05 I own you

Penelope's POV:

I gently place Leila on the bed and open up his envelope. “Oh wow, you're divorcing me too! Isn't this convenient? Why don't we both sign them and go on our merry ways?”

His eyes narrow. “You're cheating on me, isn't it?”

I blink rapidly. “I beg your finest pardon?”

“That's why you're divorcing me. How long has this been going on? Huh? Those business trips, that's when you meet him, isn't it?”

I don't reply. Only because I can't wrap my head around the nonsense coming out of his mouth.

“Is it my brother? Who is it?!”

Something snaps inside me. Something deeply fundamental to my sanity. Blood rushes to my head. My hand flies to my mouth and I bite down on my thumb. Hard. The pain shocks me out of the rage in my gut.

All my rational thinking flies out of the window.

“Don't give me that fucking shit! You're fucking my sister! And you have the….oh my goodness…you have the nerve to stand there and accuse me?!”

A calm washes over his face. “You know.” He says. It wasn't a question. There wasn't the slightest bit of guilt in it. If anything he sounded annoyed.

I feel like clawing my hair out. I feel like bashing his face into my knee. I feel like ripping him to shreds.

“How did you find out? I made sure you'd never.”

Tears of anger and hurt and betrayal burn my eyes. “You sick bastard.”

“Don't give me that look. Did you really buy it? My affection? My love? You thought it was all real?” When I don't reply he scoffs and continues. “Wow. For such a smart woman, you're awfully dumb as well.”

“Sign the papers, Charles. We're done.” I clench my fists. My entire world feels like it's closing in on me.

He shakes his head, clicking his tongue twice. “How long have you known? Ah, let me guess. Before our anniversary? No wonder you were so cold to me. I just commend you though. Being able to bottle it up for this long….kudos. You're amazing. It must have hurt, no?”

A tear breeches my lash line. It's one thing knowing the truth, and it's another hearing him admit it so shamelessly. Without a single hint of remorse.

“Was any part of our marriage real?” my breath shudders as I ask. A sob claws up my throat and I swallow it done. “Even one part?”

“Your sister.” He replies.

“You're disgusting. Both of you.”

He smiles. “We'll settle out differences later, darling. Right now, you're going to help me stop your sister from marrying that Thalorian.”

“Over my dead body.”

He backs me into a wall, caging me between it and his body. “Don't be so difficult, love. I can't bear to see the love of my life marry some loser.”

My hand moves on its own. I punch him square in the jaw. He reels back, howling in pain as he clutches his face. I waste no time and run to the door. I had barely grabbed the doorknob before he was on me.

“Get off me!” I scream, thrashing in his hold. He pins me to the ground, holding both my arms above his head. Blood drips down his nose and onto my chest.

He's livid. His eyes are wild with an anger I've never seen before.

“You fucking bitch,” he snarls, his lip peeled back in anger. “I've tried to be nice to you, Penelope. Looks like you don't appreciate that.”

He grabs my hair and lifts my head up, slamming my head into the ground. My mouth hangs open in a soundless scream, and I feel my brain rattle in my skull. The pain is blinding, exploding all around my head in a dull throb. Black splotches appear at the corners of my vision and I feel a stickiness at the back of my head. A metallic smell fills my nostrils and I gag.

He leans down, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. “Listen to me, Calypso is carrying my child. No matter what happens, she will not marry that fucker. Am I clear?”

I didn't think it was possible for my heart to break any further, but it did. I sobbed quietly, my vision swimming in and out of focus.

My heart completely shatters to dust. The air leaves my lungs and it feels like every part of my body splinters in unison with my heart.

“No…”

“Yes,” Charles chuckles. He kisses my ear gently, a stark contrast to what he just did. “Your actions are pointless, my love.”

“I'll kill you…both of you…”

“You're welcome to try. And don't even think about divorce. You're not going anywhere. You signed a contract, remember? Let's face it, you don't have that kind of money, and you wont survive jail.”

He raises his head and stares at me. He's smiling like he just won the lottery. The bastard is fucking happy.

“Gods, you look fucking incredible like this,” he says with a deep groan. Before I could react, he kisses me, shoving his tongue into my mouth like he's trying to dig a hole.

I want to vomit. I press my lips tightly together, but that only makes him bite them. I feel helpless, defeated and so tired. He pulls back after a few seconds and licks his lips.

"Just let me go..." I sob. I hate how broken I sound. But I hate the words I say more. "I don't care, marry her, fuck her, whatever. Just let me go, were done."

"No way. I own you, Penelope Verdant. All of you. Let you go? Why would i do that?"

He kisses me again. Fear coils in my heart when he starts to touch my waist. But he stops and pulls back. “We're stopping that wedding tomorrow. I don't care how, even if I have to haul in your dead body.”

He gets off me and leaves, the door shutting behind him. I don't know how long I lay there for. I can't even pass out, the pain gets worse and worse but I'm wide awake through it all.

The tears come, and I let them. I've never felt so violated and used in my entire life. And by the one person I loved so much.

Calypso is pregnant with his child. And yet she acts like nothing happened. Gods. She must be laughing at me. She's laughing at me. Both of them. Even the gods are laughing at me.

Poor Penelope. Sad Penelope. Stupid Penelope.

The ringing of my phone shatters the silence. I realize it's dark, and I've laid on the floor for hours.

I force myself to sit up. The blood had dried in my hair, making it matted and filthy. I could smell It, copper and betrayal. It hurt, but it was bearable. I pick my phone up. My mother is calling. She's called six times already.

“Where are you?!” Her screeching makes me wince and nearly drop the phone.

“I'm at—”

She doesn't let me finish. “Come to the hospital immediately! Your sister just had an accident!”