Nanny Alley put the stuffed toy away, planning to give it back to Rosy later.
Right now, I was hiding in my room, my whole body shaking nonstop. I didn't dare turn on the light; I just crouched with my back against the door, trying to wrap my arms as tightly around myself as I could, as if only like that could I chase away the terror clawing at my chest.
What should I do? Should I just go die, or try to run? But the villa was guarded so tightly—could I really escape?
I clenched my teeth, my body swaying as if it might collapse in the darkness. I felt utterly helpless, pitiful, like a small abandoned animal, sobbing quietly while waiting for the end of the world to fall on my head.
...
In the bedroom, Captian sat at the foot of the bed, his expression dark and stormy. Blood was still seeping from the wound on his back, yet he behaved as if he couldn't feel a thing.
Ronan took out his phone, about to call the private doctor.
Captian shot him a cold glance. "Go ahead. Try making that call."
Ronan was so startled that his hand trembled. He immediately shoved the phone back into his pocket. "President Anderson, your wound is still bleeding. If we don't treat it in time and it gets worse, what are we going to do?"
Captian only let out a chilly, humorless laugh and said nothing. Use the house phone to call his private doctor, just so they could all see how the almighty President Anderson of Alchimie had been stabbed and injured by a girl? He absolutely could not afford to lose face like that.
He narrowed his eyes and raised his voice. "I'm not giving you permission to make that call."
Ronan still wanted to say something, but Hunter's look stopped him.
Hunter had probably already guessed what was going through Captian's mind. "President Anderson, if you don't want to call the doctor," he said, "then we can at least find someone to bandage the wound."
Ronan thought for a moment, then went to call Nanny Alley over.
Captian was extremely displeased. His gaze swept over everyone in the room, and he realized that everyone who could be here was here—except for the real culprit. His brows drew together, and his expression grew even darker.
Sensing his anger, everyone in the room trembled inwardly. Under that pressure, Nanny Alley spoke in a low voice, "President Anderson, you're still bleeding. Please let me dress the wound for you."
She had worked in a hospital before, so she knew a bit about bandaging.
Captian narrowed his eyes, his face still like a stormfront, and didn't move at all. After a long moment, he finally snapped, "Tell that woman to drag herself over here."
His icy voice echoed through the room, and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees at once. Everyone exchanged glances; no one dared move. In the end, it was Nanny Alley who reacted first. She lowered her head respectfully. "Please wait a moment, President Anderson. I'll go and call Miss Bailey."
With that, she hurried out.
Hearing this, Ronan's eyes widened. President Anderson was wounded, and he still wanted that woman to come over? She looked like a delicate young girl, how could she possibly know how to bandage a wound?
Ronan was about to say more when he noticed Hunter giving him a meaningful look.
"Stop talking nonsense," Hunter warned, his eyes narrowing. "He's furious right now. If you're not careful, you won't live to see tomorrow."
Ronan bit his lip and snuck a few looks at Captian, curiosity getting the better of him. "I'm just curious. President Anderson's already injured—why is he calling that woman over? And… how did he get hurt in the first place?"
Hunter silently cursed him for being an idiot. "Who do you think could get close enough to stab President Anderson and leave him injured, yet still be alive for the moment?"
Ronan immediately thought of Rosy. His eyes flew wide open, his face changing. "Miss Bailey? Damn, she really has some nerve to actually stab President Anderson. I don't think she'll be seeing the sun tomorrow."
Anyone who dared cross President Anderson never stayed on this side of the underworld for long.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Hunter said with a small, unreadable smile.
Ronan frowned, not understanding where that confidence came from. "President Anderson always pays people back. That woman is definitely dead."
"What are you two whispering about?"
Captian's cold voice cut through the room, laced with irritation. One look from him was enough to shut them both up. His face was expressionless, his gaze fixed on the door, as if he were already thinking about how he was going to deal with Rosy later.
...
I was still hugging my knees, hiding in the pitch-black room, when I suddenly heard footsteps in the hallway outside. Fear slammed into me so hard my heart pounded painfully, cold sweat breaking out all over my skin.
Then came the knocking on the door. I jerked upright like a frightened rabbit, pressing myself tightly against the door, with no intention of opening it.
"Miss Bailey, it's me. Could you open the door for a moment?"
Nanny Alley's voice floated in from outside. The moment I heard it, the fear inside me didn't lessen at all—if anything, it got worse. It had to be Captian who told her to come. Of course he wouldn't let me go.
I didn't dare say a word, and I certainly didn't want to open the door. But I also knew that even if I hid in here, Captian had a thousand ways to drag me out.
The knocking continued, steady and patient.
I struggled with myself for a long while before finally opening the door just a crack. "Nanny Alley," I rasped, my voice hoarse.
She looked me over. My face was pale, my eyes swollen from crying. I must have looked exactly like a little white rabbit that had fallen into a demon's lair.
"Miss Bailey, President Anderson asked you to come over," Nanny Alley said honestly as she lifted her gaze.
My fingers tightened on the doorframe until my knuckles turned white. So Captian really was going to deal with me.
I opened the door a bit wider and forced myself to step out, my body stiff as a board. I clenched my teeth, a strange, eerie calm spreading through my chest. "Nanny Alley, has President Anderson already decided how he's going to punish me?"
She didn't answer, but hesitation flickered in her eyes. Just now, Captian's expression had been truly terrifying, like he wanted to eat someone alive. Even so, in her heart she still believed Rosy would be all right.
I took a few steps forward when suddenly Nanny Alley stopped me. "Miss Bailey, is this stuffed toy something you bought?"
I halted and glanced over, seeing the little "devil lord" plush in her hands. "Yes. I bought it."
Looking at the devil plush, I went blank for a second. We must have knocked it to the floor earlier when I was struggling with Captian, and that was how Nanny Alley had picked it up.
She handed the toy back to me and said, sounding almost casual, "Is this the birthday gift you bought for President Anderson?"
I froze, confused for a moment.
Nanny Alley, of course, knew very well that Rosy had absolutely no idea today was Captian's birthday, so there was no way she could have purposely bought him a present. But when she met Rosy's eyes, full of unspoken meaning, Rosy's heart gave a tremor. Her gaze wavered, as if she both understood and didn't understand what Nanny Alley was hinting at.
I hugged the devil plush to my chest, my mind a jumble, and walked toward Captian's room.
The moment I stepped inside, I finally understood what people meant by "the dead of winter." It was so cold. That cold seeped all the way into my bones, like it wanted to freeze me solid from the inside out.
I took a deep breath and realized my heart was racing so fast it was hard to breathe. Still clutching the devil plush, I stood there in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do with myself.
Captian was staring straight at me with those vicious, predatory eyes, like he might peel my skin off and strip my bones in the very next second.
"You two, get out," Captian said, flicking a glance at Ronan and Hunter. To him, their presence was nothing but an eyesore.