Chapter 175 – Auction [4]

Océane dutifully informed Isolde and exited the room just as quickly as she had entered. After her departure, Cassius and Isolde exchanged a look, a flash of understanding lighting the depths of their eyes at the same time.

With no other words — none were needed — Cassius turned his attention back toward Meadow in the process of presenting the Cristo Steel. The audience was thrilled, their excited voices filling the room with a sense of shared anticipation.

Isolde, meanwhile, was no longer focused on the auction itself. Instead, she turned her head to the right, her eyes settling on Anesthesia, who was watching without really watching, mumbling something irritably under her breath.

It was clear she had no interest in the auction, and equally clear that she hated the fact she was sitting behind her own sister.

Isolde let out a slow smile and pushed herself closer to her. Immediately, Anesthesia snapped her head in her direction, eyes full of irritation.

"What are you doing?" she hissed instinctively. She was tired of making scenes in front of Cassius and Raven.

"I can see you are not the least bit interested in this auction, sister." Isolde whispered in turn, getting closer to Anesthesia’s annoyance. "So what if we do something else? You and I. Together."

"You must be out of your mind if you ever entertained the idea that I would do anything with you." Anesthesia scoffed.

"So you prefer sitting here? Completely bored?"

"I will choose boredom over you every single time."

"Are you sure, though?" Isolde smiled strangely. "Because mother will join us. Can you imagine, sister, mother and daughters together for a heartfelt moment? I don’t remember having many of those, do you?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Mother?" The Fallen Heiress’s brows furrowed. "How can mother be here? Didn’t she have a meeting with Lady Sefira?"

"That was a lie." Isolde said directly.

"What?"

"That was a lie, sister. And if you continue being this stubborn, you might completely miss the reason why mother lied. So let me ask you one more time..." her smile widened, "...will you accept?"

She stretched her right hand toward Anesthesia, as if inviting her to take it.

Anesthesia looked at Isolde’s purple eyes for a couple of breaths, then lowered her gaze slightly to the outstretched hand. Three seconds later, she completely ignored the hand as though she had never quite seen it, and answered, her curiosity undeniably piqued.

"Where?"

Isolde took back her hand, shrugging carelessly, then stood up from the couch. "Follow me." She said, before addressing both Cassius and Raven.

"My sister and I have something to attend to. We will be back shortly."

"Aye." Cassius answered without looking at her, while Raven simply nodded, sparing a subtle glance at Anesthesia.

The sisters walked out of the room.

Outside, they came face to face with Aissatou and Océane. Without a word, Aissatou pointed in a direction and Isolde walked toward it, Anesthesia following behind with a bad feeling climbing steadily within her.

Their steps made absolutely no sound as they walked deeper into the building, taking a left, then walking thirty-three more paces before reaching a door.

The women’s bathroom.

Isolde stopped there and turned to look at Anesthesia, then shifted her gaze to the left.

"Are you here?" she asked in a slow whisper. Anesthesia raised an eyebrow, about to ask what she meant, but closed her mouth when suddenly the sound wavelengths to her left wavered and shook wildly yet silently.

Sophia appeared out of nowhere, her body reconstructed from sound itself, wearing a long flowing black robe, looking like a fairy, her black eyes flat.

"Mother?" Anesthesia exclaimed, now truly seeing that Isolde had not been lying.

But that confirmation only brought a greater question, followed by an even stronger version of her bad feeling.

Something was going on. And Anesthesia’s Aspect could instinctively feel it would not be to her liking.

"She is already inside." Sophia said simply. "Let’s go see what you wanted me to witness, Isolde."

She raised both hands and placed them on her daughters’ shoulders. Her eyes glowed a brilliant black, and their bodies began to unravel through the sound wavelengths — unseen and unheard.

However, just as they disappeared, a man appeared from the adjacent corridor, walking straight toward the women’s bathroom with confident steps.

...

Inside the bathroom, Veronica stood in front of the mirror, the water from the sink running continuously — the only sound in that space.

She looked at her reflection, her face wet from washing it repeatedly, the heavy makeup she had applied to hide the large dark circles under her eyes now painfully visible.

But Veronica no longer had the strength to care. She was drained beyond understanding.

Her mind was at the edge of shattering, and that destruction would send her into a bottomless pit of despair.

The only thing keeping her sane was the faint hope that Lord Cole would take her back. The hope that he would not discard her the way he had discarded so many of his slaves before.

It was laughable how Veronica had always believed she was different. That with her, her master would not leave; because she had been obedient, had given herself to him wholeheartedly as the object of his pleasure.

But a year ago, when her master had met Faye Kanam at a social event he had attended reluctantly, his attention had shifted away from her and toward the Kanam Matriarch.

Veronica could understand why.

Faye Kanam was better looking, and beyond that, she was a widow who had lost her children. She was also the leader of a Tier Three family, no matter how weakened.

Compared to her, Veronica was nothing but a maid whose implicit duty was to pleasure her master from the start.

It was no wonder Cole was abandoning her for Faye.

Truly no wonder.

And yet...

’How can you use me, shape me, mold my body and soul in a way that it can no longer function without your touch — only to discard me? How can I love after that? No, what even is love? I have no concept of it. You made sure of that. Now how do I keep the illusion of a normal life I have been maintaining all this time? If you abandon me, I will have no desire left to keep the facade with Leo. I never loved him. I only married him because you told me to. Everything to better cover ourselves from your own wife.’

And after all those sacrifices — after forcing herself to sleep with Leo all those times while making sure to eliminate any pregnancy that resulted from it — Cole Amaris wanted to leave her?

Veronica was losing her mind. Her eyes became bloodshot and tears began to fall in cascades.

’I don’t—!’

Tak!

Veronica stopped her spiralling thoughts abruptly and snapped her head toward the new presence filling the room.

A presence she knew all too well.

And indeed, standing before her was Cole himself, handsome despite everything rotten within him.

"My Lord—! No, master, what are you doing here?" she stammered, looking at him with hope about to burst forth.

"You have been gone far too long." Cole said simply, taking a step forward. "How do you expect me to stay calm like that?"

"I am sorry, master."

’Master is worried about me?’

Hope rekindled.

"I don’t need sorry." Cole grated. "I want to know what is wrong with you."

They stood close now, Veronica leaning back against the sink, looking restlessly yet with anticipation at her master. She had not wanted to do anything back in that room with that woman watching. But here and now, she was ready for everything.

However, her master did not act as she expected.

"How long are you going to make me wait?" Cole said again.

She bit her lip, looking at the hardness in his purple eyes. She was certain he knew exactly what was wrong with her. He simply wanted to make her admit her fears and insecurities.

He wanted — as always — for her to lower herself before him and confess everything, as if he were her god and she a servant devoted entirely to pleasing him.

And Veronica did it.

"I can’t stand it, master." She said, her voice wavering. "I can’t stand the fact that you are discarding me for the Kanam Matriarch. I have been with you all this time. My body has been yours and yours alone, and even my nights with my husband are organised by you. I only sleep with him when you tell me to. I have obeyed you my whole life and I believe, master, that I have been a good servant. A good slave to you."

Her eyes began to water, her voice breaking further.

"So why? Why are you choosing Kanam’s Matriarch? You have been sleeping with her more than me lately and you treat me like nothing in front of her. What did I possibly do wrong? I am the best for you. I obey your every order without a second thought. Faye Kanam is a Matriarch, she will not obey easily. You don’t need her."

She paused, then knelt down and lifted her head to look up at him.

"You only need me, master. I am enough, and I will accept everything you want to do with me. Just don’t abandon me." She pleaded, reaching for his hands to kiss and hold them as he had always wanted her to do.

However, Veronica’s hands grasped at nothing when she reached for Cole’s left hand.

Her face froze instantly. Her heart skipped a dangerous beat so loud it seemed to boom around the bathroom.

"Ah... ah... w-what?" She blinked, and her face dropped when she noticed the wide smile on Cole’s face.

"Fortunately, the robes the Amaris wear tend to be quite large." Slowly, Cole’s face melted away, revealing the dark-skinned face of Maxim Onearm. "Just perfect to hide my rather unfortunate handicap."

"WHO—!"

Maxim moved fast and clamped his right hand tight over her mouth, forcing her to swallow back her scream. The dread inside Veronica rose to a deafening level, then transformed into pure horror when the space behind Maxim shifted, and Sophia, Isolde and Anesthesia stepped out of the sound wavelengths.

Veronica’s eyes bulged from their sockets.

"Job’s done, dear customers. My payment?" Maxim said with theatrical flair, not looking toward Isolde and acting as though he did not know her. Instead he stared at Sophia, and the man nearly lost his composure entirely when he saw the blank, void-like expression on Sophia’s face as her gaze landed on Veronica, who had literally lost control of herself.

"Job’s done." Sophia said slowly.

At her side, Anesthesia sank to the ground, her face aghast.

"Leave us alone."

—End of Chapter 175—