“Who is Jonathan? TELL ME!”
When I didn’t respond to him, he shouted so loudly that the room seemed to vibrate, and I visibly flinched.
“No one” I stammered, my heart gripped by fear.
I didn’t want Jonathan to get hurt because of me. I was ready to face the consequences of my actions rather than let Ansell harm Jonathan when he wasn’t at fault.
Suddenly he chuckled, making me even more scared.
His behaviour today was erratic and unpredictable. One minute he was smiling, the next he was orders, one minute he was calm, and the next he was fuming with anger. It was a display of needs medical help.
“How cute of you to think that you could talk to someone and I wouldn’t find out!” He smiled cruelly, his words laced with devilishness. “You forget that I always stay one step ahead, and you end up forcing me to hurt you”
I swallowed hard as tears welled up in my eyes. I knew I had made a grievous mistake, and now there was no escape from his impending wrath. I shouldn’t have taken action in haste, but I couldn’t stop myself seeing the situation with my brother. I just wanted to fee him as soon as possible.
“I was well aware that you would take advantage of that careless woman’s phone, which is why I had already placed a tracker on it and and discovered your conversation” he revealed, sending a shock of horror through me.
I had never realised he was tracking her phone. Suddenly, I felt suffocated, my breath coming in shallow gasps.
“What do you think, Tereso?” His finger slid down my temple and he lifted my chin slightly to make me look into his eyes. “What punishment do you think is fitting for the carelessness of that woman?” He asked as it were very important decision to make, and he wanted to hear my opinion.
“No, please, Ansell”
I shook my head, but my words felt like defeaning years as he went on.
“Shall I fire her or stop paying for the education of her grandsons?” He took his lower lip in between his teeth as if thinking, “Or should I do both?”
“No, Ansell, please”
I pleaded with him, my hands rising to rest on his chest as I desperately tried to appeal to his humanity. It was not the first time that I requested him. He has already crushed my pride under his feet, and I don’t feel ashamed if my begging could save Grace. She is not at fault. She doesn’t even know what I did to her back. It shouldn’t be her poor family that suffers because of me. They will come to the streets if he does any such thing.
“Please, she has served you for more than twenty years. She knows nothing. She is so kind. Don’t punish her for my mistake. Please” tears streamed down the corners of my eyes. “It’s my fault. I deserved the punishment”
His eyes moved down to my hands, which were resting on his chest, and I dropped them down to my side assuming that he didn’t like my touch. But his next move take me off guard.
He leaned down and placed a deep kiss on my lips. I froze in my place, neither pushing him away nor responding to his kiss. If this could calm him down, then let it be. I am ready to bear the consequences as long as no one else is getting hurt.
He didn’t deepen the kiss or ask for entrance, but stayed as it was for a few seconds before pulling away.
“You are right, Tereso” he murmured, his lips trailing a path kisses along my jawline, down to my neck. “You deserve punishment ”
My fists clenched the sheets tightly as the first night replayed in my head. I mentally braced myself to endure his inhumanity once more.
I was expecting his teeth to punish me, but instead, he breathed deeply, leaving soft kisses and nibbles on my skin. And to be honest, his gentler side was far more terrifying than his devilish one.
I wanted him to leash out his anger on me so that others could be spared, but it seemed like he was penting up his wrath for what was coming next.
“You need to understand that I possess every bit of you, even your mind. The only male that you could count on is me, even in the most desperate situation” he murmure, his lips continuously kissing me.
But at that very moment, it was him from whom I desperately needed to escape.
“I heard your conversation. I heard each and every word that you said to him” he breathed on my skin.
It seemed like he was calming himself down with my scent while I was lying lifeless under him, too scared to make any move.
“You said you trusted him” he said, pulling back to look at me, his eyes drilling into mine. “Do you?” He inquired, his tone filled with a chilling intensity.
I know he was expecting an answer from me, and keeping silent was only going to complicate the situation further.
“Please, Ansell, let me go. You are not in your sense. We will talk tomorrow” I pleaded once again.
“I am very much in my senses, Tereso” he murmured against my lips. “I know really well that I am doing and what I am going to do . It is you who was not in senses committed the mistake today, we will look into it today itself ”
He smiled softly, but it was anything but comforting.
“Now tell me, why did you call him?’ he asked, his tone almost patronising, as if he were talking to a child. “Wasn’t I trying to be nice to you? Didn’t I grant your wish to talk to your brother? Didn’t take you to your favourite cafe like a normal cafe? ” His hand once again caressed my face, his touch both gentle and menacing.
As much as I wanted to crawl away from his touch, I didn’t. I wanted to tell him that everything he did seemed psychotic to me but instead, I gulped and nodded my head slightly.
“Y… yes you did”
“Then why? Why did you think about another male, Tereso? You know that you belong to me, and there slightly as the alcohol took its toll on him.
“I know… Know Ansell. It’s just that I want to know the truth”
“Trut, truth, truth ”
Every word came out loud than before, making me flinch once again. His hand, which was caressing my cheek, dropped to my neck, and he curled his finger around my throat.
“The truth is that your brother is a culprit, and you belong to me” he declared, his words heavy with possessiveness and devilishness.
“How dare you think about any other man when you know that I possess you?” He seethed, his grip on my throat tightening, and I struggled to find the strength to fight him off.
“How dare you, Tereo? How dare you?” He repeated each word, each accompanied by a painful increase in pressure, causing me to suffocate.
“It seems like the things I have done to you haven’t been enough to make it clear that you belong to me and me alone” he continued, his voice laced with anger. “I will have to do something different this time, won’t I? I will have to show you that you can’t think about anyone else but me”
His grip became so tight that my face turned red from the lack of oxygen. Just when I thought I might pass out, he released my throat, leaving me gasping and coughing loudly for air.
“But before that, I needed to give punishment to him” my body froze, and I stopped breathing even when I was in desperate need of it. “Yes” he said, nodding his head like a psycho. “He should get the punishment”
“No, Ansell, it was me who called him. Kill me if it gives you satisfaction, but don’t hurt him, please”
The tears started rolling down the corners of my eyes. I can’t stand the fact that someone else gets hurt because if me. God knows what he is planning to do.
“Kill you?” He asked me in disbelief, “I can never kill you, Tereso. You have to life for me. You are my lifetime” he spoke softly.
“And why are you so concerned about him? Do you like him back?
Like him back?
Does he know that Jonathan likes me?
How?
“Tell me Tereso, do you like him?” He was looking impatient, and I knew he wouldn’t take a second to kill him.
“No, Ansell” I shook my head frantically. “The only man whom I have ever like is you. I never liked him or anyone else” I tried to say each word after thinking because I did not want to enrage him more.
“That’s nice to hear”
He patted my cheek, and I released a deep breath of disbelief. I could see satisfaction in hid eyes to know that he was the only man I loved, and it is also true that he is the only man I now hate.
“But…” My breath again hitched in my throat when the devilish smirk was back on his lips. “He like you” his finger trailed down my body. “You, the one who was, is, and forever will be mine” he said, placing small kiss on my lips. “And for that, he deserves a punishment” his smirk turned darker.
“Please don’t, Ansell. You can’t control the thoughts and feelings of someone, and you can’t punish him for that ” I pleaded, trying to instill some sense in him.
“That means you support his feeling that he likes you?” He took his own twisted meaning from my words.
“I don’t” I said, shaking my head.
The beast in his eyes was scaring me to the core. One word in favour of Jonathan, and I am not sure about his fate.
“I am just telling you” my voice was barely audible, but it seemed like he didn’t hear me.
“He wanted meet you, right?”
Abruptly, he stood up, no longer hovering above me. As much as I wanted him to stay away from me now when he was standing out of bed, I wanted him back on me because he was somewhat calm when he was here with me. Now he seems out of control.
“Let’s grant his last wish and make him meet you”
My eyes widened in horror but he didn’t give me a chance to react as he pulled me harshly out of the bed and started dragging me with him.