CHAPTER 131
BRIANNA’S POV
I shouldn’t have opened this letter. I shouldn’t be reading it. As far as I know, nothing good comes from Hermes. But I had already opened it. Something wanted me to keep reading it. I wanted to get to the end of it to see what that bastard wanted from my husband.
Dear Sebastian,
Hope you’re doing well. Please accept my heartfelt condolences on your loss. Hope you’re holding on fine at this incredibly difficult time. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to come to me. I’ll do my best to help in whatever way I can.
I’m writing to inform you that I’ll be needing the slave you bought at the auction back. I believe her name is Brianna Campbell.
I know this is against the auction rules and we haven’t always been on good terms, but I have my reasons.
I’m willing to refund you thrice the amount you paid for her. And if you like, I’ll find another omega slave that matches your taste. But her, I want her back.
Thank you. I await your speedy positive reply.
Yours truly,
HERMES COSTIN
ALPHA KING OF AVALON KINGDOM
Without knowing it, the letter fell on the table in front of my hands. Sheer black fright swept through me and I began to shake as those fearful memories and images of Hermes built up in my head.
Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes, too painful and excessive to hold back or blink away. I had to grip the table for support because I was crumbling. Like a sandcastle at high tide, I was crumbling faster than I could imagine.
This had better be a joke because there is no way I’m going back to that Devil. He can’t want me back. Not now. Not ever. There is no way I’m going to relive all that pain and torture that almost claimed my life. I had already burned that part and everything that had to do with him out of my life. Sebastian will protect me. I know he will. He wouldn’t allow him to come take me away again.
Amid my agony, a warm pair of bare silky-haired arms encircled my waist, gently pulling me close and caressing my belly.
“Morning sunshine,” Sebastian said as he towered over me, brushing away my hair to plant a kiss on my neck and side of my head. “You’re up early. Hope you slept well?”
“Morning love,” I answered through the thickness of my voice. “Yeah. Just wanted to make something for you.”
Looking away, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back my tears and put on a pretence so he wouldn’t notice.
But I couldn’t. The contents of that letter were a heavy weight too much to bear. And I wasn’t a master at hiding my feelings when it came to Sebastian. Over the period, he’d become a microscope that could see beyond me. See through my depths. He knew me better than I knew myself. My pain was his pain. My happiness, his happiness. We shared every feeling. It’s only a matter of seconds before he notices.
He flicked my hair to the other side of my face and then paused all of a sudden.
I expected him to scold me as always for waking up early and cooking. But he didn’t say anything. I could only feel the warmness and intensity of his breath against my neck. It was obvious he was trying to process what he was seeing before him. The open letter or breakfast?
I was still looking away, biting hard on my lower lip till I almost tasted blood to hold back my tears.
“What is this?”
A sudden chill ran through me as he asked and I drew a shaky breath. I wished he was referring to the food on the breakfast tray but sadly, he wasn’t. I scolded myself inwardly, wishing I had pushed the letter away from the table before he came. But he’d still notice something was wrong anyway.
He withdrew his hands from me and reached in to take the letter. But I wanted him to keep holding me, hooding me in, pressing me against the comfort of the body. His personal contact was the only thing preventing me from breaking down completely.
I didn’t say anything as I moved a little aside from him, watching in suspense as he read the letter.
I felt his temper rise in no time. He looked up at me, his features hardened with a fiery anger that was almost unfamiliar to me. I had seen countless times get mad at Catherine, the maids and his uncle because of me but this one was so much more. Like never before. Like a lifelong fury waiting to be unleashed.
I watched as he tore the letter to pieces, curses falling furiously from his mouth. I clamped my hand over my mouth, shivering, burning with all the intense emotions I was trying to hold back.
A part of me knew this day would come. That bastard wouldn’t leave me alone as long as I lived. Even in his grave, he’ll come looking for me wherever I was on earth.
Sebastian approached cautiously as if not to worsen my situation. He cupped my cheeks, making me look up at him. Tears clouded my vision and stung my eyes. I had to blink severally to avoid that to no avail.
“That bastard won’t take you away from me,” he assured, his tone calm but firm. “You’re my wife, my better half, the mother of my children, an inseparable part of me. We’re forever bound to each other. As long as I live, no one will take you away from me. No one will lay a finger on you. No one will make you cry again. So please wipe your tears. Hermes should know better than to think I’ll give you up.”
“But…but…what if…” my lips trembled, my words quivering.
“Shh….” He didn’t let me finish as he wrapped himself around me, taking me in a gentle but iron hug, shielding me like an unshakable fortress. “Nothing will happen. I give you my word. I have a plan.”