Chapter 4

~CAMILLE~

Should I laugh or cry? I don’t even know. What emotions should a woman who caught her mate cheating on her have? I just stood still—numb, devoid of reaction. What tragic luck I have with everything!

The two were getting a kick out of their moment, their backs to me. Tears rushed to my eyelids, but they wouldn’t dare stream out.

“You should remember to shut the door next time. Not everyone wants to walk in on your shit.” The words left my mouth without thought, and I loved it. My voice was neither shaky nor croaky. It was neutral and apathetic. How did that happen?

The duo inclined their heads to the side and glanced in my direction at my voice’s reverberation, still intertwined. Cassius was thrusting slowly in and out of her.

They didn’t seem aghast to see me—like they had been expecting me to witness what they were doing. Luna Benita wasn’t shocked or ashamed. She kept moaning and clutching him tightly as the pleasure built inside her. Tears welled in my eyes, and my lips pressed together.

“Oh! Anyone who walks in without knocking should be prepared to see the worst. Ain’t shutting shit because of no one,” he retorted, jerking into her aggressively. Luna Benita mewled a loud moan. “Oh, my boy! You are so good. I don’t want this to end.”

“Never, baby. It is you or nobody else. Not even a useless mate can ruin what we share.” He kept jerking her at every word.

Jeez! Oh, my Goddess! They were the ones involved in the act, but I was the one getting ashamed and humiliated.

With my lips pressed shut, I tilted my head back and pushed the tears lurking in my lids away. I couldn’t let them see my tears… not after everything.

“Whoa! You know what this means, right? We are over.” I made sure to conceal the shakiness in my voice. I wouldn’t give them the pleasure of seeing me in a pathetic state.

He snorted. “I never began anything with you.”

That smashed my head in the most unimaginable way. What did he mean by that statement? He never began anything with me?

“What do you mean?” My face twitched. I knew I was feeling nothing in the beginning, but it hurt now. It hurt because there wasn’t an ounce of guilt on their faces. He wasn’t sorry.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he intensified his pace and jerked after a few seconds. Pulling out, a few drops of cum trickled, and he collapsed on the bed. My heart detonated. It felt like it was being squeezed and squashed.

“Oh! I forgot… your brain is just as you look—ugly and shapeless.” He paused for a few seconds. “I never began anything with you. The goddess wanted us as mates, but you just aren’t it. You’re not my type. I only accepted you because I wanted to do you a favor. There were a lot of people in the hall that day; you wouldn’t want to be humiliated, would you?”

That was a joke. I chuckled. “When did you start worrying about how I feel?”

“Hmm! Point of correction… I wasn’t worried about you. I needed to conceal my relationship with Babe by pretending to be mated to somebody, and you happened to be the scapegoat. Strangely, you’re the perfect person for that. I should be thankful to the goddess for that. She did a great one there.” He snapped his fingers.

Both of them burst into laughter.

Every word thrown at me dropped like a detonating bomb—brutal, disastrous, deadly. Did I miss it again? Did I make things up in my head? The happiness was a façade. Everything was a façade. They were never meant to stay. They were there to make me more miserable. The moon goddess, Cassius, Kendra, my mistress—everyone was against me. Nobody was for me.

A few bubbles of giggles crept out of my lips.

For a moment, I thought I could be genuinely happy. That was the dumbest thing to think. For me, happiness doesn’t exist. It would always be from misery to misfortune. It had always been that way, and it wouldn’t change. I should learn to live with it.

Luna Benita gasped and threw her head backward for a few seconds, and my eyes caught something. My body froze. There was no way my eyes saw the right thing.

It cannot be.

Cassius can do anything, but not this.

“Did you mark her? Is that a mark on her neck?” I pointed at him, eyes bulging. The mark was fresh. Anyone could tell it had been made minutes before I stepped in.

“Say it isn’t a mark and prove me wrong, please,” I shouted in my head. My hands trembled vigorously. Not only would I hate myself if it turned out to be real, but I might give up on living too. My mate marked another woman instead of ME? Not just any woman… but his stepmother. No way! That had never happened and would never…

Cassius caressed her neck and placed a kiss on it. “Yes. I marked my baby many times. She deserves it because she is mine and will be mine forever.” He broke my train of thought.

The tears I had been struggling with slid out of my eyes. This was the highest animality I could get from him, and this was my limit. I couldn’t keep enduring his ass.

“Reject me, Cassius. Reject me since you have no use for me,” I muttered, tears streaming down my face unheeded. I could hear numerous laughs in my head. Voices reminded me of how pathetic I was, mocking me for thinking Cinderella was real and I could be one.

“Reject you?” He repeated and burst into laughter. “No way, Camille. I will neither reject nor mark you. You will just be there, stuck with me. Only me and just me,” he revealed.

My knees weakened, and my body shook tremendously. How did I fall into his trap? I should have taken the only opportunity I had to uphold my dignity that night and reject him. Why did I let my desperation control me? How much more pathetic can you be, Camille? You are a disgrace to yourself and womanhood.

“Why, Cassius?” My voice cracked. “Why are you punishing me? Is there any way I’ve offended you?”

“I don’t want to reject you, and you cannot force me to do that. The last thing I want is for you to have a second-chance mate. That would bruise my ego,” he revealed indifferently… like it was nothing but a usual thing to do.

Maybe it was. I was just a girl whose parents dumped her when she was young and lacked identity. If my own parents could hate me enough to discard me, I didn’t think what Cassius did was wrong. I shouldn’t blame anyone but my misfortune for being unlucky.

But still, I needed his rejection. The pain clogging my chest was too much. It felt like hell on earth, like thousands of needles piercing my heart at a time. I thought I could die of a heart attack at that moment. Also, Lyra wasn’t making it easy for me. I could hear her cry. She struggled to get out, but I held her back. She would ruin things.

I went on my knees and clamped my palms pleadingly. “Please, Cassius. Don’t hold me back when you have no use for me. I don’t care about you or your affair. Just reject me. Give me back my life and freedom,” I lied. I cared. I cared about his affairs. Tears streamed down my face, unheeded. Why? Why was I different? Why did he think picking her over me was the best? What was so special about her?

Cassius scoffed. He darted a disgusted gaze over me. Getting out of the bed, he closed the gap between us. He was naked and he didn’t mind.

My breath hitched. I couldn’t stare at him. I couldn’t describe the feeling. Was it embarrassment or disrespect?

Clutching my chin, he forced my head up with it. Watching him up close, I realized there wasn’t an ounce of regret in his eyes. He wasn’t fucking remorseful.

“You should be useful for once, Camille. Since you aren’t good enough to be my mate, you should help me cover my dirty little secret,” he let out, staring directly into my eyes.

My heart beat fast. It could explode at this rate. “What!”

“I can’t reject you, Camille. I need you to cover my secret with Babe. All you have to do is keep your damn mouth shut and pretend to be my mate just like the goddess has made you, and I will give you everything. The fake public love. The fake attention you cannot get elsewhere. You just have to shut up and play your role well.”

“What do you call it? A stand-in or a puppet?” Benita chipped in, and they laughed.

I just stood there like a fool. Not moving, couldn’t get angry, couldn’t join in their laughter. I just watched the two enjoy my misery. That was what I was made for—to be other people’s puppet.

⸻

The journey home was longer than I thought.

I screamed for the goddess of death’s attention, but she never responded. She made me reach home. I wasn’t surprised. Nobody wanted to associate with me. I guessed she didn’t want to either. But how could life be this unfair?

All I wanted was a simple life. Why did I have to go through everything? Why did it have to be me? Can’t I just be happy after so many years of sadness?

Is happiness that expensive while sadness is cheap?

Getting into my room, I mean… my store, I lay on my bamboo bed and stared at the ceiling. Tears rolled down without restriction. What could be worse than the life I’m living?

⸻

Soon, the clouds turned grey, and the sun was gradually replaced with the moon. Stars scattered in the sky, glimmering beautifully. They were undisturbed. Maybe I should have been created as a star so I would only glint at night as my sole and only duty.

I didn’t leave the spot I was in. My eyes were fixated on the ceiling. I didn’t know how many hours I had spent in that spot and posture. I wouldn’t be leaving soon.

Then a strange noise and movement caught my attention. For the first time since I lay on the bed, my head tilted toward the door.

The sound of approaching footsteps followed. For a fact, I could tell they were directed at my room. However, there was something different and ominous about the steps. It wasn’t Kendra’s or my mistress’s. I knew that because they both dragged their feet when walking. These were soft but dangerous. The hair on my body stood erect. I could smell danger. I didn’t know how I was able to discern it, but it was convincing. I would think about that later.

I scrambled off the bed and slowly opened the back door. The people who said there is always good in every bad situation were right. For the first time, I was glad this was my room.

The moment I stepped out through the back door, two men dashed into my room. Their eyes caught mine, and immediately they scampered toward me.

Fear grasped me. At a glance, anyone could comprehend that they were up to no good. They came for a mission, and that was to slay.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Soon, I was in the bush. The thorns scraped my fabric, tearing it. They also pierced my feet. They hurt, but I couldn’t stop… not when my life was in danger.

I remembered I had invited the goddess of death a while ago, but now I realized I didn’t want to die yet. Just maybe there could be some sweetness at the end of this bitterness.

These men didn’t stop. They kept chasing me. My heart dropped to my stomach. My breathing was erratic and unstable.

The sky was dark. My only source of light was the moon, and it didn’t reach the thick, deep part of the forest with bigger leaves. I could only trudge the way with my third sense, and it made running slow. The men didn’t stop. I could hear their steps. They were approaching me.

Blood seeped out of every part of my body. I was weak, but I drew strength from my will to live. I shouldn’t die this way… not so easily.

After running for minutes, I reached the end of the forest. It was a cliff. I couldn’t move forward or backward. At the lower part of the cliff was a dam. Anybody who fell into it from the cliff would never survive… not even miraculously.

My biggest fear happened. The men caught up with me. Their lips curled into sinister smiles. “Where do you think you’re running to? You should be desperate enough to jump off the cliff,” one of them said.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” I asked, gulping. Even if I were to die, I should know why I had to.

“Your killers,” they responded and burst into laughter.

The hair on my skin stood. It sent an irritable wave into my belly. They were dangerous; I could tell.

“Who sent you?” I went straight to the point. I might not have the opportunity to ask more questions after this. I should know my killers before dying, at least.

“The people who are trying to conceal their dirty little secrets. Use your head,” the second man responded.

“Cassius!” I let out.

How could one person be this evil? I thought he needed me to keep his dirty affairs a secret. I thought he needed me to cover his secret? He should keep me if he needed me. Shouldn’t that be the right thing? What changed in a few hours? Why did the plan change? Why did he want me dead a few hours after he declared he needed me? Was that also a façade to lead me on? Was that a façade to make me think I would be safe after seeing what anyone shouldn’t?

A few bubbles of laughter escaped my mouth before it turned into full hysterical laughter. Did he realize I have to die to bury his dirty secret? Did he suddenly realize that my existence could harm him and his beloved?

After depriving me of a dream I had nurtured for many years, he still wanted to deprive me of living. He didn’t reject me, yet he didn’t want me to live.

“Tell him this: ‘If there’s a second chance, it would be for your downfall.’”

The moment I spoke the words, I shut my eyes, spread my arms, and slowly leaned back off the cliff.

It was over. There was no need to cry over spilled milk. I would finally get to rest after years of hardship.