From the corner of the room, Xavier lounged on the couch, clearly enjoying the drama unfolding before him. His cynical smile grew as he added fuel to the fire.
“That is what I have been saying, brother. You need to stop pampering her. She cannot even handle a little wound without dragging her feet. Imagine what she would do if she actually had to sacrifice something for you.”
His words stung, each one slicing through me like a fresh incision.
Charlotte, still sitting on the bed, chuckled softly, rolling the pearl along Sylus’s bare chest with deliberate playfulness.
Sylus, to my horror, gasped lightly and gave her a teasing smile. “That is tickles, Lotty,” he said, his voice soft and warm, far different from the way he spoke to me.
He pinched her cheek affectionately, and I was forced to witness the love and adoration in his eyes, love that had never been mine to begin with.
No, it was not that Charlotte’s face resembled mine. It was mine that resembled hers.
I had been chosen not because of who I was, but because of how I looked like her. Even from the start, when Sylus first laid eyes on me, he had called me ‘Lotty’ by mistake.
It had happened again and again in the early days of our marriage, as though I were merely a stand-in for the real woman he loved.
“I am just so happy my pearl was safe with you,” Charlotte cooed, her tone sweet and light, before it shifted to something more somber.
She glanced at me, her gaze fleeting but sharp. “I just never expected when I could see it again after so long, I almost lost it… twice.”
Her words hung in the air, thinly veiled in accusation.
Sylus’s brow furrowed, and his expression darkened. With a gentle hand, he stroked Charlotte’s hair, his touch filled with affection.
Then his gaze turned to me, hard and unforgiving.
“Lily, apologize to Lotty. Now.” His command was ice-cold, brimming with the weight of authority I could not defy.
I clenched my jaw, biting my lip to keep from crying out from the physical pain that still coursed through me.
My body screamed in protest, but I knew that if I did not obey, Sylus would not hesitate to inflict more harm.
He had already proven what he was capable of. Who knew what he would do if I continued to defy him?
“Sorry,” I whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. It was a hollow apology, but it was all I had left to give.