Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sebastian’s POV

“I heard they moved in from France and are looking for companies to partner with. They'll be at the Dome tomorrow. I can take you there” I offered Alina.

I was trying to make it back to her since my father had stolen one of her top partners.

That was the least I could do. Plus I wanted her to smile, she had lost all joy.

She stared at me with empty eyes that had sprinkles of skepticism in them as she shook her head “No, thank you, you should probably stay at home. There's been rumours going around and I am sure the rumors will get to them before I do” She replied quietly “Besides, you have a lot more interesting things to do with your life than go see a few boring old Frenchmen.” She finished.

“You think so? Well then, tell me about it if you change your mind.” I replied. If she said no, I wasn't going to press on, she was a stubborn woman and I knew that she'd make up her own mind when she was ready.

I pretended not to watch her as she walked around the room. Something had shifted in her since she saw that woman and I had a full understanding where it was coming from. But she acted like it was nothing when I tried to help. She could barely hide it even as she tried.

Something caught my eye when she tried to tie her hair in a messy bun.

It was red and it looked furious.

“What is that?” I asked quietly.

“What is what?” She snapped, turning away from the mirror and fixing me with a glare.

I reached out and grabbed her wrist. She winced. It was still new.

“What is this?” I asked, pulling her closer. She turned around to face me and yanked her arm free, pulling down the sleeves of her blouse.

“It's nothing. Stop bothering me” She spat, pushing past me but I wasn't having any of it.

“Tell me. What happened?” I demanded. Why hadn't she told me?

“Why does it matter!?” She shouted.

“It matters because something has obviously been happening lately and we need to talk about it. You're acting strange” I reasoned.

She took in a deep breath then let it out slowly. She seemed conflicted on whether or not she could trust me.

“I fell” She whispered.

I stared at her, I needed to be sure she didn't think I was stupid.

“You fell?” I repeated.

“Yes, I fell...” She answered slowly, her lips trembling slightly. “At the office” Her voice wavered slightly.

“Liar” I whispered softly, stepping closer to her.

“I'm telling the truth,” She cried.

“No you are not. Who did this to you?” I pressed.

Her cheeks were flushed, as red as her wrist.

I wanted to know why. I needed to know. I had to make sure she was okay.

“Why? Did you think someone automatically hit me? Is that the kind of man you are? The type to hit women?” She laughed, but her tone didn't match it.

“Listen to me” I grunted, ignoring the look of fear I saw in her eyes. “I will not let you make this about me. You will not turn the tables around like this by making me feel like the bad guy. Not on me. This isn't funny Alina! Tell me who did this” I demanded.

Her body stiffened and a look of anger passed over her face before it vanished just as quickly.

“I can't,” She hissed, running her hand through her short hair. “I fell,” She said again.

“Stop lying to me! Tell me the truth!” I yelled, grabbing her arm again.

“Let me go! Don't touch me you freak! Let me go!” she screamed.

My grip slackened. She twisted herself out of my grasp.

“Stop acting like you care about me, like we are in love. Stop acting like this is a real marriage , don't pretend like we are getting along just for the sake of appearances. We are not in front of anyone and you don’t need to pretend. The Sebastian I know doesn't give a shit about anything, or anybody else” she spat.

The words bruised my ego, even though I thought she had every right to say them. Still I wasn't convinced.

I grabbed her wrist, there were finger sized bruises all along the underside of her wrist.

“Let go! You can't possibly be serious right now?” She snapped.

Her reaction confirmed my theory, but why was she hiding those injuries from me?

“Tell me who did this to you, Alina. You can fight me later but for now I need to know the truth” I replied.

“I've already told you” She huffed angrily. She tried to pull her arm free but I refused to release her, not until she gave me some sort of explanation

“If I tell you who did this will you let go of me” she asked

“Of course, I’ll let go”I insisted, loosening my hold enough for her to step away from me.

There was a tense silence between us.

“Please” She pleaded with me, taking a step forward.

“Tell me!” I snarled.

“He... He didn't mean for it to happen... Please don'makeme tellyouwhodidthis” She rushed the words out as if they were being dragged from her mouth against her will.

“Who did this to you?” I pressed.

“He didn't mean to hurt me” She whimpered.

“Tell me who did this to you” I ordered.

Alina surprised me. One minute she was in front of me, the other minute she was sprinting towards the door, out into the hallway and slamming the door behind her.

The whole scene was surreal. What had just happened?

I waited patiently outside for Alina to come out of whatever hole she had crawled into but she didn't come back. It was only when I laid in the darkroom later at night that I heard her footsteps echoing in the room as she opened the door, quietly closing it once again.

Then nothing. Not another sound came from the bathroom for hours.