Sebastian’s POVScar stayed at Aurora’s for three days straight, completely shutting me out.I know I really messed up this time. I ignored the desperation in her eyes when she gave me the divorce papers, and saw only dramatic tricks like how she always does. Except this time when I tried to call her bluff, it wasn’t one.I try to stay to my routine, but it’s not the same.Scar keeps the dinner table clean except when we eat, and it has been clean in the past three days. But it feels colder. The bed feels colder. The whole house is colder. I have been going home to eat, to sleep, to change my clothes, but I don’t feel like going home. The house suddenly feels empty now.It feels worse than a hotel room.I don’t know what she is doing to me. If just to make me feel bad, then she did it.I don’t want to bear the punishment. I bury myself in work, and I left as late as I can before I come to this bar. I have heard stories about guys coming to get drunk after a divorce, and I used to snort
Scarlett’s POV“Stay back!” I shout, no longer care about attracting attention.“No one can save you,” Gabriel laughs, “No one will. You know why? Because you are THAT notorious, as much as your evilness deserves.”He strides over and I grab the beer bottle I have been glancing at. I knock it onto the table and get a weapon out of it.“Stay, back!” I point the sharp broken glass at Gabriel, backing as he approaches closer.“I dare you to try, my dear little sister,” Gabriel raises his head and shows his throat at me, “Be the murderer that you are, and let everyone see!”“You come one step closer, and I will stab this into MY throat!” I point the glass under my own jaw, “You know I will die because there won’t be enough blood for me in this city!”Gabriel bursts into laughter so hard that tears come out of him.“Seriously?” Gabriel laughs, not forgetting to point his damn camera still on me, “You think I’d care if you hurt yourself? I have got evidence shooting right now, showing that i
Scarlett’s POV“For a drink,” I shrug, leaving. I didn’t want to talk to him, but getting words out of my body finally got me to get back in control of my shaken body.Suddenly Sebastian grips my chin and raises my head in his direction, tilting his head at me with a frown: “You cut yourself.”“Let go,” I push his hand with a frown, but he won’t let go.I would be so happy before, if his attention could land on me like this. But not anymore. I don’t like him touching me at will as if I am still his belongings. I was. Not anymore.My hand might have shaken when I pressed the bottle under my jaw. I didn’t know it would be so sharp. But he fixes my head in that position more like to force me to look at him, rather than checking my wound.“Did you mention my wound to help, or you just want to watch me bleed to death?”Glaring at him, I claw his wrist. He clicks his tongue as he lets go.Taking a deep breath to calm down, I restrain myself from rolling my eyes. But again, Sebastian raises a
Scarlett’s POV“Will you lower your voice?!” Sebastian grunts at the knucklehead.When you are rich enough, you automatically become a celebrity. Celebrities like Sebastian, their marital status can make a huge impact on their business if it got out the wrong way. I did think about this, and I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, but I shouldn’t have told Adrian, not before Sebastian made the official announcement.Going to leave, but I stop and add to him: “Sorry I announced it before you could make it official. But you are on a clock now. So you might want to give your lawyer some homework for the night.”Adrian his nemesis, and Gabriel the knucklehead? They just might be the worst two people to know a secret Sebastian doesn’t want out.I don’t know if he was delaying out of distrust of the detailed clauses, or he just didn’t take it seriously. It can feel surreal to him, exactly because it has been something he has been longing for. Just like the baby’s news that I have been hiding beh
Scarlett’s POVI can’t help but glance at Sebastian, and surely enough, he is frowning at her. She HATES him! Why would she be here?! Why would she be here at THE moment I’m stuck with Sebastian? With my heart pounding hard, I turn around slowly.Then Aurora throws herself into me.“Scar! Are you alright?” Aurora grabs me and checks me head to toe, “I’m really really sorry! I was...caught up with somethin--What’s that smell on your hair-- OMG! You are bleeding!”I giggle, can barely breathe in Aurora’s attention in a machine-gun style.In that moment I feel like I traveled back in time. When Gabriel bullied me, Aurora would be the one attending to me while Lilith...I peek in Lilith’s direction sneakily, and her cold eyes catch mine like sharp knives. Those are the cold looks she gave me when she left my wedding with Sebastian. I lower my eyes quickly.Lilith is no longer in the picture.With the skills from her policeman of a big brother and the queen aura from ruling the kids on the
Sebastian’s POVI have never seen Scar so happy with her laughter reaching her eyes...when she left with her friends.She never laughs with me, she just smiles at me -- she used to smile at me, but not anymore. Not for months. But even before when she did, it was different from the laugh she had with her friends. Her smile at me was always timid and restrained, like a puppy scared of being hurt, but also desperately flatters people for food.She wasn’t happy with me. I made sure of that.I thought I was just “not loving” her. I didn’t. I don’t! And because of that, I never cared if I was hurting her. She forced my hand, and I used that to justify everything.The past three days were really rough for me.I couldn’t stop thinking about Scar’s accusation, of how horribly we have been treating her. I felt sick of myself every time I think of the phrase “blood vessel”. I kept searching in my memory for clues to justify my actions. Maybe she deserved it, maybe she brought that to herself, ma
Sebastian’s POV“Gab,” I pull his phone away, demanding, “I thought you want Scar to leave? Ava wants her gone.”“I want her to leave YOU, not the city!” Gabriel fights me for his phone, “What if Ava needs her again?!”My blood runs cold.Is this really the Gab that I know? The popular homecoming king? The nice big brother that Ava always shows off? The friend who I thought could have my back?When he sees a girl, his own baby sister, nothing but an emergency help for Ava?A... blood vessel?“Calm down,” I can’t help my tone dropping cold, handing him his phone, “it was three days ago. By the way, that actually was what the whole fuss was about.”“Huh?” Gabriel calms down and blinks, seemingly surprised, “Ava told me it was something about mom...?”Yeah. About how Anna lured Scar back.“She hasn’t been talking about leaving for a long time now, ever since...” Gabriel glances at me, and immediately I realize the words he didn’t say--Ever since I married her. I feel sick again.“She has
Sebastian’s POVAdrian Dunn is bad news.He inherited from his father not only the biggest newspaper in town, but also his cold dark view of the world from the last century. He believes not in law, but in power; not in just, but in narratives. He hurts people without a blink even if they are innocent, and he protects those whom he cares to no boundaries.I stand against everything he is, and that puts his target on my back.“What do you say, Seb-babe?” Adrian smirks. As if the bruises on his cheekbone doesn’t hurt at all.Right. I also hate his lousy low-taste nicknames.“Fuck off, Adrian,” Gabriel stands up, using his “intimidating walk” on Adrian -- pressing his bulky features into his face.Adrian is my height, but Gabriel is almost 6.5 feet, bulky no less. I think that’s why he got his bully name even though he doesn’t really do the bully shit. Also why Adrian calls him “bear”.Adrian is not flinching.“You don’t want to fight me, teddy bear,” Adrian doesn’t even put his icon fake
After Scar left the room, the two men stared at each other for a long time. In the end, Silco lets out a light laugh to break the silence.“You have got nerves, kid,” He pulls out a chair, leaning his cane onto the bed with the tip of his shining shoes holding it still.“You are not exactly intimidating,” Sebastian retorts.Silco laughs, but his eyes are cold as ice: “Because I didn’t let them beat you to death? I admit, that thought passed my mind. But, I guess old age does soft no matter how hard a soul.”This time even Sebastian cocks his eyebrows to surprise. Did this man just admit to his crime? Right here in the hospital ward?! To him, the victim?! He feels more challenged than angry. Does the man really think he is not able to get him? What gave him that confidence?Sebastian’s eyes land on the cane that’s almost pointing at him. Unless, that’s a gun.“Afraid not,” Silco has been observing Sebastian with great care and a shade of curiosity, “Did you really take me as someone wh
“Wait, Adrian!” Scar chases after Adrian, but Sebastian stops her.“It’s okay, he wouldn’t know,” Sebastian sits up, a hand pressing on his broken ribs to limit its movement, “Three of them is a start. I’m sure the police are working on it.”Scar stares at him with disbelief.“They almost killed us! They almost killed YOU! How could you be so calm about it? You heard Adrian. He said THE three guys, not just three guys. He was under the impression that there were only three of them! The other two got away and they would probably come back for us!”“Brilliant deduction,” The man teases her, adjusting his body into a more comfortable position on his own, slowly settling in, “And you deem them having only five people because...?”Scar is speechless. She can’t know. There would be a whole gang working for Jack Fuller. And the police’s attitude is actually clear: they are not super into it. They didn’t come to the rescue until way later than they were supposed to be, and now they let two pe
“How do you feel?” Adrian breaks the awkward air, taunting Sebastian with a smirk, “Regret dropping fencing now?”Sebastian rolls his eyes at him, lying back down with a low groan.Adrian grins, shooting a glance at Scar before he continues: “Since when were you into the hero type, hmm? The almighty Mr. Knight, into the devil’s nest with his bare hands for the beauty.”Scar looks away.“You did that, too,” Sebastian glares at Adrian.When that psycho took Scar, Adrian sneaked in and saved Scar when her chair was falling off that abandoned building. Sebastian could never forget the wronged tears in Scar’s eyes, and the admiring look when she put her arms around Adrian’s neck.“Yes, I did,” Adrian curves his lips tauntinly, “successfully with a gun. Consider yourself lucky that these bastards didn’t have guns, or you wouldn’t be here by now.”“That...is lucky...” Sebastian frowns with deep thoughts, trying to think under the sedative. His brain is still a mush.Why didn’t they even have
A broken rib.Scar wasn’t sure how long it was for the thugs to rain hits on Sebastian. All she remembers are the swinging bats, the kicks, and the painful groans across the think door that Sebastian tried to suppress. He could barely stand when the police charged into the room, but he didn’t let go of the bat locking her door until the medical care basically had to peel him off before putting him on a stretcher.Bruises and blood all over him, he was barely conscious on the way to the hospital. They counted a few dozen bruises, mostly on his limbs. A deep cut on his left forearm, later to be determined from a nail on a table in the warehouse when he fought the thugs. But other than that, no severe wound, no inside bleedingly, and no damaged organs.A broken rib. That’s the most severe injury he got out of this crazy scheme against her life.“I can’t believe it!” Aurora keeps shouting as Scar told her what happened, “That’s so lucky! I’m so happy that you are alright, Scar! I was scar
“I’m really sorry! I just-I wanted to get to the cars...” Blurting nonsense, Scar sobs as she tries to get words out.“I know, baby, I know,” The man is not stopping, but starts pushing her in the direction of that closest, “and you did great! You will be safe, don’t worry!”Scar knows he is just comforting her. She obviously worsened the situation. If Sebastian managed to do anything before this, she has ruined it by now.“I’m sorry--” Scar couldn’t find anything to say. Only that word can find its way out of her.“Hey, hey, hey, you are okay? I’m not mad at you. If the police can’t come in time, the cars would be our best shot!” Sebastian cups her face, bending low to search for her eyes. He gazes into her eyes, making her sees into his eyes, where there is only clean warmth and genuine care, “You did great and you almost made it. I’m just glad that you are not hurt. Get in there.”“Here?” Scar backs into the in-wall closet, “We are hiding here again? We can’t, they are right behind
The yard is empty and quiet.From what it looks like, the whole area is not just abandoned, but even off the power grid. Twilight brushes a bloody orange on the edge of the sky, and instantly the buildings turn dark with no light anywhere.Like a monster on its stomach, mouth open for prey.She tries to look for an emergency phone, which might still be on, but if Sebastian already tried to call the police, then that wouldn’t help anyone. She can try to sneak out of the area and look for help once she makes it. But at the moment...She has no one except Silco to turn to, and she is not even sure if that’s not delivering herself back into the mouth of the monster.Or, she can try to get out Sebastian and Authur on her own. The hardest, and the most unlikely. There is no car in the yard, but they couldn’t have come here on foot. Their cars must be somewhere, and if she could start any of them...She barely remembers how to start a car without a key from the one-time search online. She’s
Scar dodges out of the way in the last second.She doesn’t know how she pulled her shocked stiff body to finish that move, but if she didn’t, the guy would be looking eye to eye with her through the crack between the two doors by now.She lost the outburst of courage she got burning her fury. All left is her pumping heart with such loud a beat in her chest that she feels like even the guy outside the door could hear. She can’t believe she almost just barged out to have a fight with a rapist when she has no weapon in her hand.But their plan is heading in the worst direction:Four guys are on Sebastian, and her life is still very much in danger. There is no way she could escape, or take down this tattooed thug with a bat in his hand.What now? No one can save her this time.The guy sticks the bat into the door, pushing them open slightly. Scar holds her breath, backing into the wall, but that’s only inches from the door anyway. Scar grips her fists, weighing between throwing a weak pun
Sebastian sneaks out swiftly before Scar can snap out of that breathtaking kiss. Dare not to attract attention to him, Scar has to watch him slip along the wall out of her sight. She can’t see his location after only one or two seconds. All she knows is, that the two men in the room haven’t noticed anything on this end of the abandoned plant.But they are searching their way over to her.The closet has an in-wall cabinet, and half of its door missing. From what it looks like, it’s for the cleaner’s work jacket and tools. Inside it hangs a huge, blue jacket but no pants or any other. And on the left corner a dirty, empty basket.Dare not to risk making any sound, Scar takes off the jacket instead, puts it over her head,d and curl in the corner by the door of the small closet.It’s the same chance to be spotted whether she’s on the floor or in the wide open cabinet, if they ever come to search in here.“It doesn’t look like they are in this one either,” A mean, loud voice approaches the
Two men barged in, and are now scavenging the dusty room. Each with a baseball bat in their hands.No guns. That’s good news.Looks like they don’t have a lot of people. That’s why it took a while for them to sweep to this room. But still, they are all men with weapons, while Scar and Sebastian have nothing to put up a proper defense. It’s only a matter of time before they corner them in this tiny closet, and if that happens, then they would really be a lamb to the slaughter.“What do we do now?!” Scar hisses. Her whisper is so low that it barely reaches Sebastian, yet she feels like her voice is loud like thunder, “Do we make a run for it?”“Not safe,” Sebastian mumbles back, keeping an eye outside through the gap between the crooked doors, “Neither of them is from the car behind you. Meaning they have at least five people, three are waiting out there.”Scar grips her dress to calm herself, but that doesn’t stop her tremble.Sebastian reaches over slowly, grabbing her fear-frozen han