Two

KAIDA REED POV 

I didn’t bother to ring the doorbell. I yanked the door open with trembling hands and stepped inside. 

I walked up the stairs, every step bringing me closer to her bedroom door making my heartbeat roar in my ear. 

There was no way what I was thinking was true, but since he was poisoning me, I couldn’t rule out the possibility of him also cheating. But with Helena. My sister. It couldn’t be.

I stopped at the door, reached for the handle, and froze as I heard Lucien’s voice 

"You look so beautiful," he grunted, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the air.

I froze, my lungs closing up.

Why was Lucien in Helena’s room? My eyes widened. Were they having sex?

"How beautiful," Helena moaned, panting heavily.

I pushed the door a bit with a trembling hand, everything catching fire inside of me as my eyes locked on the naked bodies on the bed.

"Ethereal," he grunted, fucking into her at a slow and languid pace. "If I can, I’ll live inside of you forever."

"Then why don’t you come by more often," she groaned, her finger digging into his ass to push him deeper as she met his thrust. "It’s been a week. You used to come to me every day. Are you starting to feel pity for Kaida?"

"Of course not," his voice was sharp. "It’s just that I have to monitor her these days. I found out she went to the hospital a few weeks ago. That bitch. She never listens to simple fucking instructions".

His words were like ice-cold water dousing over me.

"I wish I could just kill her now," he groaned, flattening his tongue on one of her nipples, and sucking hard.

Her hand flew to his head, her finger grabbing chunks of his hair—hair I never got to touch since he refused to be intimate with me—and tugging hard. 

"Oh God, just like that!" 

"You like that, huh?" He grinned, pounding into her harder. "Should I just kill her when I get home..." He grabbed her neck. "Should I?"

Helena threw her head back, her nails digging into the sheets. "You can’t. Isn’t she already at death’s door... All you have to do is increase the dosage as we planned, and she’ll be out of our lives soon."

He threw her leg over his shoulder, sweat slicking his back. "But I really can’t take it anymore. Just when is she going to die, huh? Why do we have to meet like this because of her? We love each other and yet I have to treat you like some freaking mistress."

I couldn’t breathe. Darkness crept up the edge of my vision, and for a second, I feared I was going to faint.

Helena pushed him onto his back, straddled him, and then sank onto his length.

They both moaned in unison, then sighed contentedly. 

I felt sick to my stomach.

Lucien’s eyes slipped closed as she started to ride him. 

"Do you have to torture yourself so much? I don’t complain, do I?"

He grabbed her hips, his face contorted in pleasure. "That’s because you’re a literal angel. I should have just killed her after we merged our companies. I defeated Zavian and got everything I’d ever wanted," he thrust into her sharply, making her yelp. "Well, maybe not everything since the fortune your father left is still in her name—"

She kissed him then, all tongue and spit. "And that’s all the more reason we can’t make any mistakes. If we’re going to be together, you can’t be a suspect in her death. Everyone has to believe she died naturally after falling sick."

The pain in my chest intensified.

"I know that, but I am so tired of pretending to love her. Breathing the same air as her makes me sick... She’ll never compare to you, Helena. I only live for moments like this, when you and I get to be together."

"Me too. Oh God, me too."

Lucien flipped her on her stomach, pushed her face into the sheet, dragged her ass up, and filled her up in one hard thrust.

She moaned into the pillow, her ass pushing back on him.

"You know what I regret the most. Getting married to her just because she saved my sister’s life."

She grabbed the bed frame as he slammed into her over and over again. "Oh my god, Lucien... I’m so fucking close."

"Come for me," he rasped, his head thrown back. "Show me who this pussy fucking belongs to."

Helena’s body tightened, a sharp cry escaping her open mouth as she came. Lucien grunted, his hip pistoning in and out, her juices coating the length of his dick.

The ground beneath my feet shifted, and I turned, my breath coming out in short, sharp gasps as I stumbled down the stairs. 

I must have made a noise because the door suddenly opened behind me, and I heard someone gasp in shock, followed by frantic steps coming up behind me.

My lungs felt like sandpaper, every sharp intake of air hurting more than the last. I was almost at the front door when sharp nails dug into my arms and spun me around.

Lucien’s breath came in harsh pants. 

Did he run down the stairs to catch up to me? 

He looked pissed off and the loving look that used to be in his eyes was nowhere to be found.

"What the hell are you doing here!" he roared, his grip bruising. "What did you hear! Tell me!"

I yanked my hand from his hold, then stepped back from his towering presence, my teary gaze moving from his to those of Helena.

"Do you have any right to ask me that question?" Tears spilled down my cheek, my vision blurry as I stared up at the man I loved and married. "How can you do this to me? If you didn’t love me anymore, why didn’t you divorce me?" My heart broke into a million pieces at his blank stare. "Why did you have to do something so cruel! What did I do to deserve this?"

Helena scoffed, stepping in front of Lucien. "Are you really going to ask such an obvious question? You heard everything, didn’t you? Gosh, you’re even more pathetic than I thought."

"I am pathetic? You’re the one sleeping with her sister’s husband—"

She laughed, cutting me off. "Sister? Stop being so delusional, Kaida. From the moment we met until now, you’ve never considered me family. Isn’t that why you’ve done all you can to make my life miserable?" 

"What are you talking about? I’ve been nothing but nice to you!" I yelled as rage slowly replaced the ache in my chest. "If I hated you so much, would I have gotten you this house for your birthday?" I shouted, stepping toward her.

Lucien shoved me. Hard. I crashed into the door, the hit knocking the air out of my lungs.

"Don’t even think about hurting her. Did you think buying her a house was going to erase everything you did to her? All you do is use your money to buy people and get what you want, so cut the fucking billshit!"

There was no way this was real. It couldn’t be.

"Is that why I deserve to die? I’ve never done anything to hurt you. I let you have everything you want—"

He scoffed. "You let me? Just because I got a little help from you, you think you made me, don’t you? News flash, Kaida, I was a millionaire. With or without you, I’d still have been successful."

"Would you?" I asked, stepping in his face, "I was the one who convinced my father to invest in your company. I merged father’s company with yours against his will and worked for two years to make sure you had no competition, and you dare say that to my face! My father died hating me because of you!"

"If you hadn’t ruined Helena in front of him, the company wouldn’t have been yours. You’re only receiving karma for all the shit you did."

My gaze cut to those of Helena’s. "Is that the lies you told him, that I ruined you in front of Father?"

She smirked. "Lies? Didn’t you have a DNA test done to prove that I wasn’t a true Reed... Because of what you did, Father cut me out of his will, but it wasn’t enough for you, was it? You knew Lucien, and I loved each other, and you went after him, too."

My hands struck against her cheek before I could stop myself.

Helena gasped, her hands moving up to cup her cheek.

I was going to slap her again when Lucien’s fist drove into my face. I crashed to the floor, the whole side of my face on fire.

I blinked, the blood in my vision making it hazy.

Did Lucien just hit me?