Semua Bab LITTLE MISS RED : Bab 11 - Bab 20

MICHAEL“Get away from me — you disgust me.”My father’s voice thundered through the mansion walls, deep and violent enough to rattle the air.“Please, David… don’t go. I’ll slim down, I’ll be better, I promise—”It was happening again.Her voice, the same desperate, breaking tone. Her hands grabbing his trousers. His disgust like acid in the air.A harsh slap cracked through the house, sharp enough to slice through bone. Then came her scream — my mother’s scream.I stepped to the edge of the staircase and looked down.He was kicking her. Hard. Repeatedly. As if she were a stain he was trying to scrub off his existence. She clung to his leg, sobbing, begging him not to leave, but he kept hitting until she collapsed.I stood there. Frozen. Watching.Because in this house, watching was all a child could do.Eventually he stopped. He straightened, adjusted his cufflinks, and smoothed his tie. Within seconds he looked like a perfect gentleman again.He walked up the stairs, stopped in fron

MICHAELThe dead silence of the night felt right. Too right.I sat in the back of the car while Ilya drove. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my thoughts, but all I could see was Red curled in her friend’s arms, begging me to go away.The image kept replaying.My eyes snapped open.“Are we there yet?” I asked, calm enough to scare anyone.“Not yet, boss.” Ilya glanced at me through the rear-view mirror. “Are you okay, boss?”“Drive, Ilya.”“Yes, boss.”Am I okay? What a stupid question.I felt numb. Empty. Hollow.I knew what I was feeling—I just couldn’t feel it properly. My body burned like a furnace, and the fire had nowhere to go. I flexed my hand into a fist. I needed an outlet before the flames inside me burned me alive.“We’re here, sir.”I stepped out of the car and walked toward the large mansion. I rang the doorbell, lit a cigar, inhaled, let the smoke settle in my lungs.The door opened.Elizabeth Maddox stood there in a pale pink nightgown.“What a pleasant surprise,” she

MichaelI couldn’t feel a damn thing.Even with how fast Eddie’s fists slammed into me, there was no pain—just a ringing, hollow roar inside my head. I ducked his next punch and drove my knuckles into him again and again, every hit fueled by the anger twisting inside my chest. I didn’t stop when he started bleeding. I barely saw him anymore. Everything in front of me was red, and that red was her.Eddie managed to throw me off, and suddenly laughter cut through the room.Nathaniel.I glared at him as he leaned against the ropes, that mocking grin of his digging straight under my skin.“Come on, Michael. Don’t be grouchy. I didn’t take your professor from you.”“Shut up, Nathaniel,” I growled.He didn’t.He never fucking does.“Don’t yell at me,” he kept going, voice light, amused, “I’m not the cause of your misfortune.”It was instant. The next thing I saw was Nathaniel sprawled on the floor with a broken nose. Eddie grabbed me, saying something I couldn’t even hear through the blood

Red.**I sat inside my car, my phone propped in front of me as I practiced deep breaths.“You will be fine, love. Tell me immediately if anyone says something stupid to you,” Michael reassures.We’re on FaceTime. I’ve been in the parking lot for almost two hours, trying to gather the courage to step into the school. I decided it’s time to go back to work—whatever has happened has happened. I can’t let it defeat me. I’m a survivor. I can survive this. I can.“Why aren’t you here? You promised to do this with me,” I complain, pouting.He grins. “I may not be there physically, but I’m here, aren’t I?”I scoff. “It’s not the same.”“I really wish I could be there physically, love, you know that. But I have to be in New York personally.”I still don’t understand what Michael is doing in New York. I’ve asked him several times, and all he says is that it’s Ilya’s business, he’s only there for support. I once FaceTimed him and heard gunshots—he told me it wasn’t gunshots. But I know what I he

Michael.I could feel the tightness in my muscles, the familiar recoiling pain as I exerted energy, punching the bag again and again, trying to purge the negative energy burning inside me. Red was upstairs, in my room. I didn’t want to taint her with this darkness. She was too pure, too perfect—so fucking perfect.I already felt guilty that I had to cut our date short and fly us back here. I didn’t even take her back to the school or the mansion. I brought her to my personal house instead. I had to keep her safe. If anything happened to her—Just the thought made me increase my tempo, my fists slamming harder into the bag until it finally tore apart.I stepped back and watched the sand pour out of it. Useless now.I reached up and began removing the bandages around my hands.“That’s the fifth bag this morning.”“Maybe if you agreed to spar with me, I wouldn’t be destroying sandbags.”I turned to see Ilya standing there.“I still haven’t said anything about how my father found out abou