Page 48 of Venomous Desires

“Rare. Is she your girl?”

“My woman.”

It slid up my forearm as I closed my eyes.

I could feel their eyes on me, their lecherous gazes burning holes into my very soul. I wanted to disappear, to vanish into thin air, but there was no escape. I wiped his shoes, feelinghumiliated.

I pushed myself up, only to freeze as bills fluttered down around me.

Through the rain of money, I found Judas watching me with a satisfied smile, one hand lazily combing through the woman’s hair in his lap.

“You did a good job, little bird,” he said.

I tried. God, I tried. I tried to be strong. To pretend his words didn’t matter. To ignore the laughter. But then he smiled. Something inside me gave way. A single tear slipped down my cheek, landing on the hand braced against the floor, inches from his polished shoe.

I swallowed and curled my hands into fists.

“Pick up your reward, Ptichka.”

My fingers closed around the money.

“Can I leave?” My words fumbled, and he hummed. His hand left my hair, trailed down my neck before he let go, leaving behind a trail of embers.

“Kyle,” I did not want to hear his voice or look at him. My head lowered, and the bills in my hand burned my skin.

“Sir.”

“Drop my little bird.” He said, his head still turned in my direction. “Make sure she finds her way back to her cage.”

Chapter 17

The Prey

Ms. Rosewood,” Kyle’s voice was like a distant echo as I stumbled down the stairs.

I shook my head, refusing to cry. I shouldn’t cry. Why should I cry? It wasn’t my fault that I was born the eldest daughter. It wasn’t my fault that I came here. It wasn’t my fault to be so desperate to take the job. I just... I just wanted to earn some money.

“Just... leave me be. I can... find my way back,” I muttered, tumbling towards the exit and harshly wiping my cheeks.

A hand reached for me, and I quickly slapped it away, glaring at him. This time, I lost the battle with my tears; they didn’t understand me, and without me knowing, they rolled down my cheeks.

“I don’t need your pity! Just... I just...” My heart felt like fragile glass, shattered into a thousand pieces, and each damn piece was piercing through me. I have never felt so angry and humiliated like this in my whole life. Not when people treated me like a plague or an outcast, not even when I embarrassedmyself in front of the entire class. The storm inside me raged on, swirling and howling like a hurricane.

Kyle’s concerned gaze was suffocating, a weight pressing down on my chest, and I was desperate to escape it. I didn’t need his pity. I brought this upon myself.

That spawn of the devil just humiliated me and showed me my worth. At his feet.

I hated him. I hated him for everything he did.

The pieces of damn paper burned in my palm, their edges singeing my skin with the heat of my frustration and shame.

“Please, just... let me be,” I whispered, my voice breaking as the dam in my eyes failed to hold back the flood of tears. Without waiting for his reply, I turned on my heel, the cold wind whisking past me, biting and sharp.

I looked up at the sky; the grey clouds were heavy and swollen, promising snow. The chill seeped into my bones, mingling with the storm of emotions inside me. And it did. As I walked down the pavement, the snowflakes fell over my shoulders like a fragment of my shattered pride.

My footsteps crunched against the hard ground. Taking me nowhere. It was like I was suddenly a shell, feeling numb. Before I realised it, I stumbled into a small, deserted park. The benches and trees stand silent and lonely, covered in a thin layer of snow.

I collapsed onto the bench, the cold seeping through my clothes and into my bones. My body trembled, and strangely, cold had nothing to do with it. I buried my face in my hands; the tears flowing freely now, my shoulders shook.