جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Lucas stood outside. The cool night breeze bit at his skin. He lit a cigarette with steady fingers. The flame briefly illuminated his sharp features before vanishing into the dark. He exhaled slowly. Smoke curled from his lips as a rueful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. A feisty little kitten, he thought. She had trembled. Clearly afraid. But she still met his gaze with that spark of defiance. She had no idea what he was capable of. Not yet. He took another drag. The ember flared red. As he adjusted his collar a sudden sting drew his attention. He froze. Glancing down at his wrist. A small angry red mark glared back. Blood speckled where her nails had dug in. He frowned. Lifting it for closer inspection. Her fingernails had dug into his skin. Scratched deep enough to draw blood. He hadn’t even noticed. Probably when he yanked her back. A reflex maybe. But something in him knew better. Something in the way she had pinched. The force she had applied. Told

Arabella Painful laughter tore from my throat. It was jagged and hollow. Like something broken scraping against bone.I threw my head back and laughed. My chest ached from the force of it.The reality was much worse than the initial truth of things that had been dangled in front of me. Things I had allowed myself to believe. I had been blind. Willfully. Pathetically blind.Tears sprang to the surface. Hot and stinging. Blurring the edges of my vision as I choked on another laugh. How foolish I had been. How small. How stupid.I couldn’t even argue with him. He was right to call me that. Stupid. Simple-minded just as he sneered. My laughter faded into a choked gasp. My hands trembled as I pressed them to my face. Nails digging into my skin as if I could claw away my own naivety.“How long?” I pressed. My voice barely above a whisper. “How long have you been planning this?”His lips curved. But there was no amusement in it. Only a cold satisfaction.“Years,” he said. “It took years. Pat

I studied the house more. Observing everyone and everything.One thing became clear early on. How the staff operated as a tight-knit unit. They all gathered in the kitchen for meals. Especially dinner. Before retreating to their individual stations for the night. There was an easy rhythm to the house. Predictable. Familiar.And contrary to what I initially thought the place wasn’t swarming with security. When I first arrived it had felt like eyes were everywhere. Like the very walls were watching me. But the truth? There weren’t many guards at all. Barely any in fact.Not that it made escape any more possible.Even without guards the maids alone could overpower me if I made a funny move. And the gates were far from the main house. Enough that I would never reach them in time.Still I paid attention. From Sophie I learned things.Anna took long showers every night. The butler’s daughter was pregnant and due to give birth soon. Other tidbits. Small and seemingly useless on

Three days. That was all the time I had before Lucas returned.I sat quietly in the kitchen.Anna had already agreed to let me bake tomorrow evening. I had asked innocently enough and she had smiled. Pleased at how well I was “adjusting.” That part was settled.Tomorrow would be the day I left.All I needed now were the pills.My gaze flicked to the far corner where the first aid box sat behind the counter. Locked but not unreachable.It was just Sophie and me here right now. Now would be the best time.“Let me help,” I said lightly. I approached Sophie with practiced calm as she sorted the vegetables for dinner.She smiled and moved aside. Letting me join in.Sneaking into Anna’s room and getting her phone to contact Mona again was a lost cause. I didn’t want to risk it.I would have to get out first then call Mona later. That was the order. That was the only way.I picked up a knife. Its metal gleamed under the warm kitchen lights. My heart drummed a wild rhythm in my chest. Sophie k

It couldn’t be Lucas.No. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her.How had he found her so quickly?Arabella’s blood ran cold. Her already pale face lost all color as her gaze locked with him. Her heart beat wildly as she struggled with herself.He was here? Really here!Her knees nearly gave out beneath her.It felt like standing face to face with the devil himself.Everything. Everything had been a lie? She shook her head slowly. Her eyes still wide in disbelief.Her escape plan. Her frantic coordination and execution. Even the silent prayers. Creeping out of the manor and getting on that train. Were all futile? He knew everything. All of it. While he watched from afar… and laughed.“Sophie lied?” she whispered. Her voice a ghost. “The cameras… they do work?”“No,” Lucas replied calmly. “They don’t.”Her breath hitched. “Then how…”She couldn’t comprehend it. Couldn’t wrap her mind around how he had come two days earlier than scheduled. How he had known she was planning an escape.D