[Music: Skyfall By Adele]

My stilettos clicked sharply against the floor as I stepped out of the restroom and closed the door behind me.

I stood there for a while... lost in thought before I got distracted by the incoming chatty ladies.

I walked away, making a sharp turn. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Hey sis!"

I shot my eyes to Luca, waiting there.

"Took you long enough. Were you grooming yourself there like monkeys?"

"You’re still here..." I replied flatly.

He shrugged. "Never left. I had to adjust my waiting spot. The ladies were giving me suspicious looks."

I continued my walk.

"Sis?"

I didn’t answer him as I kept going, even as he followed closely behind me. I got to the balcony just in time to see that the orchestra was ushering in a new theme.

This time, an opera singer was the lead, her voice rising smoothly across the theater.

Zade’s eyes landed on me the moment I sat by his side. I sat so still it felt like I had been frozen.

I did my best to stay concentrated, but I felt Zade’s hand caress my thigh, a cold chill shooting up my spine, but not in a good way.

"You missed the best part."

I was forced to look at him to find out that his eyes were already on me.

My skin crawled as Zade’s hand glided higher, until I could feel his fingers at the heat of my core, teasing my clit.

Despite the dimmed lightning, I caught the dangerous glint in his eyes.

"You shouldn’t have done that."

He was referring to the vibrator.

"Done what?" I questioned as if I had no idea what he was talking about.

I peeled my eyes off him and crossed my legs, using that to ward him off. There was a weight pushing down my whole body; I felt so heavy and stiff throughout the performance.

Even at the end of it, when the lights came back on, and more relations were made, I was just there... tolerating his hand braced against my waist to keep me locked to his body.

Half the time, I wasn’t conscious of my surroundings; everything was like a passing blur.

However, it dispelled when I caught Clara at a distance, smirking at me before she left with a company of other ladies.

Then my mind wandered.

~

I didn’t realize I was breathing heavily, the hoarse sound of it drowning my ears as I tried to grapple with what’s in front of me.

It wasn’t just pictures of them sitting at a restaurant. There were more, and each of them depicted the possibility that my sister was in a relationship with Zade.

There was one picture in particular that haunted me the most... he was cupping her face, their faces inches apart as if they were about to kiss.

"Is that proof enough for you, Mrs. Salvero?"

I glanced at Shane.

"Are you still gonna label me a liar? Look at them as much as you want, I assure you they are as clear as day." He sipped from his whiskey.

I clenched the pictures to the point I had the urge to rip them to shreds.

"W-Why?" I asked in a shaky voice I could barely recognize.

"Why?" he questioned right back, raising an eyebrow. "Why else would you think...?"

My breath grew harsher as confusion and shock rattled me to the core. This doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t.

Because if my sister had some kind of relationship with Zade, I could have known. We were so close, and we told each other everything.

I tried to think about anything I could have missed, any hint, but all I’m reminded of is my loving sister... Her smiles, giggles, and how she combs my hair before braiding it.

A sharp ringing drowned my ears, and a piercing headache followed until I was forced to close my eyes.

My grip on the pictures slacked, and I watched them descend to the floor, spreading out as if some dark secret had come to the surface.

For the last two years, I didn’t believe a word or even a whisper of rumors about her.

The cooks and maids in our household talked about all kinds of things that soiled her memory, and every time I grew angry, I screamed at them, calling them liars.

"You’re probably wondering why Zade killed your sister if they had something like this between them. The answer is simple, Mrs. Salvero. That’s the kind of man Zade is. Ruthless. Even that isn’t an exception to the woman he loves."

The woman... he loves?

"Maybe he killed her because she betrayed him... or maybe he simply grew bored... Who knows?" He let out a chuckle. "The Serpent has always been impossible to predict. Then again, maybe he’s just as unhinged as the Undercity whispers."

I descended my gaze to the pictures scattered across the floor.

"And now you have fallen in the same hole your sister did. History might repeat itself if you’re not careful."

"A-And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You look so much like your sister... has no one told you that?"

My heart skipped a beat as realization hit me so hard I thought I’d collapse.

"Why else do you think he chose you as a wife in the first place? Because you remind him of her."

~

A sharp, shattering noise snapped me out of it, and I was tugged back to Zade’s arms. The waiter had tripped, and the flutes of champagne crashed on the floor.

Judging by how close I could have had champagne spilled all over me.

A murmur of commotion intensified. The waiter apologized to me, but I couldn’t even say anything back to him.

"What got you so consumed, darling?"

I looked to Zade, eyeing me closely like he was trying to read me.

"I just have a headache."

I noticed how his eyes wore that worried look when I said that, but as quickly as it came, it was gone.

"Then we’re done for tonight."