, and Tassy suddenly had a feeling that it was her he wished he could punch.
"I know you fucking broke up," her husband lashed out. "And I also know that you broke up a fucking day before you met me. So what the fuck do you think that says?"
The fury in his gaze frightened her, but what had her own eyes stinging with tears was realizing that it was not anger but pain— so much pain, oh God —that had been fueling all of his hurtful words.
"I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly. "I'm sorry for hurting you—"
"Shut up, damn you."
"Please just listen—" She could only cry out as Lucius swore viciously under his breath before grabbing her arm in a grip that would leave bruises.
"S-Stop—"
Tassy tried to resist, but he was too strong, and in mere moments, her husband had managed to bodily haul her out of his car. The frozen gravel bit into her bare feet through her thin dress shoes as she stumbled.
"L-Lucius, p-please—"
But seeing that he was already turning to get back inside the vehicle, Tassy lunged forward and clutched the back of his shirt. "P-Please—"
"Get your fucking hands off me." Lucius spun around, copper eyes blazing with rage as he pried her fingers loose.
"Please let me explain—"
"I'll only say this once." Lucius' voice was cold. "Don't let me see your face again if you want what's good for you."
It was the look on his face, more than his words, that had her frozen and trembling at the same time, and all Tassy could do was watch him disappear, the door slamming shut behind him like the final nail being pounded on her coffin.
An icy wind slapped her face, but pain had made her numb.
How do I fix things, God?
Please help me.
Please.
Back inside the car, Jacob was unable to sit still, his worried gaze darting back to the rearview mirror again and again. "We can't leave her in the middle of nowhere, sir."
Lucius' lips tightened as he fought against the urge to look back.
"At least ask for someone to drive her somewhere safe, sir. No matter what happened between the two of you, I wouldn't think you'd want your wife to come into any kind of harm."
He remembered today's weather report about San Antonio being a lot colder than usual.
Fuck.
Lucius' jaw clenched as he took his phone out and made a call.
Tassy was still standing where her husband had abandoned her, arms wrapped around her shivering form, when she saw a pair of headlights in the distance. Her breath came in visible puffs as she waited, her body trembling uncontrollably now from both emotion and cold.
A car pulled up beside her, Lucius' youngest brother stepping out, his handsome face uncharacteristically sober.
He draped his jacket over her shoulders without a word and guided her to the passenger seat. The warmth of the car's heater was like a physical blow after the freezing air outside, making her skin tingle painfully as circulation returned.
Raiden slid back behind the wheel, and she prepared herself for accusations and insults, all of which she told herself she deserved.
But instead, all Raiden said was that Lucius had told him to drive her to a hotel.
"Is that alright?"
No.
It's not alright.
Nothing's alright.
But the words remained stuck in her throat, and Tassy mustered up a smile instead. "Could you take me somewhere else?"
She gave him the address to her old apartment, and Raiden insisted on walking her to her front door and waiting for her to lock up before leaving.
Once she was alone, she looked around and noticed a thin layer of dust covering everything. It felt as if she had walked into a tomb.
Her tomb.
And although she knew her place would be painfully bare, all the empty space just reminded how her empty her own life could be...and would be...if Lucius were to never come back.
Tassy fumbled for her phone with shaking fingers, but her call didn't even push through...with Lucius having already blocked her number.
Please God.
Please.
Please.
Her body curled into a ball on the floor, her eyes still dry even as her heart still hadn't stopped from breaking. The pain she felt when Xylan had broken up with her...suddenly felt like nothing. It was just nothing compared to how much she was hurting now, and oh God...
That said everything, didn't it?
Wind rattled the windows of her apartment, but apart from that, all she heard was silence.
Her phone buzzed, and Tassy snatched it up, hoping against hope it was Lucius.
But instead it was a message from Stella.
Want to see how crazy fake news can get?
Underneath this was a screenshot of a photo of Lucius having dinner with none other than Fontana Ferrer.
It was the perfect revenge, and it got the message across just as perfectly.