Natty charged forward with a feral scream, her heels pounding the marble like gunshots as she rushed Clara so fast the air seemed to warp.
Before Clara could even step back, Natty's hand fisted the front of her uniform and yanked her backward with brutal force.
Clara's back slammed into the wall near the door.
A sharp pain shot through her spine, knocking the air out of her chest as a strangled gasp escaped her lips. For a second, her lungs refused to work, her breath stuck, her body frozen from the impact.
Natty didn't give her time.
She stepped in closer, and tightened her grip around her uniform, pressing Clara harder against the wall.
"YOU!," Natty yelled like a maniac, her face twisted with anger, "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST TAKE WHAT'S MINE, HUH?"
Her chest rose and fell heavily, her breathing erratic.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST KISS HIM?" she screamed. "HIM?!"
Clara trembled, completely overwhelmed, her mind failing to catch up with the situation. Her hands rose instinctively in surrender, her voice caught somewhere between fear and confusion.
"I… I didn't—"
"Oh, young lady, you are so dead!," Natty shrieked, her face contorting further. She looked like something that had escaped captivity and finally found the one who dared to confine her.
Her hand lifted into the air, the intent to strike clear in her eyes as she aimed straight for Clara's face.
Right before her hand could make contact, Tony stepped in and grabbed Natty by the waist, hauling her back with force.
Natty exploded in his grip.
She kicked wildly, clawed at his arms, and thrashed with desperate strength, her body twisting violently as she fought to break free.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" she screamed, her voice cracking.
"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY MAN BITCH! MY MAN! HOW DARE YOU!!!"
"That's enough!" Tony barked as he dragged her backward, tightening his hold despite the way she struggled.
It was a good thing he now carried Tom's strength and build, because without it, he doubted he would have been able to restrain her. The way she fought was relentless, and frightening in its intensity.
Clara slid down the wall, her legs giving out beneath her as she stared at Natty with wide, shaken eyes, as though she were witnessing something out of a nightmare.
Nothing made sense to her.
The shouting. The jealousy. The violence. "What the fuck is going on"
Meanwhile, Natty continued to writhe in Tony's grip, fighting like a wild animal.
"NATTY, STOP! Are you out of your mind?!" Tony barked again.
This time, Kelvin couldn't bear imagining the chaos anymore as he rushed out from the house.
The scene before him stopped him in his tracks.
Clara was crouched against the wall, hugging her knees, visibly shaken. Tony was struggling to hold Natty, who was still fighting. His mind immediately told him this lady, Natty, was chaos, and it turned out he was right after all.
For a while, he didn't know what to do.
"Hey, Kelvin! What are you doing standing there?" Tony called out, annoyed. "Come over and help!"
Kelvin hurried forward and grabbed Natty, who was still thrashing, by the left.
Another guard in a suit hurried forward from his post and held her by the right, where Tony had been holding her, giving Tony the chance to go over to Clara.
Natty, now held by two strong, suited men, saw her struggles were futile and calmed down.
Her chest heaved. Her hair hung wild and disheveled around her face. Her eyes burned with a jealousy so lethal it looked almost possessed.
Tony walked over to Clara, who was still crouched at the base of the wall, visibly shaking.
His expression softened.
Gently, he extended a hand toward her.
Clara stared at it for a moment, then took it. Tony pulled her to her feet, steadying her as she rose. She couldn't find her voice, words abandoned her entirely. All she could do was stare at him, the shock of the chaos still rippling through her body.
Her innocence, her trembling silence, her shaken expression, it all twisted something deep in Tony's chest.
For the first time since this mess began, guilt crept in.
He hated using her for his plans.
And he hated even more the way Natty had lashed out at her.
"You should go," Tony muttered in a low tone.
Then, as if realizing how it might sound too dismissive, he added calmly, "Make sure Elijah is comfortable until I meet him. Get him whatever he wants."
Clara nodded.
Despite the vague feeling tugging at her chest that the message was meant to move her away from the scene, she dismissed it. She was beginning to like this new Tom; this softer, attentive version of him.
And she trusted that he wasn't pushing her away.
Slowly, she opened the door and stepped into the mansion, letting it close behind her.
Tony breathed out. He shut his eyes tight and clenched his fists.
"What was that about, huh?" he barked as he turned to Natty.
Natty stared at him with a hollow expression as he walked toward her with dense steps.
She shook her head. "What's this about?" she asked, her voice pitched, cracked, and baffled.
Her chest plummeted. She tried to breath but tears was making it hard for her.
"You..." she gasped, choking on her tears all the more. "You made promises. You confessed love."
The anger took over her again and her voice rose mercilessly.
"FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU FUCKED ME, TOM! YOU SCATTERED ME. I—I CAN'T EVEN WALK PROPERLY!"
More tears drizzled down her eyes as her voice lowered drastically.
"You said I should be with you. You said you'd make me your PA" she sniffled wildly, her heart sinking further with every word.
"I felt love… like I have never felt before. I sent you money… my money," she wept.
"But now I know I have been a fool…"
Those words shook Kelvin and the other guard. Yes, they knew Tom was a devil and that he did things to girls, cruel things. But, but this.... this was next level. Even the devil would be afraid of him and bow before him for something so heartless.
But to their utmost surprise, Tony burst out laughing.
The sound was loud, and sharp. Deranged in a way that tingled the nerves.
When he finally calmed himself, wiping a trace of amusement from his lips, he spoke with a voice devoid of emotion.
"Your money?" he asked, his hands sliding into the pockets of his trousers as he walked closer to Natty.
Natty, still held by the two men, stood frozen, her mind asunder, her tears drying on her face. If anyone had told her that the monster she was seeing now was once disguised as a good, humble, genuine, loving man she slept with last night, she would have spat on them and called them liars.
Meanwhile, Tony shook his head, his expression mean and unreadable, yet filled with satisfaction.
"I know who you really are, Natty," he said, his voice ice-cold, his body language exuding a malevolent, predatory composure.
The two guards stared at each other and swallowed hard. None of them spoke. They feared Tom already. And now, this present aura unsettled them just as much as it unsettled Natty. They knew better than to meddle whenever they were around him. Unbeknownst to them that this wasn't truly the Tom they used to know.
However, Tony let out a low, devilish chuckle.
"You should go back to your fiancé… honor your engagement, marry him, and never come back here again," he said, his voice commanding but heavy with warning.
Natty's heart shattered. She doubted she could feel heart anymore.
"Don't do this, Tom…" she cried suddenly, to Tony's surprise. "I love you. I want to be with you. It's you I want." Her voiced cracked even more as tears rained down her eyes.
Tony smirked, then frowned. "Really?" he snapped, savoring the heartbreak, feeding on the way it broke her, the way it crushed her body, spirit, and soul.
Yes, love might have been a strong word considering they had just met the night before, but that didn't mean it couldn't be accomplished.
After all, He had already accomplished it. Hasn't he.?
"Well," Tony added, "I don't love you. You should return to your husband."
He turned to walk away, but...
"Then give me back my money, Tom!" Natty called out.
Tony paused mid-walk, a faint smirk curling on his lips.
He had really hoped it wouldn't get to this, but Natty had just pushed him into thorns.