"What!?" He repeated, his voice appeared calm but with a crisp coldness at the edge that made her shiver.
He had heard her; she was sure.
A sudden lump appeared in her throat, preventing her from repeating her earlier words.
His eyes probed hers, daring her to repeat what she had said, and at that very moment, she just wanted to disappear. She wanted to get as far away from this man as possible.
And so, Lilian's lips slowly parted to speak. "I… I… want a divorce. I can no longer be in this… marriage, Xavier."
His eyes darkened instantly. Her feet stepped back on their own; his eyes remained glued to her. She trembled. He stared at her like a predator, and heaven knows when he would pounce on her.
She hoped he wouldn't. His height and size frightened her; he was at least three times her size, and if he were to, then her chances of survival were slim.
His cold gray eyes nearly froze her to death as he stared at her coldly.
"I… excuse me."
She dashed past him before he had a chance to say another word, and she sprinted out of his sight.
She stepped into her room; she locked the door, afraid he would follow her.
Her suitcases were packed. She was ready to flee, to run as far away as possible.
She would no longer be a Rune, but it didn't matter now. She would finally be free from this cursed marriage.
Her phone buzzed loudly. She jolted; her blood turned cold as her eyes skimmed through the caller ID.
It was her father. She swiped green with shaky hands.
"Did you carry out my instructions?" The cold, raspy voice had the hair on her nape standing.
"Y-yes," she answered, her breath shaky. "I called the lawyer. The divorce papers are being drafted as we speak."
A brief pause followed.
"Good." His word cut through the silence. "Make sure everything goes as planned… if you want to see your mother, that is," he drawled.
She froze, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes as pain erupted in her chest. "Y… yes," she could barely force the words off her lips.
The long silence that followed let her know he had ended the call. Her grip on her phone loosened; the phone slipped and fell with a loud clatter.
She slid down the door, now sitting on the bare ground. The tears she had been holding in fell freely. She wished things were different. She wished she wasn't so helpless.
Her father despised her to the core. She was his illegitimate child, a child birthed through his affair with a maid.
Growing up, she had been told her mother was long dead.
She had lived the life of a servant, despite growing up in a rich household. Both her stepsisters hated her, and her stepmother treated her like dirt.
To uphold a bargain, they had married her off to Xavier Rune when she was only nineteen. Knowing his cold and sinister nature, her father couldn't give out his elder daughters' hands in marriage to him. Despite them being older and more mature than she was, he couldn't risk anything bad happening to them.
But her—he couldn't care less. She was sure he was spiteful about the fact that Xavier hadn't killed her yet.
Three years had passed, and she had been in this loveless marriage. She had caught sight of her husband merely two times throughout their years of marriage.
It had been peaceful, being away from her cruel family, living a comfortable and luxurious life, yet she was lonely, and it had begun to eat deep within her.
And suddenly, she got a call from her father after three long years.
Her immediate elder sister, Nelly, was immensely in love with Xavier.
His orders were clear: divorce him and return to the Hart household. She had refused, not wanting to return to hell, but there was something more. Her mother was alive, and he had been keeping her hidden somewhere. He would let her see her if she obeyed.
Her heart yearned for the mother she had never gotten a chance to know—the one person who might have treated her with love and affection, the one person who would treat her like she was… human.
A strangled cry crept from her throat.
The next day came with its troubles. She couldn't hide in her room forever; sooner or later, she had to confront Xavier again.
The lawyer called.
"The divorce papers are ready."
The information snapped her out of whatever emotional despair she had been in.
Now she had to fight—for her mother.
Her father was a fool if he actually thought she would return home to become a slave. She would rescue her mother and get them as far away as possible.
"Good," she ended the call immediately.
She cleaned up, throwing on some fresh clothes after, and she stepped out of the room.
Her mind raced at the thought that Xavier had left. He had only come here after she texted him about the divorce. She needed him here to sign the divorce papers.
"Lilian."
She turned immediately when she heard the voice, to see him alighting the stairs, a passive expression on his face, his eyes as cold as ice.
Her heart raced in her chest. She dug her nails into her palm, fighting for calm.
He stalked towards her, towering over her completely. "Let's start from where we left off yesterday."
His smooth, deep voice resounded in her eardrums. She took a step back.
"I already spoke with the lawyer." She broke eye contact with him.
"I know." His gaze remained fixed on her, unwavering, calculative.
She shrunk.
And then he waved a couple of documents she hadn't noticed before.
The divorce papers!
Her heart skipped, and right in front of her eyes, he shredded them into pieces.