(Elira's POV)
With each day that passed and every text that got misunderstood, my anger and frustration kept increasing. After the AcadM opening, I drank so much that I lost my control. When I thought to talk to the monster later, I didn't find him anywhere in the villa, and even if a week passed, he didn't show his face to me.
He'd probably be busy about his business or about ruining people's lives. He was the last person I cared about. My only worry was about Matthew. He could blame me all he wanted, but I only wanted him out of Mr. Wolfe's clutches.
I sent the text again: "Please, Matt! Listen to me. He is a heartless monster who doesn't care about anyone. This is all his plan."
The flashes of Mr. Wolfe helping Mira, taking care of me, and paying attention to my every single detail hit my head.
Didn't care about anyone?
I held my head, remembering everything that had happened, but I couldn't understand where everything had gone wrong. I was not that naive to think it was all a business to Mr. Wolfe. If only I had stayed away from Matthew, would he be leading his life as usual? If only we hadn't met again.
Tears escaped my eyes when every part of me blamed me for everything that happened. It felt like I was not just cursed but a curse to people around me.
Matthew: I don't care. If you can use him for money, I can use him for my company. Why are you texting me again? Any lies that you forgot to add?
I threw my cell phone to the bed furiously. He kept blaming me as if I was the only one who lied. He literally chose not to save my sister's life when she was almost dying. It would be selfish of me to expect him to spend his saved-up money for my sister's treatment, but my heart couldn't accept it. After all, I treated him as my family.
Matthew: It hurts, Elira. It hurts to see you with someone else, and it's all your fault.
I read the message but didn't reply, as I didn't even know what to say. It didn't hurt only him; it hurt me too. More than I could explain.
The hurt of selling myself to Mr. Wolfe, the hurt of seeing Mira on a hospital bed, and especially the hurt of my love of my life's choice about not saving my sister when I was dying to save her.
I fell on the bed, shutting my eyes. Tears broke free from the cages of my eyes until I fell asleep.
"I am sorry we couldn't save your sister. She is dead. If only you'd arranged the money, we might've saved her."
With a loud gasp, I sat on the bed. Sweat formed on my forehead while I began crying. The images of Mira dying didn't leave my head while I couldn't distinguish between the nightmare and reality.
"Mira!" I cried, yelling her name.
"Mira is fine." I heard the soothing voice from my right. The hospital, the doctor, and everything were still the same, and I leaned toward the masculine figure beside me, who was offering me the comfort I needed.
"Sh! She is fine."
I let out my sobs while I wrapped my arms around the masculine body. Resting my face against the hard chest, I cried, unable to take it anymore.
A palm rested on my head and ruffled my hair, soothing me. My head accepted that the comfort I was getting was from Matthew, but my body disagreed. In between the dream and reality, the chaos that erupted only yelled at me that the person who couldn't even save my sister couldn't be someone who was comforting me.
I didn't have energy to even open my eyes, and I heard the voice, "Don't be scared. I am here."
"Matt!" I only mumbled what my heart and soul wanted to shout before I fell asleep again.
My eyes were forced to open when the sunrays coming through the window hit my face. Even though I woke up, I stayed on the bed for a few more minutes, contemplating last night's events. I took my cell phone into my hands and opened the message box to check if I got more messages.
After finding no new messages, I left it on the table and stood straight for a moment before falling onto the bed again while I recalled my nightmare. I pacified myself. It was just a nightmare, but something about that felt real. The comfort, the soothing hand, and a masculine presence, it all felt real, but I knew the chance of Matthew entering the villa was zero.
Ignoring my crazy thoughts, I freshened up and went to the main hall to finally see the monster again after what felt like an eternity.
"Good morning, babygirl!"
Furiously, I walked to him and pushed him by his chest, yelling, "Why did you do that?"
He didn't even flinch, which only increased my fury. I didn't bother about the punishment I might receive for my behavior. All I wanted was to let out my anger.
"Why did you put me in a situation where I had to stand in front of him guilty? Because of you, now he's looking at me like a selfish whore. Because of you, he doesn't trust me anymore. Why? Why?"
I tried to push him again, but he held both my hands and twisted them back.
"You know the answer." He said in his calm tone.
"Why did you drag him into this mess? What do you want from him?" Hot tears escaped my eyes, which I tried hard to control.
"Maybe because I want to reduce the distance between you both. Now he works with me; you don't have to think about the lies of meeting him. You can meet him all the time… but with me by your side."
Gathering all my energy, I broke free from his grip. My jaw shivered while I resisted the urge to slap him.
I shouted, "He's a good person. How could you even think of dragging him into our mess? Why did you even do that?"
"It's not my fault, Elira. You should've stayed away from him. You should've erased him from your mind as soon as you signed the contract."
"Who are you to say that?" My anger intensified. "The contract is only for my body. Not for my mind or heart…"
He gripped my chin furiously, stopping me from saying another word. In his angry tone, he said, "Body or soul. If you sign the contract with me, every fucking thing of yours belongs to me. YOU BELONG TO ME. Do you understand?"
I pushed his hand away, shouting, "My body may belong to you. But my heart, my mind, and my soul will never be yours."
A smirk appeared on my lips as if I was possessed by the Wolfe himself. "Even this body won't belong to you when the contract…"
He didn't let me finish my sentence and pulled me into a hungry kiss as if he had been starving and craving it for days. His entire mouth covered mine, sucking away all my words, tastes, and emotions. It didn't take much time for him to slip his tongue inside mine, exploding every corner of my mouth. Seconds turned to minutes, but he didn't leave me while I struggled for air. Only when I hit his chest did he leave me to let me take my breath, and he walked away angrily.
I fell to the couch while my surroundings blurred as I gasped for air. Our argument that we had just a few minutes back hit my head, and only to contradict what I yelled at him, the argument got replaced by my nightmare from last night. In the blurry surroundings, I felt it again. A part of my last night's memory was real. A part was a nightmare. And some part of it was what my mind made up when something else happened.
The comfort, the soothing hand, and the masculine presence were all real, and it finally revealed its true form even though I didn't see it with my own eyes last night. Who else would dare enter my bedroom besides Mr. Wolfe?
"Don't be scared. I am here."
"Keiran!"
I couldn't believe it was the name I mumbled, and it was the name my heart and soul wanted to shout last night.