Scarlett’s POV
I put out the cigarette on the bin when her door opens.
Sebastian frowns at me, remaining by the door, half of a hallway from me. He hates me smoking. He would glare at me, scold me, or like this -- standing far away with disgust on his face.
It’s a gross habit, but a woman needs SOMETHING to let out the pain in her chest or she will burst. But then again, if his delicate Ava could afford such a habit, he would definitely join her instead.
“So?” He puts one hand in his pocket, glaring at me when he finally walks over. He does that when he is impatient. As in, all the time with me.
I gaze at his face, handsome and dominant, just like the day he found me in that forest. But at that time those eyes were clear like crystal, with sparkles like the Milky Way. Right now it’s pure darkness of hatred.
He snaps his finger to get my attention.
“Sorry...” I dart my eyes to the ground, pulling the divorce papers out. He reaches over, and in panic, I dodge.
Instantly, disgust fills his beautiful eyes, shouting at me--
[I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.]
“Just...I have one question before this,” I pretend to not see his hurtful look, keeping my eyes on his chest, “...Please.”
Would it change anything if I’m pregnant? I want to ask, I don’t know how.
Taking a deep breath, I look up, just to catch him rolling his eyes with a sigh: “I don’t have time for your games, Scar.”
I know I missed my chance for my question.
I raise the file only an inch, and he snaps it out of me, leaving a cut at the root of my thumb. I grip my fist, feeling the pain. It’s really nothing compared to the ones he left on my heart.
He doesn’t even notice, just turns to leave.
“I heard you,” I blurt with my heart drumming fast, “you...you said you were married.”
I watch him turning slowly, knowing I must look like a pitiful dog begging to be taken home.
But I have to ask.
I don’t know if at this point, which would hurt more. A shred of hope...or not even that. I’m just...asking for the baby’s sake.
Lying to myself, I wait.
He got my question in that out-of-nowhere blurt: “I didn’t want to give her false hope.”
He wasn’t rejecting her. He was just putting her feelings as priority to all, like always. No matter how much he wants her, he wouldn’t even allow her to bear a shred of pain, even if the pain from hope.
Bitterness explodes in my mouth, forming an ugly smile, I assume. Because his frowning deepens seeing my face.
“Would--” I ask but he is turning again. He stops, again, this time even more grumpy.
“Can you finish your nonsense all at once?!”
Would you miss me, even a bit, if I’m gone from your life...forever? I stare at the man that I loved for ten years, tears coming out faster than my words.
“Would you mail the papers to Aurora when you are done with it?” I almost bit my tongue twisting my question into a normal one.
“Why can’t you get it yourself?” Sebastian retorts, adding, “Your stuff...”
“I’ll get them out of your house today,” I nod. I already did. I don’t have much, really. An iPad, passport, and a few pieces of clothes. All the things he bought for me, they bare Ava’s mark and I don’t want them.
I barely filled my small suitcase, which he didn’t notice when he left the house today. I doubt he would notice anything missing tonight.
“What’s your plan after this?” Rarely, Sebastian asks.
“Do you really want to know?” I can’t help but ask. If yes, then maybe...maybe we can share a kid in our separate life?
“Why is it so hard to talk to you?” Sebastian leaves before his words can land.
Because you never cared to really talk to me. I watch him disappearing in her ward, finally allowing tears to pour out as they like.
I’m sorry, Sebastian. But I can’t tell you about the baby. It would only make life harder, for all three of us.
[Aurora, it’s done.] I text. Three words and I have to wipe my eyes twice to see.
Instantly she texted me back: [Your ride is downstairs, your Highness.]
I basically throw myself into her car, with the world twirling around me. Really glad that I don’t have to sit on the street and let every passerby catch a show.
Aurora hits the gas and takes us miles away from the hospital before she pulls over and comes out to the backseat. She doesn’t say anything and just lets me cry my lungs out on her shoulder.
Ten years. Ten years of this bitter-sweet love. Died, today. Just...such a lousy ending. I could have at least left with dignity.
“I didn’t think you could do it,” On our way to the airport, Aurora observes me several times before she mumbles half jokingly half seriously, “I wasn’t too surprised this morning when you told me to cancel, not as much as later when you got back on the plan. What happened this time?”
“Well...I’m pregnant.”
Scarlett’s POVAurora still took me to the airport. But she wouldn’t give me my ticket.Stuffed a cup of hot cocoa in my hands, she glares at me across McDonald’s tiny table like a fierce mom judging her truant kid.“I JUST found out today--” I start timidly and instantly she retorts--“Yeah, you said that!”It’s not like I planned any of this. I drop my eyes to my cocoa, can’t look at her. She’s mad, and I know why.She’s from a rich family. Beautiful, popular, two-meter-long legs, etc. But she wasn’t born rich. She watched her single mom work her ass off raising her, hating her irresponsible father her whole life, only to find out that he didn’t leave them, like what her mom told her. Her mom brought forward the breakup.She is seeing me doing exactly the same thing.“I won’t teach the baby to hate him...” I mumble, not dare look at the anger on her face. I know how much she has been through.“That’s not all!” Aurora shoots me a death stare, firing like a machine gun, “My mom lied t
Scarlett's POV“What was that?” Aurora blinks. My one-sentence phone call amazes her.I grip my phone, for the second time today, struggling with my plan. I just want to stop being hurt. Is it too much to ask? I close my eyes. A part of me wants to just grab the ticket and leave, letting the world burn behind me.But I can’t. If mom needs a blood transfusion, I need to be there. That’s what I’m in this family for. Their blood vessel.Please, lord, please tell me this phone call has nothing to do with my message to Sebastian.Between Mom really is injured, and Sebastian selling me out... I’m not sure which I hope is the situation.“I guess I’m not leaving today after all,” I let out a sigh, mumbling to Aurora, “I’m really sorry but...I need you to take me back.”“That’s great!” Aurora throws herself into me with genuine happiness in her voice, “That was him? What did he say? Is that always how you call each other?”With Mr. Fuller? Yes.My “dad”, never loved me. He had a deep flow of h
Sebastian’s POVI didn’t reply to Scar’s message. She would never leave. She just manipulates with threats like this.I might have spent too much time on Ava recently, and Scar is throwing a tantrum. She should understand that it’s a life on the line, even if that life belongs to the sister she hates.Not that I don’t understand Scar. I do. Being the healthy one, she is jealous of all the extra attention Ava is getting. That’s why she is the problem child. Always rebellious but proud, acting indifferent but begging for love. She is always looking for attention, with sour messages, tears, or a divorce.I didn’t think she would really give me a signed one. Think of the catastrophe if I dared to really go through with it.Surely enough, Scar came back.No longer with that half-empty suitcase either. I guess her show ends tonight.After all, today we got the best result on Ava’s blood platelet, almost reaching normal level. Today is the day Ava finally gets to live a normal life.“For a m
Scarlett's POVSitting on the cold floor, I realize I made my judgment too early.I thought my life used to be a living hell. How wrong was I. Though everyone treated me horribly, never did they lay a finger on me. After all, I was the precious blood vessel for the fragile Ava. They couldn’t afford to lose me.But not anymore.I palm my face, looking up slowly at the man I once called father, only to realize the coldness in his eyes: I’m still the blood vessel, just not “precious” anymore. I’m now a nice-to-have.After all, Ava is all but healed now.They won’t toss me away because I might still have value. What do they have to lose if I don’t get my chance of a normal life?For that slight “might”, I can’t have my freedom. I’m not allowed to leave the city and have my own life. They don’t care if my heart would be broken a million times every day here, seeing Sebastian with Ava. They don’t care that I might also need love, from somewhere, anywhere.And they can afford to physically hu
Sebastian’s POVThere are broken shards everywhere on the floor. I dare not put down Ava. Her blood platelet might have reached a normal level now, but no one dares to test if the monster that’s been haunting her is still lurking nearby.The last time Ava needed blood from Scar was because of a paper cut, literally. One that Scar caused no less.“...Please?” Scar mumbles when she walks over to me, not looking at me.“I can’t put her down, you know why.”Scar snorts coldly, finally looking up from under her messy hair. Jack must have slapped her really hard, to mess up her hair like that, as well as leaving a scarlet red palm print on her cheek.“Excuse me,” Scar says with a clear but cold tone that I’m not familiar with, “coming through.”I stopped Ava by the door.I frown, hating the sarcasm in Scar’s eyes. She knows why I misunderstood and she is mocking me for it. Every time I even just stood close to Ava she would come up and break us apart.“Where are you going?!” Jack yells behi
Sebastian’s POVI know how sensitive Ava is about her condition. To beg the sister she doesn’t like to save her life, over and over again. That’s why when Scar used that to force my hand, Ava started having real hatred in her eyes toward Scar.“Of course you can say that,” Scar spats at Ava viciously, “you can take the high road all you want, because your army will tie me to the table and drain my blood for you if they need to.”“Scarlett Fuller!” I warn her, and Ava raises her hand again. I dodge to the side so Ava can’t reach Scar, but Scar catches Ava’s arm at the same time. It all happens so fast, and Ava bursts into a painful shout. I have to push Scar away.Scar falls to the ground, her hand pressed on a sharp shard. I see.I didn’t even use too much force. I did push her, but the fall was mostly her way of making me feel bad. I want to put Ava down, but she wouldn’t care about the shards in the room and she would definitely hurt herself.“I’m sorry,” I can only apologize with w
Sebastian’s POVScar shakes her head slowly, throwing her disappointment into my face: “So, she DOES know.”Does she have trouble understanding English? That’s not what I meant!“Saying you want me gone, and yet you report me to your daddy,” Scar sneers at Ava with pure viciousness in her voice, “I guess between your loving Romeo and my blood, you still want the latter just a tiny bit more, huh?”I can understand why Ava would hate her. I want to seal those poisonous lips too at moments like this.“You took him from me!” Ava bursts into a hysterical cry, “You did! You took him! He was mine! We were meant to be together!”“Okay,” Scar is calm while smiling at Ava, too calm for me to recognize. The red palm prints on her cheek adds a touch of seductive fragileness to her, “If you beg your daddy to let me go, I will divorce him, today.”I roll my eyes with a huff.She is just playing Ava, but Ava would fall for it. I would have married Ava even if I couldn’t cure her.Ava cries harder.“
Sebastian's POVI felt that something was off with her, now I know.It’s her loving eyes. She has been looking at me with obvious love in those eyes even before we were old enough to understand what love is, and she never hides that.That love was still there even this morning, when she gave me the divorce papers. But now, that lively light is gone.I could barely recognize her without it.I feel like I lost something important. It’s not supposed to be this way.Her love has always been a bother to me. If she didn’t love me, she wouldn’t have blackmailed me, and I wouldn’t have hated her. I wouldn’t have been locked into a marriage I didn’t want, and I would have been with Ava!If she didn’t love me, none of this would have happened. She would save Ava just like the sister she should be, and I would have been with Ava, just like how I wanted since the first time I met her.But she did give her love to me. She gave it, and now she is taking it back. And I feel at a loss.It’s not fair.