Chapter 106/The Shreds of Our Madness

Chapter 106: 106/The Shreds of Our Madness

Chapter 106

Cedric’s Point of View

Isabella’s eyes widened with a lethal shock that poured a torrent of rage over her features, her face turning completely pale in a matter of seconds as if a powerful, destructive, and sudden slap had descended upon her from where she least expected.

Her body shook with a violent tremor that rattled her limbs as she stared at my rigid facial features in pure disbelief, as though she were trying to find a single shred of a lie to refute what she had just heard.

She took two additional steps backward with defeated, stumbling paces, her diaphragm trembling with a bitter, stifling lump of tears that emerged as a broken whimpering before she shrieked in a strained, shattered voice:

"Has your roughness and coldness reached this extent, Cedric? Telling me so simply to go to your brother, merely because I came to demand some attention that is my legal right?"

Her words, heavy with reproach, and the tears beginning to carve a path down her cheeks did not move a single fiber in my body. Instead, I remained standing in my place like a solid mountain enduring the wind, my arms tightly crossed over my bare chest, which still carried the heat of my night with Stephanie. I glanced down at her with dark eyes filled with absolute blackness and a gaze completely devoid of pity or consolation.

I took a searing breath, exhaling it as a long, provocative sigh that showed my thin patience, hardening my tone to strip it of all emotion as I threw the words out dryly:

"I never forced you to stay with me or tolerate my nature, Isabella. From the very first day your name was dragged into my life, I told you clearly that I am a man who does not fit, in any way, the role of the cliché, romantic fiancé you dream of in your imagination. So, save those precious tears of yours, because they will change nothing about reality."

She clenched her hand with a malice and helplessness that gnawed at her pride, her soft features hardening with a blind hatred that began to form in her eyes as she wiped a rogue tear from her cheek with a rapid, nervous motion.

She did not stop there; her suspicious eyes turned to scan the details of the room with deep doubt, focusing one moment on the disheveled bed with its violently tangled silk sheets, and the next toward the tightly closed bathroom door behind her. My jaw clenched violently and my body locked like stone, fully prepared for an immediate physical intervention to stop her by force if her foolish mind even thought of taking a single step toward that bathroom; my instinct to protect Stephanie overrode any logic.

I tuned into her sharp voice, which was now stained with lethal suspicion, as she continued:

"You have been acting very strangely and defending yourself desperately since my feet touched this room... your features, your tone, and even the way you stand carries a clear attempt to kick me out in any way just to hide something behind you! What on earth is happening here?"

I took a single wide, threatening, and confident step toward her, erasing all distance between us, drawing so close to her pale face that my hot, angry breath carrying an omen of dark trouble brushed against her skin. I locked my dark, terrifying gaze directly into her eyes to instill terror into her veins and suppress her lethal curiosity.

The words came out of my core in a low tone, sharp and deadly as a blade, causing her shoulders to draw back automatically:

"I believe I have already made it clear enough to you that my mood is extremely bad this morning. I am a man who does not allow any creature, whoever they may be, to play the role of an investigator and interrogate me in my private room in this barbaric, provocative manner.

Your immediate departure through this door right now, keeping whatever remains of your dignity, is the best choice you can make before I lose my patience completely and act in a way you will never like."

She flinched a step backward in genuine terror that took over her mind after catching the sparks flying from my eyes, realizing with her female intuition that I was not joking or making empty threats.

She squeezed her purse excessively against her chest with fingers trembling in rage and constraint, looking at me with features distorted by pain and the overwhelming resentment my coldness had left within her. She whispered in a weeping, faint voice, nearly choked by tears:

"You will deeply regret treating me so insultingly, Cedric... I will leave now and abandon your wretched room to you, but keep in mind that this matter will not pass easily, nor will it be forgotten."

She turned her trembling body nervously, walking with rapid, loud, and stumbling steps as her high heels struck the floor forcefully toward the exit of the room. She pushed the door open and walked out, cursing her luck, before slamming it violently behind her a slam that shook the walls of the entire suite and sent a resounding echo through the corridor.

The moment the lock settled and the door closed securely, I took a long, searing breath, as if I had been holding back the fires of my raging core the entire time her heavy presence occupied the room. I turned with an instinctive speed toward the bathroom door, fury gnawing at my chest over how things had played out.

I took wide, decisive steps toward the closed wood, pressing my palm against the metal handle to verify it was locked, then knocked lightly and gently with my fingers, my voice leaving my throat rough and husky from suppressed agitation:

"Stephanie... the bitch has left. Come out now, it’s safe."

The bathroom door opened very slowly and cautiously, and Stephanie stepped out with heavy paces, wrapping the white silk sheet tightly around her body to cover her frame.

Her face was completely pale like the dead, entirely drained of blood, and her slender body shook with a noticeable tremor and nervous twitching from the sheer, lethal terror and psychological pressure she had endured during those bitter minutes behind the door.

She looked at me with wide eyes filled with confusion, regret, and disorientation, her voice cracking in a weeping, strained tone that showed her vulnerability:

"This is all absolute madness, Cedric... a madness we will all pay the price for! I should have never listened to my desire or entered your room this way! We have committed a sin that will destroy us."