Chapter 28
SEBASTIAN’S POV
The news of Nolan’s death had made headlines on the front page of the morning paper. Such a shame he had to die. It was never intended. I had only wanted to teach him a lesson for hurting Brianna. A lesson he’ll never forget.
But after he looked at his crotch and saw that his little soldier was no longer there, he had a heart attack and dropped dead. In an instant, my guards and I swung into action to get rid of anything that could connect us to his murder. We had managed to frame the woman that was grinding him when we came to his bedroom for his death.
One of my guards who happened to be a tech genius scrapped the CCTV footage of us coming into the penthouse apartment, leaving the one of Nolan engaging in foreplay with the woman as they entered the apartment.
Moreover, she had left in haste, leaving some of her stuff behind. Stuff such as her lipstick and hairband. They served as more evidence to prove that she was responsible for his death.
Fortunately, the whole cover-up worked. It was reported on the paper that the woman he was sleeping with was the killer suspect. Efforts were being made to find and arrest her. The reporter who had written that report in the newspaper kept asking why. Why she could have carried out such a dastardly act? How she could have been so heartless? What had driven her to such length?
Oh, Nolan. Goodbye. Rest in perfect peace. But wherever you are, just know you were the cause of your death.
I had decided to lay low for a bit and spent the remaining days in a small, quiet guesthouse far away until his death case died down. Now I was back. I returned at midnight. And in this wonderful morning, was sitting in the dining with the morning paper in my hands, waiting for my breakfast.
Catherine was sitting at the other end of the table, waiting for her breakfast as well, giggling as she scrolled through her phone. Last night, she was sleeping when I slipped in. And this morning had given me her usual cold welcome. I didn’t mind. It was nothing. I had gotten used to it.
I looked forward to seeing Brianna. I had promised to begin the reading lesson once I came back. And now that I was back, I was looking forward to fulfilling that promise.
As I was about to turn to the next page of the paper, my breakfast of avocado toast and coffee was placed before me. Closing the paper and keeping it on the table, I looked up and was surprised to see that it was Brianna that served me.
Seeing her, my face involuntarily lit up. I smiled at her and she smiled back. But just a little. Nervously. Before she started avoiding my gaze.
I remembered her constantly asking when she could start work as a maid. I had told her whenever she wanted. But I didn’t entirely want her to work as a castle maid. There were more than enough maids to cater for my needs and Catherine’s and the entire castle at large. She didn’t have to worry. But since she insisted, I couldn’t stop her. Good thing I had informed the other maids beforehand not to let her work so hard.
As she served Catherine, my eyes couldn’t help but widen in shock on seeing a reddish mark on the side of her face, as if someone had struck her. It was faint. But I could still see it. Perhaps, that was the reason she was avoiding my gaze.
Anger slowly seeped into me and I resisted the urge to clench my fist. I didn’t want to see her hurt again. I didn’t want to see her in pain ever again. But it seemed like the more I try, the more I fail. That mark although faint was recent. The lip bruise Nolan had inflicted on her at that cocktail party had healed completely. So who could have hurt her again? Who?
The next thing I heard and saw drifted me from my thoughts.
“You stupid illiterate slave!” Catherine cursed Brianna. “I thought I made it clear to you that I don’t take my coffee with added sugar or cream. You just never learn!”
Before I could process what was happening before me, Catherine grabbed her coffee mug and emptied its contents on Brianna’s body.
“Catherine!” I called out as I rose instinctively, my face contorted with both shock and somewhat anger. “How could you do that to her?”
Catherine’s eyes dimmed in confusion and surprise as they met mine. She didn’t expect me to act the way I did. But at that moment, I could care less. What she did was wrong. That coffee was hot. And could give Brianna painful burn injuries.
“She’s so dumb and stupid! She never learns. Always making silly mistakes,” she said and rolled her eyes at Brianna.
“That doesn’t warrant you to pour hot coffee on her,” I said in defence. “She could sustain burns.”
“Well,” she said casually, returning her gaze to me. “If that’ll make her learn, then I don’t mind at all.”
I scoffed, incredulous. How could she be so heartless? So cruel. Catherine had turned into something I couldn’t recognize anymore.
Quickly, I screeched my seat away from the table and walked over to Brianna. Her face was slumped to her chest. I could tell the heat from the coffee was hurting her. But she was suppressing the pain and the tears threatening to flood her beautiful grey eyes. Trying to act strong.
“Are you okay?” I held her upper arm, leaning over to see her face.
“Yes, my king,” she breathed out and looked away. She was trying to hide her face from me. And that was when I confirmed it was because of that mark. She didn’t want me to see it.
“Go clean yourself up.”
“No!” Catherine cut in sharply. “She has to go make another coffee for me.”
“Go Brianna,” I pretended I didn’t hear Catherine and made way for Brianna to pass. “Go clean yourself up.”
At first, Brianna was indecisive. She didn’t know who to listen to. But as I kept repeating myself and made way for her to go, she nodded lightly and followed my instruction, making her way out to Catherine’s greatest surprise.
“Why are you always defending her?” Her voice was hoarse with frustration. “She’s just a fucking slave you bought at the auction. Have you forgotten already?”
“She might be a slave,” I threw back at her defensively. “But she’s still a person like you. A person who deserves to be treated right.”
“Don’t you dare compare me to that shit bag,” she rose at once and banged her palms against the dining table, making the plates rattle in unison. “Don’t make me think you have something going on with her.”
There was a distinct hardening in my eyes as I stared at her. She was turning into something else. Something I couldn’t bear to be with anymore. Without saying a word, I shook my head at her, grabbed my breakfast plate and coffee mug and headed upstairs.