Page 157 of The Forbidden Villain
“Oh my God,” I whisper, horrified to my bones, and swallow back the acid, barely. I cannot lose it right now. I need to stay focused. “You torture her even after her death.”
“No! She’s mine. They can never take her away from me. I couldn’t allow for the worms to eat her.” He kisses her, and I turn away, my insides crushing. “I lost our baby girl, and I guess this is my punishment.”
Oh no.
“She was so beautiful, our princess. The sweetest little girl who reminded me of her mother. I could hide her on my land in peace, and in the evenings, I’d be with myNastenka.”
Nothing, not even life with Jade, could have prepared me for this kind of encounter.
How could this heinous demon be Levi’s biological father?
His son is nothing like him, and never will be.
For my man’s sake, I ask him, though, because I’d think Levi would want to know, “How did you lose her?”
“She’d eat something and get sick. No matter what I cooked, she’d feel bad, and her stomach would be upset. I brought the doctor in and had all the tests done, but aside from being slightly anemic, nothing was wrong. I had no choice. I took her to the hospital.” He sighs and pats Anastasia’s cheek. “She had some internal bleeding, and they rushed her to the operating room, but the surgery didn’t help. My baby girl died. I couldn't even say goodbye to her.” He wipes away the tear and kisses Anastasia’s skull. “I lost both of them while that bastard lived. It’s an unforgivable sin.”
Levi’s only sin was being loved by his mother, and that’s something Jonathan could never forgive him for.
Gathering all my courage, I push this reality far away, for focusing on it would destroy me right now, and instead press my bare feet on the ground while Jonathan’s attention is still on Anastasia.
“My biggest mistake was keeping him alive.”
Focus, Lavender, focus.
With this thought in mind, I sprint up and, ignoring the pain ricocheting all over me, dart to the stairs while he yells behind me, “Come back here, bitch!”
Running up the stairs, I end up in a spacious hallway in a glass house and dart outside where the moonlight shines brightly. I hear howls in the distance, chilling my blood while endless acres of land leading to the forest greets me.
I notice guards as well, who spot me right away and start chasing me as devastation rushes through me at the complete hopelessness I feel.
Where are you, Levi?
Fisting the skirt of my dress, I rush toward the forest, my feet burning against the grass while the wind billows my hair backward, the air sticking in my lungs from the effort, and I can still hear Jonathan yelling behind me.
Is this how Levi felt all those years ago?
“Just shoot at her, you idiots!” Jonathan yells, and a gunshot follows his command, making me jump to the side to avoid it and run in a zigzagging pattern to confuse them.
Ignoring the hurtful sensations racking through my body from every corner and the dizziness that makes me want to throw up all around me, I finally get inside the forest, hoping to hide among the countless trees.
Only to stumble forward, instant pain stabbing into my calf and ankle. A scream tears from my throat, and my fingers sinkinto the soil, an exhausted sigh slipping past my lips because it’s almost impossible to get up.
Heavy footsteps trail behind me, and I hear male voices before four men emerge from the forest, pointing their guns at me. One of them speaks into the headphone on his ear. “Tell the boss we found her.” A beat passes. “He told us to bring her and not be gentle about it.”
The men chuckle as I scoot back, trying my best to ignore the pain, and get up, even if it means running with a broken ankle.
“You made the boss angry, which means he’ll drive us crazy. You need to be punished.” One of them swings the metallic chain in his hands back and forth before wrapping it around his fist. “I think he won’t mind if we add a scar or two to your face.”
He takes a step toward me, and I press my splayed palms on the ground, lifting myself up, only to hold back my scream when he hits me with the chain right on my wrist with the Thor bracelet Levi gifted me.
Thunder echoes in the sky, the sound so loud it almost silences everything around me, as the atmosphere grows dark around us.
That’s when I hear barely audible movement behind me, and the men still, swallowing hard, so I look over my shoulder. My eyes widen at the sight of the gray wolf stepping from the shadows.
He seems massive and, frankly, very old. Do they even live this long in the wild?
His eyes, though…his eyes seem to hold so much wisdom it is astonishing.
