If he had confessed his deed years ago, I would have forgiven him. The naïve teenager he once had wrapped around his finger would have forgiven anything he did.
That boy is dead.
“A flawed man,” I reply after a long pause. “You made a mistake and now you’re paying for it.”
The hand still lingering on my hammering chest moves up to my nape. The next instant, he traps me in his embrace, cradling my defenseless body like I’m his most precious possession.
I hate him above anything, yet I helplessly wish to believe that his feelings for me were once real. There’s nothing normal about his feelings for me because it’s purely and simply pedophilia. He’s disgusting and should die painfully for what he did to the people around him.
I still don’t understand his obsession with my father and how it shifted to me. I doubt he’d tell me even if I asked him to, but it doesn’t matter anymore.
He doesn’t love me. His obsession began with another and will end with me. A feeling that tarnishes the soul of the receiver shouldn’t exist.
“I need time to forgive,” I admit. “I can’t understand why you did what you did, but one day I might be able to accept it.”
The worst is that it may be true.
But I will never forgive him. The only one who deserves forgiveness is myself for all the punishments I inflicted on myself over the years while I was under his spell.
62
Visha
The ringing in my head dulls as I raise it at the commotion.
The door bursts open, and the devil walks in with the embodiment of kindness by his side. I blink through the daze, and we make eye contact.
Aoi stalks toward me, but Jason pulls him back. “Not so fast.”
“You said I could see him,” he snaps. “Let me go. I want to talk to him.”
“How can I trust that you won’t do anything stupid?”
Aoi tilts his head in confusion. “What could I possibly do? I promised to stay with you as long as you let me see him. I won’t go back on my word, and you know that. Let me check on him, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Indeed, I said you could see him,” he says, clenching around his wrist, and Aoi winces. “No one said anything about getting close to him.”
“But-”
“No buts, my dear.”
I part my lips and drag myself to a sitting position. “Aoi? Are you okay?”
“Visha…” He watches me, hesitating between obeying the demon holding him back and rushing to my side. “I’m sorry.”
“What for? You did nothing wrong. It’s all his fault,” I grunt, nodding once in Jason’s direction. “Did he hurt you?”
“Enough with the chitchat. You saw him now let’s go.”
Aoi grabs Jason’s biceps and turns his back to me. “Wait. He’s hurt. You did that to him? That was you, right? Why?”
“You ask why?” he scoffs and tips Aoi’s chin up. “Because he dared to touch what’s mine. You let him fuck you and now you ask me why I ‘hurt’ him? I should have broken his legs for it, but I held back. You should be grateful.”
“Grateful?” he mutters, stepping back and huffing harshly. “You son of a bitch. You should’ve just taken me before he and I met again. You didn’t have to hurt him! I was enough!”
“You’re right. I should have made you mine years ago but I wanted to give you a choice.” He slides an arm around Aoi’s waist and pulls him close. “It’s too late for regrets, don’t you think?”
That fucker is toying with him again. Aoi may be a resilient person, but he has been under Jason’s thumb for too long. I doubt he knows how to get away from his shackles.
