Author’s POV
WEEKS BEFORE; THE NIGHT OF THE ROGUE ATTACK
After a slightly inebriated Annabella had spilled her glass of wine on Lucy, the two of them went on to the bathroom to get the unfortunate lady cleaned up.
“Oh, I’m so, so sorry,” said Annabella, hiccuping. “I must have had too much to drink,” she said, dragging out her words like a child learning how to speak. She could barely stand straight, and seeing her in such a way made Lucy take a little pity on her-a mistake, as she would soon learn.
“It’s fine,” Lucy said, not wanting to hear more of what the drunken lady had to say. This was the last thing she had expected to happen to her, but now that it had, she didn’t have a choice but to try and see how she could solve the issue before it got too late.
She picked up some paper towels and tried to use them to soak up the liquid from her gown, but it didn’t work. The wine had already become deeply attached to the fabric. The only thing that could save the dress was rinsing it altogether.
“I’ll go and get you a towel,” said Annabella, quickly, already stepping out of the bathroom. Lucy didn’t respond, as she was still focused on trying to clean her dress.
As soon as Annabella got to the other side of the door, her movements became surer, and the drunk smile fell off her face. With precision that she hadn’t possessed a few minutes back, she took the handle of the door, and bent the metal so out of shape that the door lock froze in place. Then, she pulled against it to test whether or not it would open. It didn’t budge.
Beside the toilet door, was a little table where people going in could drop their items before entering. Annabella had previously put a written note behind the table, just out of sight so that it didn’t get picked up or blown away by the breeze. She picked up the paper, which had ‘Out of Bounds’ written on it in bold letters, and took it to the door. Using the chewing gum she had been keeping underneath her tongue, she attached the paper to the door, and stepped back to admire her work when she was done.
“You think you’re so smart, I’ll show you who’s smarter,” she whispered, smiling deviously. As she made her way to leave, she saw a woman approaching the toilet. The person’s face was red, and the way she hopped on either feet made it obvious that she really needed to use the restroom.
Annabella stopped her along the way. “Oh, that toilet’s out of bounds. Leaking faucets, someone will be on his way soon to fix it. You can use the one at the other end of the hall,” she pointed. The woman looked like she was going to embarrass herself at any moment from then, but she thanked Annabella regardless and made a mad dash in the other direction.
Satisfied with her work, she finished up her glass of wine ad went back to the table where the triplets were seated. Again, she donned the mask of the drunken girl and did a few false stumbles to keep up her act.
“Where’s Lucy?” Shaun asked, looking around the hall. Since when Annabella had set sights on the triplets, she knew that it wouldn’t have been easy to get the attention of all three of them, especially Shaun, who immediately introduced his little bride to be with the pretty hair and gorgeous eyes. Her fantasies thrived regardless of the knowledge that it was going to make him harder to reach, but she always accepted a challenge.
“She’s in the bathroom cleaning up, I wouldn’t be of much help in there because,” the faked a hiccup, “I’m a little nauseous.”
“You must have had too much to drink,” said Scott, who had finally deemed it fit to utter a word to her. She had been on his case for days since the Luna had introduced them both. But after their date, Scott had simply walked her home and left like it was simply an obligation. A cold gentleman. Srill, she hadn’t given up hope. This was a sign that he might not have been as rigid as she thought.
She needed to get him alone. Her fingers brushed the draught she had gotten from the apothecary. It was nestled preciously between her breasts, hidden from prying eyes and protected from sudden falls.
She started to breathe in more through her nose, mimicking hyperventilation. When the triplets looked at her nervously, she clutched her chest and squeezed her eyes shut. “I-I need some air.” Rising to her feet, she made sure to make her linbs tremble so that her acting would appear authentic. And they all fell for it.
Scott rose to his feet quickly, coming to her side and taking her outside to where she could get some air. But she insisted that she needed a place where she could just lie down. Somewhere nearby. This was because she knew the the room the triplets stayed it was very close to the hall, much closer than hers.
Although a little reluctant, a few more gasping fits convinced him, and he lifted her into his arms and rushed her to his room.
As soon as he put her on the bed, she calmed down. “Please, I need a little water,” she said gently.
Scott nodded and went into the bathroom to fulfil her wish. As she went away, she immediately sat up and looked around the room, taking note of how spacious it was. Then, she took out the little vial and clasped it in her hand, making sure that no sign of it was visible between her fingers. She was thinking of a way that she could get him to drink the draught, until she saw him come out of the bathroom with two glasses of water. One for him, and one for her.
He dropped hers by the bedside table, and took a sip out of his. She watched the taut muscles of his face move, and she nearly went dizzy just thinking about how they would feel under her palms. Each brother, although similar in looks to the others, held unique traits that made them easy to tell apart. As for Scott, he had a gentle nature that he often masked with impassiveness, but his concern for her had shown her otherwise. She hadn’t chosen wrong.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but could you help me close the windows? I’m a little cold,” she said, pointing to the windows in the other side of the room.
Again, he merely nodded and got up to do as she requested. Seeing his lean muscles ripple under his shirt made her head spin again.
Swiftly, she opened up the little bottle and poured the liquid into his water. Just as the apothecary had told her, the draught had a property that made it difficult to detect in any drink it was added into. The water became just a little cloudy for a moment, but all traces of the addition disappeared in less than three seconds. She reached under the bed and put the draught there, lifting her head just in time to see Scott already returning to her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, taking up his glass of water and taking a quick sip.
She nodded. “Yes. I feel a little better now,” she said in a timid voice. “Thank you.” She averted her gaze from him and looked down at her dress, feigning innocence. “I . . . I thought you didn’t like me that much since that day we met.”
Scott finished his water and dropped the glass down on the table. “I’m not used to things like this. It’s no fault of yours,” he said calmly. He didn’t smile, but his expression was open, welcoming.
Annabella smiled at him. Now, she just had to wait for the draught to kick in.
After a few moments of silence, Scott started to shake his head as though he was trying to stay awake.
“Are you sleepy?” Annabella asked sweetly.
“No, I’m not . . .” he tried to say, but words kept failing him at every point. “I think I am,” he said, sounding a little surprised at the revelation.
Annabella patted the spot beside her on the bed, moving to make more space for him. “You can take a little nap here. I’ll leave soon, since I feel a lot better now.”
But surprisingly, Scott shook his head. “You don’t have to,” he said, climbing into the bed beside her.
She stayed still as he got comfortable on the bed. Unexpectedly, he reached out to touch her face.
“You’re here,” he said, shifting closer to her. His hand went down to her waist. “Is this okay?”
He spoke to her as though he hadn’t expected to see her. There was a gleam to his eyes that hadn’t been there before. The apothecary hadn’t mentioned any side effects of the draught, but she also couldn’t mind, since it meant that she didn’t have to do anything.
She leaned in to him as well. “Yes, it’s okay,” she said, before moving in and kissing him.
It was like he became an entirely different person. As though the kiss was something he had been waiting for, he took the lead, sliding his hands over Annabella’s body. They tore at each others clothes like animals in heat, and finally, they became united in flesh. They went at it for so long that even she lost track of time, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
But unfortunately, the morning came too soon, and when Scott saw her naked body beside him on the bed, every trace of joy that had been on his face the night before were nowhere to be seen.
Instead he asked her, “What are you doing here?”
–
PRESENT TIME, AFTER THE WEDDING
Weeks had passed, and Annabella’s belly wasn’t even growing. Since she had gotten married to Scott, it was as though the very sight of her repulsed him. They didn’t even sleep in the same room, and he was hardly ever around. She had thought things would get better the more time they spent as a couple, but he barely gave her any chance to see him. He was either too busy, or wasn’t available. She was certain that if they had slept together after their marriage, then at least she would have actually gotten pregnant, but she had made not progress in that department, and decided that she would probably just lie that she had a miscarriage or something.
But strangely, one afternoon, Scott called for her.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked her, looking at her belly. It’s been a few weeks and I haven’t started hearing the baby’s heartbeat yet.
It was even about the baby, not her. “No, I’m not okay. My husband hadn’t been spending time with me,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
“And there’s a reason for that,” he said, rising to his feet. He picked up a knife from his desk and threw it straight at her. She screamed as she threw herself out of the way. But the knife was never aimed directly for her. It had never even left his hand in the first place.
“Have you gone mad!” she screamed. “”You almost killed me.”
Scott’s face turned hard. “I don’t do very well with liars,” he said.