Chapter 107/The guilt Of Sin

Chapter 107: 107/The guilt Of Sin

Chapter 107

Cedric’s point of view

My heart clenched with genuine pain at the sight of her brokenness and her miserable state because of me. I took cautious, slow steps toward her, attempting to close the distance between us without startling her further.

I relaxed the harsh facial features I had used to confront Isabella, even though my body was still completely taut from the remaining tension, and reproached her in a low voice filled with frustration at her denial of our feelings:

"Stephanie... why are you saying this now? And why are you turning the most beautiful thing that happened between us into a sin you demand to be cleansed from?"

She averted her face from me with nervous, absolute refusal, squeezing her trembling grip on the edges of the sheet so tightly that her knuckles turned white from the pressure.

Her shoulders shook violently as she took a step backward, distancing herself from my space, and cried out in a sharp voice choked with heavy tears that soaked her cheeks:

"Because what we are doing is a grave mistake and a shame, Cedric! Don’t try to beautify the truth with words... you are a man who is already engaged, and your woman was standing right outside the door, and I am a married woman now with a husband waiting for me! This thing happening between us is wrong, and no sane mind can accept it!"

My jaw clenched with a terrifying violence until my facial muscles protruded, the fires igniting in my chest once more. A wave of blind fury washed over me from her words and her constant reminders of reality. I advanced toward her with a dominant rush I couldn’t restrain, clamping my broad palms over her bare shoulders with an excessive force to prevent her from escaping, yet with a hidden gentleness so as not to hurt her.

I locked my dark, obsession-ignited eyes directly into her trembling gaze, the veins in my neck bulging terrifyingly from the intense emotion and pressure, and I roared in a husky voice that shook her stability:

"But I am engaged by force and intimidation, Stephanie! A wretched deal I did not choose! And you... you are married to my brother Alexander only because I, by the weakness of my mistake, couldn’t break this cursed engagement!"

Tears poured from her eyes heavily like a waterfall, and her diaphragm moved with a stifled, painful sob that tore at my heartstrings.

Yet, despite her breakdown, she raised her head with an injured, defiant pride, attempting to push my bare chest with both of her small palms to free herself from my locking hands, saying with a cutting, absolute despair that knew no turning back:

"The past is over, and regret is useless now, Cedric... reality is what we are living right now, and for that exact reason, we must stay away from each other permanently and decisively before one of us is exposed and hell breaks loose in the palace!"

I tightened my grip on her warm shoulders, refusing to release her, drawing my face close to hers with blind madness and determination until my hot, erratic breath brushed the skin of her pale face. I asked her in a roaring, choked, and torn voice filled with the doubt and jealousy that was nearly destroying my mind:

"Stephanie... look into my eyes and confess the truth to me right now... do you love my brother Alexander? Has he actually entered your heart?"

Her expression changed completely in a single second. She flinched in genuine shock and terror, shaking her head in a frantic denial as she tried to avert her eyes from my piercing gaze, which was reading every single tremor within her. She spoke in a trembling, broken voice:

"What... what is this insane question you are asking now! Leave me alone, for heaven’s sake!"

My jaw clenched so violently that my teeth nearly shattered inside my mouth, and my massive frame vibrated entirely from the lethal jealousy and suppressed rage boiling in my gut like a volcano. I continued with bitterness and a rough voice saturated with pain:

"The two of you were together in the past. My brother loves you and adores the very ground you walk on that is very obvious and needs no proof, and he still looks at you with that hunger! But you... I want to know about you! Do you still love him and surrender to his embrace in the same way?"

She moved haphazardly and nervously despite my trap, trying to break free with stubborn, desperate resistance while averting her gaze far from my face, speaking with rapid breaths and obvious haste to escape the situation:

"I have to go and leave from here right now, as fast as possible... I’ll be late for work!"

I couldn’t tolerate her continuous evasion, which was slaughtering my manhood. My hand extended with a swift, blinding motion, clamping around her arm with absolute tightness like an iron cuff. I pulled her body toward me forcefully, my frame locking like a mountain towering over her, and I said with a harsh, cutting voice that carried an order allowing no discussion:

"Stephanie... you will not walk out of this door and you will not go anywhere until you answer my question clearly!"

Her eyes widened with genuine pain from the strength of my grip, her tears cascading heavily to flood her face. Her shoulders shook with weakness and surrender as she tried to pull her arm in vain from my rough hold, and she shrieked in my face in a weeping tone filled with oppression and threat:

"Cedric! Let go of my hand right now and release me! Do you want, with this stubbornness of yours, for me to faint again and lose consciousness because of the panic and fear you are driving me into?!"

The moment those words pierced my ears, the blood froze in a shocking instant inside my veins. My fingers loosened with the speed of lightning and I took a massive step backward, leaving her arm immediately as if I had touched burning coals. For despite my brutality and obsession with her, I could never tolerate the thought of her being harmed because of me, or her slender body suffering any affliction or medical episode that would bring back the nightmare of her fainting.

I took a long, searing breath to calm my state, fixing my dark, promise-heavy gaze upon her, and spoke with pain and arrogance to preserve what remained of my prestige:

"Fine, Stephanie... I will let you leave now for your safety alone, but I will never forget this escape. I will interrogate you and wrench the answer out of you later at another time, keep that in mind."

She didn’t wait for another syllable from my mouth to waste time. She spun around with extreme speed, moving with stumbling, terrified paces toward the door, running out to race the wind from the room while wrapping the white sheet tightly around her frame and dragging its edges behind her in terror and anxiety that anyone might catch a glimpse of her. Her original dress had been entirely shredded and turned to rags by my hands throughout the past night hours that bore witness to our madness.

I remained standing in the middle of the room for long seconds, listening with intense focus to the sound of her rapid footsteps as they distanced and faded into the outer corridor. Then, I threw my body violently onto the disheveled bed, feeling the exhaustion and fatigue tearing at my physical build. I stretched across the mattress with my eyes pinned to the vacuum, burying my face haphazardly into the silk pillows, drawing in a deep breath from the depths.

Damn this magic... her delicious, feminine, and intoxicating scent was still wafting powerfully throughout the bed, piercing my breaths with a madness that reignited my desire in an uncontrollable manner!

I laced my fingers nervously behind my head, staring at the ceiling with eyes that darkened with malice, threats, and planning for the near future. My jaw clenched with a lethal resolve that knew no retreat, and I spoke in a low, stern voice that carried an eternal vow:

"Stephanie... know very well that neither my brother Alexander nor any man in this wretched world will be able to take you from me or keep you, even if you are married to him... I will not allow him to have you, and in the end, you will belong to no one but me."