After that catastrophic meeting, I’d lain awake all night, fear drenching my cold yet clammy skin, revulsion and anger fermenting into a furnace I couldn’t control.I replayed his every word, even though I never wanted to hear them again.
I’d stood in his office like a petulant child, rage building beneath my skin as my father unveiled his master plan, the project he’d been working on for the last few years.
He smiled, like he’d done me a favour, bought me a pony, given me a castle when all he’d done was curse me.
How dare he?
How dare he barter with my future?
How dare he treat me like one of his fucking business deals?
The scream welled in the back of my throat, but I swallowed it like I’ve done so many times before.Screaming isn’t the way to deal with my father.He’d have summoned Willa and Bastian, who would’ve manhandled me back to my room and probably sedated me.Although, sedation felt like a nice option then, because the thought of what he’d proposed had made me want to vomit.
“I want only the best for you, Hayami, only the best.And this is the only way I can secure it.”My father paused, and it took me a second to realise he was waiting for me to thank him, to bow my head and tell him how grateful I was for all he’s done for me, for the fact that he controlled my future like a puppeteer.
But the words wouldn’t come; they wouldn’t betray me.So instead, I’d smiled as I plotted how I could sabotage his plan.There was no fucking way on this earth I was letting him run my life any longer.
I’d risen with the sun like a zombie, having stared at the ceiling for the entire night, and I knew what I was about to do despite trying to convince myself it’d be nothing more than a morning swim, even when I asked Markus to switch off the security cameras.
And I did swim.One last swim.One last quiet moment before I showed my father what he’d pushed me to.With each length, I could still hear my father’s words, still see the look in his eyes.
I gripped the side of the pool to catch my breath.I’d stopped counting after fifty lengths.I’d stopped counting everything.
It was time.
I floated on my back, but the lights above the pool hurt my eyes.Even with them shut, I had felt their stare upon me as if they knew what I was about to do and were judging me, burning into my eyelids in a vain attempt to stop me.
So I’d flipped onto my front and was consumed by the water.
A loud droning filled my ears, the pressure surrounding me, making me feel like the water was holding me, cradling me in my hour of need.
It was the only way to be done with my father.So I let the water claim me.
The only problem with this plan was I wouldn’t see the look on his face when he realised what I’d done.How much I’d cost him.
Pressure built in my chest as I’d held my breath and kept my mouth clamped shut.
The droning noise began to sound like humming, as if the water itself was shushing me, assuring me that it had me and would never let me go.
But before I could delight in this thought, the water exploded beside me, and I was pulled from its clutches and hauled onto the side of the pool.
My eyes were full of water, my mouth gasping, lungs burning.It took several seconds before I could open them.But when I did, he came into focus—the man who’d pulled me from the depths, who’d put an end to my demise.
He knelt beneath me, my body draped over him like I was sprawled across a large chair, his dark trousers plastered to his skin.And as my eyes adjusted, I looked up at his face and was utterly convinced I’d succeeded—because this wasn’t a man at all.
He was an angel.Beautiful.
A serene masterpiece, made of only the finest qualities, the likes of which I’ve never seen on this earth.
Yes, he was an angel, and he had come to take me.
But then he’d turned, slowly, slightly, the fraction of movement distorting the light and shattering the image of him.My angel disappeared.The smooth skin on the right side of his face gave way to something else.
Scars.
Ugly, snaking scars that roamed from his collar and clawed their way up his neck, touching the underside of his chin and nearly reaching his left eye—stopping just short of taking his sight.
The skin was mottled, warped.Nothing like an angel.
