Chapter three
Alicia's POV
I didn't know the details of all that happened. And I couldn't think straight as my mother-in-law was shouting at me.
"If anything happens to my son,I'll kill you."
She pointed a finger at me.
That was it. The last straw. I looked at her with determined eyes. "Don't you dare point at me. When your son almost killed me,where were you and your goddamn family members?"
"Did you just…"
Her speech was interrupted by the doctor who walked in. He exchanged gazes with us before walking over to my side. "It's good to see you're in good condition."
"Fortunately,you only had a few injuries. But,I'm afraid to admit that your husband is in a coma and still unconscious."
Coma? That bastard deserved death. I pulled the needles out of my skin and stood up, ignoring the sharp pain I felt from that action. "I'm leaving."
Layla tried to stop me,but I gave her a death stare. After sorting the bills,I took a cab back home.
I was tired. Tired of the lies I told myself. Tired of blaming myself for not being enough for Travis. He was always a lost cause,and it took me two fucking years to accept that. Deep inside me,I hoped he'd never wake up. I hoped he'd burn in hell.
Better to be a widow than live with that monster.
The cab stopped a few metres from the mansion. I got down and paid for the fare.
Bianca was at the door when I arrived. She had her arms folded and her brows raised.
"What is your problem, jinx?" She asked, walking forward a bit. I didn't even argue with her. If she wanted to block the entrance,then it was totally fine. I could always take the back door.
I could hear her footsteps as she followed me,but I didn't look back. Suddenly,sharp pain shot from my head as Bianca dragged me by my hair.
"Ah. What are you doing?!" I tried to free myself from her,but her hold on me was too strong.
I could feel her staggered breath against my skin as she pulled me closer to her lips. "Don't you even dare to come between me and Tristan."
"You can have him!"
I pushed her away with agitated force.
I shot at her angrily.
"You can both have each other and rot away. I do not care."
She blinked,too stunned to speak. I held my head in pain as I walked into the house. The arm where I had forcefully pulled needles out was burning me.
I ran up the stairs when I couldn't hold it anymore. I was in such a hurry that I didn't know when I had hit someone.
"Ah," I shouted as my body made contact with the floor.
When I looked up,I realized it was the stranger from the hospital.
"You." He said.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" He asked,his gaze lingering on me.
He was so handsome I couldn't take my eyes off him. I ignored the burning sensation in my arm. "Umm…sorry."
I said and instantly regretted it. Why was I sorry?
"Sorry? Why?" He raised a brow.
He stretched out his arm, offering to pull me up. I hesitated a little before grabbing it. When I stood up,I dusted my clothes to distract myself from looking at him.
Whether I liked it or not,I was a married woman. I shouldn't be looking at another man like that. Even though Tristan didn't deserve that kind of loyalty.
When I finally looked up,he was gone. Why did he like disappearing so much?
I took my clothes off as soon as I entered the room and went into the shower. My eyes were closed,but my mind wasn't.
I still couldn't believe Tristan would cheat on me after all I went through in this damn house. I didn't know when my thoughts wandered to the stranger. I had encountered him twice now,but I still didn't know his name or how he was related to this family. My mother-in-law had mentioned it in the hospital,but I wasn't paying attention.
The way he looked at me like he wanted to grab me and keep me forever was still etched in my mind.
When I was done showering,I went down for dinner. Everyone looked at me with cold eyes as I walked past them and took a seat. The stranger was sitting opposite me,and his eyes never left me since I arrived.
Dinner was silent. No one talked. No one ever did. It felt like the house was a mortuary on its own. All I could hear was the sound of cutleries clinking against each other as they ate.
"Almost killed my nephew."
Uncle Mario was the one to break the silence.
I looked at him and forced a smile.
"We all know you share no warmth for Tristan."
If he thought he could gaslight me,then he was wrong. I knew all of them. They all hated each other.
"Mind the way you speak, peasant." Sasha said through closed teeth.
I felt my self confidence waver a bit.
"Have you no respect, Sasha?"
It was the stranger's voice. He was speaking up for me. But why? We didn't even know each other.
"And Mario,you don't give a damn about my brother. Why bother the pretty one?"
Mario wanted to speak up,but his wife placed her hand on his own, urging him to calm down. Isabella was always the quiet type,she never liked violence.
She and Mario were like black and white. But it seemed her daughter Sasha was more like Mario.
I looked at the stranger. So he was Tristan's brother? They looked nothing alike. He was calm,quiet,and had this dark aura. He was everything Tristan wasn't. In a good sense.
Tristan never mentioned a brother. Or I guess we were too distant to talk about stuff like that.
My marriage to Tristan was rushed. A flash marriage so that my family could get resources to save our dooming company. I was sold off like an animal,and they didn't care to look back.
There were no texts or gifts from them. They had completely forgotten about me. I heard they even moved out of the city to start a new life elsewhere.
That's how worthless I was to them.
"You should eat." I heard him whisper.
I blinked twice. As I looked closer at him,my eyes widened.
I spotted the infinity sign tattooed on his exposed chest. It was the same one as the stranger from the dark room. He was the stranger?!