All Novel Sweet
Chapter 51
Mara’s unapologetic admission of her ruthless actions left me reeling. The fact that she was openly admitting it annoyed me more than just a little. It showed how little she thought of me and that made me just want to punch her in the face but seeing how cold hearted she was so up-close bothered me too.
I now knew that she was evil, she had no reason to hide her true self from me anymore. Not that she used to be nice but it was only going to get worse from here on henceforth and I did not know if I was ready to face that kind of hell.
Mara was going to do all it took to get me out of the way, there was no safe space for me in the palace anymore.
I couldn’t fathom the depths of her depravity, and I found myself sputtering in disbelief even though I tried to act cool like. her words didn’t affect me at all. My voice betrayed me.
“You’re heartless,” I managed to choke out, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. “Sick, even!” I yelled, spilling out what came to my mind without caring that she could get mad and decide to drive a knife through my chest behind the closed doors of the kitchen. She could easily get away with it. No one saw me come in after all.
She could easily pin my death on her last maid and I would quickly become a thing of the past. “You are from the pit of hell, Mara and there is nothing good about you.” I said bitterly readying my face for a resounding slap but nothing came.
To my surprise, Mara seemed to take my words as a compliment, a twisted smile playing at the corners of her lips. She was truly the devil’s incarnate. Her maid snickered next to her and I glared at her but I actually pitied her because she did not know what was coming for her or maybe she knew and she was purposely ignoring it. Mara was just going to use and dump her when she was done with her. I don’t know how she managed to convince the maid otherwise but I had to give her credit for knowing how to get people to be loyal to her and those include Aston.
She folded her arms and turned to face me, a tiny smirk playing across the side of her lips.
“That’s because you’re starting to get in the way of my plans,” she confessed, her eyes glittering with malice. “Which is precisely why I want you gone.” She threatened and I couldn’t help but press for more information, desperate to understand the scope of Mara’s schemes. “What plan?” I demanded, my frustration mounting. “Tell me, so I can make sure to stay away from it completely.” If I was something that I could stay out of then I was more than willing to. I wanted to avoid everything that would make us cross paths than we needed to. Most of all I just wanted to stay safe.
Mara let out a chilling laugh, her amusement only serving to heighten my anxiety. “Oh, Kira, it’s much too late for that,” she taunted. “You’re already tangled up in this web, and there’s no way for you to escape. So I see no need to reveal my plans to you.” Even if there was a way to save me, she still would not so I was not exactly surprised.
As Mara and her maid shared a sinister laugh, I could not help but wonder how Aston could be so blind to her true nature. Mara’s deceit seemed so obvious to me, to practically everybody else but him yet he remained oblivious to the danger she posed. She was a ticking time bomb and he was busying himself with other things instead of finding a way to get her out of the fucking way or let me go at least. Her eyes lingered on my body for a long time as if she was contemplating what part of me she wanted to chop off and feed to wild goats.
Before leaving, Mara leaned in close, her breath hot against my ear as she whispered a final warning. “Watch your back, Kira,” she hissed, her voice dripping with venom. “Now that you know I want you dead, I won’t rest until I’ve succeeded in getting rid of you. Start counting your days.” Her words echoed in my ears and they made my stomach twist in a sickening sense of fear. I hated Mara but my hate was not going to be enough weapon to fight her.
Mara was thoroughly equipped with more than enough people and weapons to kill me. She could literally just decide to make me work till I dropped to the ground and died. Who would hold her guilty for that? Not Aston.
There was only so much Brax could do if I was already dead. There was no bringing me back to life.
With that, she strutted out of the room, her loyal maid trailing right behind her like a puppy. leaving me alone with my turbulent thoughts that she had casually provoked with her words and left me to deal with by myself.
Fear and unease settled heavily in my chest, and I tried to weigh my options. How could I get rid of Mara? I did not want to
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Chapter 51
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have to bother Brax because he had done more than enough for me already and I knew that going to Aston for help would be futile. He’d never believe me over Mara, I knew that already and he had already proven it to me more than twice. I couldn’t risk further inciting Mara’s wrath. It would not do me any good at all. She could decide to hasten the process of my death and then I would be more helpless than I already was.
That night, as I grudgingly served Aston his dinner, he called me back just as I turned to leave and I fought the intense urge to grumble. I wanted whatever he was about to do to be over as soon as possible, I needed to go think about ways to preserve my life.
His gaze raked over me, taking in every detail, before he spoke. “Are you eating?” he asked, his voice strangely subdued.
Confused, I frowned at him. “What do you mean?” I asked, uncertain of his intentions.
“You look skinny,” he observed, his eyes lingering on my form. You need more weight on your bones.” I would not be mad at his words if he was not the reason I was losing my mind, loosing weight, loosing respect and was about to loose my goddamn life to. I considered picking up the fork on the table and stabbing his eyes with it. It was a scene I had imagined a million times before and he had just given me a good reason to bring the scene to life.
I bristled at his words, my defences rising as I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m fine,” I insisted, unwilling to discuss my well-being with the reason I was not well.
He fixed me with a steely gaze, his expression hardening. “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” he stated coldly. “Now, sit down and have some of this meal.”
I stared at him, shocked, as he pushed the plate towards me. I was not sure what sick game he was playing this time but I knew too well that the last thing he could possibly care about was my well being. Was he preparing me for another embarrassing moment?
“Eat,” he commanded, his tone leaving room for no argument. “It’s an order, not a request.” Why it was an order was what I was yet to understand. Was he trying to poison me? That was impossible, I served the food only a few seconds ago, there was no way he could have spiked it so quickly.
Reluctantly, I sank into the chair and began to pick at the food, my hunger overshadowed by the unease that gripped me. Throughout the meal, I avoided his gaze, but I could feel the weight of it on my skin, searing and intense. His eyes were literally boring holes into my body and I needed him to stop but it was not like I could tell him to. How did he expect me to swallow while he stared at me like that?Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
The atmosphere in the room was charged with unspoken tension, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was teetering on the edge of a precipice, my fate hangin