Chapter 164/The Owner of Your Breath

Chapter 164: 164/The Owner of Your Breath

Chapter 164

Stephanie’s point of view

A suffocating, terrifying silence fell over the room. The gentle, sweet expression completely vanished from his face, replaced by that chilling, sharp look he wore when he was ruthlessly reading a room or cutting through a lie. He bent his torso down slightly, his voice dropping into a low, dangerously sharp whisper. "Are you hiding something from me, Stephanie?"

My heart squeezed so hard it ached, the walls closing in as the tight noose of my own lies threatened to strangle me. Trapped, I did the only thing I could I flipped the script, throwing up a desperate defense by going on the attack.

"Seriously, Alexander?!" I snapped, my voice sharp and cracking with a volatile mix of anger and tears. "Are you really going to start accusing me of hiding things every single time we discuss something that is purely my business?"

He responded with a terrifying calmness, his eyes locked onto mine like a predator tracking prey. "I don’t know... but I can feel it. You’re not telling the truth. There’s a dark cloud in your eyes."

I slammed my palm down onto the surface of the water, sending a harsh spray splashing over the edges. "You want to know something, for God’s sake?!" I yelled, my chest heaving, completely suffocated by the crushing weight of the pressure. "I am so damn tired of this! I am sick and tired of having to justify myself and every single little move I make to you, over and over again! It’s like my life, my every fucking breath, doesn’t even belong to me anymore it belongs solely to you!"

In an instant, his features shifted. He moved with slow, deliberate, and fiercely confident strides until he was towering right over the edge of the tub. His massive frame cast a dark shadow over me as he planted his large hands firmly on the marble ledge surrounding the bath, completely trapping me beneath his imposing weight and lethal aura.

When he spoke, his voice was smooth, warm, and utterly terrifying as sharp and definitive as a razor blade. "But your life does belong to me, Stephanie. You are my wife."

Defeated and entirely powerless, I averted my gaze, staring blindly at the tiles. I weakly gestured toward the door with a trembling hand, my voice breaking. "Get out... please just get out and leave me alone for a little while."

The tension in his face relaxed completely, and a slow, controlled half-smile played on his lips a look of absolute dominance. "Of course," he said, his tone dropping into a sickeningly soft caress. "I’ll leave you alone to rest for now. We’ll talk about this later."

He leaned down and pressed a long, warm, lingering kiss to my forehead. Then, he turned on his heel and walked toward the door, exiting the bathroom with a quiet, calm finality.

He left, leaving me entirely alone at the very bottom of hell.

I closed my eyes in agonizing pain, letting the back of my throbbing head sink against the freezing marble edge of the tub. My breath hitched, escaping my throat in burning, ragged gasps. Images flashed behind my eyelids like a sickening reel Alexander’s cold command, the burning, possessive fire in Cedric’s eyes, and Vincente’s terrifying, monstrous threats.

My mind boiled over with the disgusting, suffocating reality of my life. I loved Cedric, and I loved Alexander at the exact same time. I couldn’t choose between them—not in a million years. Because even if I found the fucked-up courage to make a choice, the sheer amount of blood that would spill between the two brothers because of me wouldn’t solve a damn thing. It would be pure, unadulterated destruction.

The tears finally overflowed, streaming down my cheeks to mix with the bathwater. I whispered into the empty room, a breathless, broken hiss tearing past my trembling lips.

"Then... I can’t keep either of them. And I won’t choose one just to destroy the other. I’ll give them both up. I’m taking my children, and I’m running far away from this fucking palace."

I stepped out of the bathtub, my limbs leaden and completely drained, utterly crushed by the exhausting weight of last night. I wrapped myself tightly in a warm cotton bathrobe, praying it would chase away the violent shivers that fear had embedded deep into my pores. I dragged my feet into the bedroom, my energy entirely depleted, and began drying my wet hair with a towel in a frantic, almost hysterical rush.

My hands shook so violently they collided against each other as I scrambled to get dressed a direct reaction to the suffocating tension bottled up inside me and the raw terror that kept clawing at my throat because of that godforsaken bastard, Vincente.

I glanced up at the round clock mounted on the wall, and my stomach immediately did a sickening, violent flip. My insides wrenched in pure agony; the hands pointed clear as day to 8:00 AM. My appointment with the OB-GYN to check on the twins was at 9:00 AM sharp.

A memory of the fierce, unyielding promise I’d made to Cedric last night that we would go together to see his babies flashed through my mind. But now, with Alexander lurking in the palace and Vincente’s unspoken threat hanging over my head, the mere thought of stepping out with both of them amplified this living hell.

The suffocating anxiety wound around my throat like a tightening noose.

I drew in a ragged breath, trying to force the scalding air out of my exhausted lungs, and walked out of the room. I descended the grand staircase with heavy, dragging steps, feeling exactly like a dead woman walking toward her own execution. Hesitantly, I stepped into the massive, opulently suffocating dining room.

My eyes immediately collided with the rest of the family gathered around the table, their expressions carved from stone. And right there among them, sitting in all her pristine, infuriating elegance, was that bitch Valentina, practically dripping with smug satisfaction.

The moment her sharp eyes locked onto me, her heavily painted lips stretched into a faint, sickly yellow smile oozing pure venom and veiled malice. "Dear sister Stephanie... good morning," she purred, her tone sickeningly sweet and syrupy. "I do hope you managed to get a proper night’s rest."

My face contorted in sheer disgust. Making absolutely no effort to mask the utter revulsion twisting my features, I bit out, "Good morning."

I moved with guarded apprehension, taking my usual seat right next to Alexander. In that exact fraction of a second, I could feel Cedric’s burning gaze piercing through me from across the table. His eyes were ablaze with a lethal mix of suffocating jealousy and raw betrayal, cutting into my face and lips like sharpened knives, his eyelids never blinking once.

Grandfather Victor shattered the suffocating, heavy silence. His gruff, commanding voice imposed an instant authority over the room as he set his hot coffee cup down onto the saucer with a deliberate click. "How are you and the pregnancy holding up today, Stephanie? You look remarkably pale."

I fought like hell to stitch together the pieces of my trembling voice, forcing a fragile, fake calm onto my face. "I’m fine... I’m completely fine, Grandfather. Just a little exhaustion, nothing more."

Then, without a single shred of warning, Alexander shifted his massive frame entirely toward me.

His voice rang out loud, confident, and bone-dry. "Today is your doctor’s appointment, Steph. We are going together to check on the twins and see how their development is coming along."