“Hey, Adam.” I try to sound distracted, even though I’m on the verge of a panic attack. “I’m in a hurry so —”
He grips my arm so hard, I smother a squeal. “Why the fuck do you always do that?”
I try to wiggle free, but his hold is like steel, fingers digging into my flesh. “Adam, let me go. You’re hurting me.”
“Hurting you.” He barks out a laugh. “You know how to be hurt, Silver? Because you’ve been stomping on my heart over and over again.”
Shit. Shit.
Swallowing, I watch my surroundings, searching for help. There’s no one here — of course.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Adam.”
“You mean you pretend you don’t know.” His other hand caresses my chin. “You know, I’ve been in love with you for such a long time, but you keep playing hard to get. I’ve done everything for you. When that bitch Kimberly was bothering you, I mock-confessed to her and spilt paint on her head. I’ve done everything to protect you.”
My mouth hangs open.
He’s a psycho. I can’t believe he did that to Kim because of me. She was hurt so badly, it pushed her into a Nazi-style diet that’s been sucking the life out of her.
There’s no telling what he’ll do to me. God, I should’ve told Papa about those texts since I first got them. Why did I have to fill my emotional gap with them? Just how stupid could I be?
“Go out with me, Silver.” He smiles like a maniac. “You and I are meant to be.”
I squirm away from him, pushing back against the car and wrapping a hand around my baby.
“Back off. Don’t mistake my silence for weakness.”
“Do you know how long I’ve dreamt about this?”
My insides are about to liquefy with terror, but I keep the harsh tone I learnt from Mum. “Back off or I swear —”
“Shh, shut up. Shut the fuck up.” He jams his fist at the roof of the car beside my head.
My eyes widen as I try to keep my calm. I’m Sebastian Queens and Cynthia Davis’s daughter. I will not break.
Taking a deep inhale, I speak in a slightly cracked voice, despite my attempts to keep it neutral, “Adam. If you don’t stop, I’ll tell —”
“Shut the fuck up, Silver.” He punches the car again.
“What’s going on here?”
I release a breath as someone approaches us. Elsa. I’ve never been happier to see her in my entire life.
“Fuck off, bitch. This is none of your business,” Adam snarls at her.
“Silver?” she asks me carefully.
I slightly shake my head and mouth, “Cole.”
For some reason, he’s the only one I want to see right now. Besides, I know he can keep Adam’s claws off me.
And I need Adam’s damn claws off me.
Elsa retrieves her phone, shoulders pushing backwards. “Back off right now or I’ll call the principal, Adam. Maybe it’s his business.”
He takes a step towards her.
She jams her hand in her backpack. “Come any closer and I’ll blind your fucking eyes with pepper spray.”
Adam’s gaze roams over me one more second, and I hold my breath, only releasing it when his attention breaks from me as he snarls at Elsa, “Stupid fucking bitch.”
Elsa keeps watching him with that rigid posture and determined look until he gets into his vehicle and leaves.
I fall back against my car, hugging my stomach.
It’s going to be fine, baby.
It’s over.
It’s all over.
“Are you…okay?” Elsa stops in front of me.
I can’t believe she, of all people, helped me. After all the drama I’ve brought to her relationship with Aiden, I would have expected her to beat me up again or something.
At least, that’s what I thought when she caught me vomiting in the bathroom the other day.
Instead, she asked me if I needed help.
She’s the polar opposite of Aiden, and maybe that’s why they fit so well.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I whisper. “I…I need to go. Forget what I said earlier. Don’t mention a word about this to Cole.”
If he knows, he’ll blame me, not Adam. He’ll come after me for hiding this from him.
I need to talk to Frederic about it. He’s a PR genius, he can tell me how to deal with this in the best way that won’t hurt Papa.
He’ll also want to murder me, but I’ll take that.
I wish I could also tell Frederic about the pregnancy, but he’d tell me to get rid of it. That’s what everyone would say.
Cole included.
And that hurts more than I’d like to admit.
“You should tell Aiden,” Elsa says.
“What does he have to do with anything? King didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Whatever. It’s not my place.” I open my car’s door and slide inside. “I won’t say anything until you talk to him.”
“About what?”
“What do you think?”
After what she did for me today, I might consider Aiden’s order and actually confess it all.
What’s the point of holding on to this engagement if he won’t take responsibility for the child?
As I drive out, I place a hand over my stomach and a tear slides down my cheek at the thought that I might be forced to lose this life after all.
Silver
Every day that passes is like a ticking bomb.
Every time Papa or Mum say they want to speak to me about something, I jump in my own skin.
Every time Helen brings me food, I wince, thinking I’ll get morning sickness.
Every time Frederic and Derek tell me ‘Good morning, Miss’ or ‘Good evening, Miss,’ I’m screaming inside, They know!
I spend the entire week with Mum so I can avoid Cole.
At first, he corners me, demanding I tell him what I’m hiding and threatening that I’ll pay if he has to find out himself.
His form of payment isn’t toying with my body as I wish. Instead, he completely tunes me out.
For the first time since we started whatever we had, Cole isn’t speaking to me.
He says he won’t unless I tell him what’s going on.
Whenever I pass him by and he pretends I don’t exist, I die a little inside. Cole has a perfect blank face, so he can make you feel like you’re no different from the dust on his shoe.
It hurts.
It makes me sleep with tears in my eyes every night.
But what hurts the most is the thought of what he’ll do when he finds out I’m carrying his baby.
Today, I turned down a dinner date with Mum and Lucien. Usually, I love the Frenchman’s company. He’s cool and charismatic and reminds me of Uncle Jonathan — without the frightening ruthlessness. As long as he makes Mum smile and forget about her demons, I approve.
Despite Lucien’s pleasant company, I decide to return to Papa’s house, hoping, praying Cole will actually sneak into my room.
He doesn’t.
He doesn’t pay me much attention at dinner, as if I’m not sitting right there in front of him. Even Helen asks me if Cole and I are going back to the time we couldn’t stand each other.
I guess we are.
Why did he give me all those moments just so he’d take them away? We were doing fine being at each other’s throats before the wedding.
Who am I kidding? I hated the times from before. He was always far.
Just too far.
I scroll through both Ronan’s and Aiden’s Instagram accounts, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cole’s picture like a bloody fool.
Aiden made fun of how Cole’s not speaking to me. That arsehole doesn’t deserve the huge favour I did for him.
A few days ago, I told Elsa the engagement and everything in between were fake. Although she won’t completely forgive him yet, my freely-provided confession is a start.
I’ve turned so soft over the days.
My phone vibrates and I sit up, excitement whirling inside me. Is it Cole?
Unknown Number: Meet me.
I gulp. That’s the first time he’s ever asked that. Is it because of what happened in the car park a few days ago? It’s a new number. He keeps changing them as if playing hide-and-seek with Papa’s team’s security measures.
Unknown Number:I’m behind the fence of your house.
Unknown Number:If you don’t come out, I’ll post a naked picture of you for the world to see.
I can call his bluff and tell him he has no such picture, but what if he does? I can’t risk Papa’s campaign or Mum’s reputation.
Tears prickle my eyes as my chest closes in on itself.
What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I find myself in screw-up after screw-up? First Cole, then the pregnancy, and now a damn stalker.
Could I be more of a disgrace to my parents?
I was always a good girl. When did I start losing myself? When did I become this damn loser who sees a failure in the mirror every morning?
Swallowing my tears, I type with unsteady fingers.
Silver: Why are you doing this, Adam?
Unknown Number:Because I love you. Remember when that bitch Elsa was bothering you? I’m the one who pushed her into that pool. For you, my love. For your beautiful blue eyes.
Unknown Number: I know you broke it off with Aiden for me. Because you’ve always loved me too.
Oh. God.
He pushed Elsa for me. She could’ve drowned and died.
I have to see him and put an end to this.
Stumbling from the bed, I run out of my room, only to be halted by a broad frame.
Cole.
We’re standing in front of my door. He’s wearing a hoodie and cotton trousers. His chestnut hair falls all over his forehead.
“Where the fuck are you going dressed like that?”
I stare down at myself and realise I’m only in a see-through oversized T-shirt with nothing underneath because I wanted to seduce this bastard.
“N-nowhere.”
He narrows his eyes on my face, then on my hand, and I subconsciously hide the phone behind my back. He snatches it away and when I try to fight him, he uses my finger to unlock it.
I didn’t even exit the chat.