His eyes burned with humiliation, as if to say: See? As long as I’m here, you two will never be together. I’ll make you suffer, slowly, until despair eats you alive.
Lavinia kept calling his name, but he ignored her completely. Following his gaze, she turned, and when her eyes landed on me, they widened in shock.
The flush of desire drained from her face, leaving her pale as death. She scrambled to put on her clothes, her breath ragged and uneven. Pushing Cedric aside, she rushed toward me.
“Ah, Phineas, why did you suddenly come back?”
Her hand trembled as she reached out, but before she could touch me, I shoved her away.
I had been gone for ten days, and not once did she ask where I was. All her attention had been on Cedric.
“Don’t touch me. You’re filthy, covered in another man’s spit.”
My words hit her like a strike. She froze, panic filling her eyes.
“Phineas, don’t say that to me.”
“You know he’s sick. If you don’t give in to him, he’ll lose control, and then he’ll hurt people.”
The longer I looked at her face, the angrier I became.
“Why give in to him? Why refuse to send him to a mental hospital, even if it costs lives? If he’s really sick, then you’re no better, you’re sick too.”