"Please don’t," I whispered softly. The forbidden secret between us, the one that could shatter everything if spoken out loud between my mother and , hung between us in silence. I couldn’t bring myself to bla Raphael for using our secret against when I was the one who plotted to betray him first.
"Then from now on you will do as I say," Raphael said. His eyes didn’t soften and he didn’t smile, and I knew that it would take a while for to gain his trust again.
I got into the car, and we were on our way back to the mansion. My mother looked slightly nervous during the ride, but I was too busy with my own thoughts to inquire about the reason, although I had a really good guess.
"I’m sure Bennett won’t mind. I just hope that nothing happened that made him return from his business trip so early," I said to reassure my mother.
"I hope so. It would be unlike him to get mad simply because we wanted to go on a holiday together. I just hope that his business eting went well," my mother replied as she stared out the window.
Raphael sat across from , his gaze steady and his expression unreadable. Just as always, he seed to be watching my every move. His threat still echoed clearly in my ears, although I couldn’t bring myself to hate him completely for it.
I knew that he was trapping , and although I was disappointed that my plan had failed, I knew that there was a part of that felt relieved. That part of was probably the part that didn’t want to be apart from Raphael - the part that ached and missed him and wanted more than ever for him to hold in his arms.
Right at that mont, I knew that no matter how hard I tried to escape, a part of would always belong to Raphael. Perhaps that was what terrified most of all.
...
The doors of the mansion swung open, and surely enough, Bennett was there waiting for us. He stood in the grand hall as if nothing at all had happened. His expression was calm, and he offered us a welcoming smile when he saw us enter the mansion.
It made wonder if he knew just how close everything had co to falling apart and that we were on our way to escape from him for good.
My mother rushed forward towards him and basically flung herself into his open arms.
"Bennett!" she exclaid. "What is going on? We were on our way to the airport for a holiday and then suddenly-" my mother said before trailing off.
"It’s just a change of plans, darling. Sothing ca up suddenly, and I thought that it would be safer for you two to stay in the mansion instead of traveling. As they say, better safe than sorry," Bennett interrupted her gently before patting her back comfortingly.
My mother frowned and didn’t seem too satisfied with his vague answer, but she decided not to press him. She let him lead her down the hallway to the living room.
"Let’s take a seat before we talk. You’ve been under so much stress already, I don’t want you to feel worse or get sick," Bennett said.
I watched the two of them leave before I realized that I was left alone with Raphael. The silence between us pressed down on like a dead weight.
He was standing just a few steps away, with his broad shoulders looking extrely tense. I knew that I needed to give him so kind of explanation, but I couldn’t co up with anything plausible.
"Why? Why were you trying to run away?" His question snapped at like a whip.
My throat tensed and closed up as my hands started to shake.
"I wasn’t trying to," I mumbled, lying.
"Don’t lie to , Abigail," Raphael said, and his voice rose coldly.
Tears ran down my eyes and before I could stop them, I had started crying right in front of him. I hated showing him weakness, especially when I had just made up my mind to get away from him and to save my mother for good.
"Because I can’t live like this! I can’t do this! I can’t just pretend that everything is fine when I know that it’s not. I can’t pretend that I don’t know who you are and what your family does," I said before my voice broke from emotion.
I thought that Raphael would get extrely angry at my sudden outburst, but his eyes only softened as if he could understand the pain that I was going through.
"I know that it isn’t easy, but we are trying our best to keep you safe," Raphael replied calmly.
"Is this what you call safe? I know you’re trying your best, but I can never feel safe living a lie every day. I can’t tell my mother the truth, and it pains every ti that I see her happy because she is living a lie and I know it," I said before my voice started cracking again.
My entire body trembled because I knew that my mother and I didn’t belong in this world. For a mont it looked like Raphael was about to say sothing, but then he faltered. It was as though his anger had subsided and he was willing to listen to .
"I was just trying to protect my mother. I was trying to protect us. Do you understand? Every ti I look at her, I wonder just how long it would take before the truth destroys her. I don’t want to see my mother get crushed by the reality of it all," I confessed.
Raphael’s jaw visibly tightened, and I could see his fists clench at his sides. His anger was no longer wild; it had beco a cold and controlled feeling.
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