Just as I was getting ready to leave for the U.S., the orphanage director showed up with the police.
He claimed Sebastian had been the one who crippled him.
He swore he would make Sebastian rot in prison.
Sebastian was away on a business trip.
So I confessed before he could get back.
I took all of it.
That year, I was sixteen, and I was locked up for aggravated assault.
When Sebastian saw me through the visitation glass, his eyes were red with fury.
He called me stupid.
I only laughed.
I was already mud.
He had to stay clean.
Two years later, I got out.
I didn’t waste time dwelling on rotten people or rotten memories. I flew straight to America to find him.
At twenty-one, Sebastian was already everything he’d promised himself he would become.
Tailored suits.
Controlled voice.
Cold elegance.
A man who looked expensive even in silence.
But when he looked at me, his eyes still softened.
Still indulged me.
Back then, in that foreign country, we clung to each other like we were trying to steal warmth from the other’s skin.
Neither of us knew then that one day I would press a gun to his forehead.
And he would pin me down and choke me like he wished I’d never been born.
When I was twenty-four, Sebastian became executive president.
He got busier.
And busier.
Meanwhile, I didn’t have to do anything. He had fulfilled his promise. I ate what I wanted, wore what I wanted, played when I wanted. He really had given me a good life.
So why wasn’t I happy?
I started noticing traces of perfume buried beneath the alcohol on his clothes.
Started making little jealous jokes, telling him to stay away from the glamorous blondes around him.
Sebastian always remained patient.
He never argued.
Never exposed my insecurity.
He’d only bite my ear in bed and murmur in a rough, breathless voice, “Everything I have is yours. Why would there be another woman? Hm? Are you stupid?”
So I let myself believe him.
We had grown up together.
Survived together.
Who in this world knew each other better than we did?
Then came Lily.
Lily Grant was the least noticeable assistant on Sebastian’s staff. Tiny. plain. timid as a startled rabbit. Sebastian thought she was incompetent and wanted to fire her. But when I saw her standing there, eyes red, body shaking, something in me softened.
For the first time ever, I interfered with one of Sebastian’s decisions.
I spoke up for her.
He frowned and told me, “Just this once.”
Lily looked up at me, startled, eyes shining. Her whole face flushed bright red.
I even smiled at her.
Told her not to be afraid.
I didn’t know then that the monster I was protecting would one day turn around and devour me whole.