Without thinking, I cut the call and went to a bar to drink alone.
I didn’t return until very late. The moment I walked in, I saw a man and a woman tangled together on the sofa.
“Lavinia, say you love me the most.”
“All right, hmm! I only love you, I’ll never marry Phineas.”
“Wherever you go, you have to take me. Don’t ever look down on me.”
If Lavinia showed even a hint of hesitation, Cedric would punish her in bed until she gave in.
They were so lost in their frenzy that they didn’t even notice I was standing there, watching it all.
Heartbroken? To see my fiancée, with my own eyes, bringing home a killer and throwing herself at him?
No, there was no heartbreak. Only disgust. Only rage.
Cedric finally turned his head and met my eyes with open provocation, yet he never once stopped.
His eyes burned with humiliation, as if to say: See? As long as I’m here, you two will never be together. I’ll make you suffer, slowly, until despair eats you alive.
Lavinia kept calling his name, but he ignored her completely. Following his gaze, she turned, and when her eyes landed on me, they widened in shock.
The flush of desire drained from her face, leaving her pale as death. She scrambled to put on her clothes, her breath ragged and uneven. Pushing Cedric aside, she rushed toward me.
“Ah, Phineas, why did you suddenly come back?”
Her hand trembled as she reached out, but before she could touch me, I shoved her away.
I had been gone for ten days, and not once did she ask where I was. All her attention had been on Cedric.
“Don’t touch me. You’re filthy, covered in another man’s spit.”
My words hit her like a strike. She froze, panic filling her eyes.
“Phineas, don’t say that to me.”
“You know he’s sick. If you don’t give in to him, he’ll lose control, and then he’ll hurt people.”
The longer I looked at her face, the angrier I became.
“Why give in to him? Why refuse to send him to a mental hospital, even if it costs lives? If he’s really sick, then you’re no better, you’re sick too.”
“Take him and leave my house. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
At my words, Lavinia’s eyes went wide with panic. She reached out to grab me.
“Phineas, don’t do this, okay? You can show kindness to a stray cat, so why are you so cold to someone who’s lonely?”
I pushed her hand away, my voice flat. “Because when I saved the cat, it gave me warmth in return. But him? Helping him only makes him worse.”