Chapter 129
No.1
The freezing wind whipped across the terrace,fanning the flames in the volcanic rock fireplace.The fire cast violent, dancing shadows across August's face.
Everyone on the terrace fell silent, waiting for the patriarch to deliver his verdict.
August slowly turned his head. He looked at the blazing fire, where the last scraps of the photo album were turning to black ash. Then, his dark eyes drifted to the massive, two-meter wedding portrait lying in the dirty puddle, the canvas ruined by mud and footprints.
There was no flicker of regret in his eyes. There was no anger at the destruction of his property.There was only a profound, suffocating boredom.
August reached into the inner pocket of his coat.He pulled out a thick Cuban cigar. He placed it between his teeth, then pulled out a heavy gold windproof lighter.
No.2
Click.
A bright blue flame erupted from the gold metal.August took his time. He slowly rotated the cigar,puffing until the cherry glowed a bright, angry red.He snapped the lighter shut. He pulled the cigar from his lips and exhaled a thick,pungent cloud of
gray smoke into the freezing rain.
August looked at Elisa through the haze of smoke.His voice was completely flat, devoid of any emotional weight.
"Let it burn," August said casually. "It's just a pile of meaningless paper. Are you really going to stand out here and scream like a madwoman over trash?"
No.3
The words hung in the cold air.
Meaningless paper. Trash.
Elisa's lungs stopped working. A physical, audible crack seemed to echo inside her chest.2
For seven years, she had swallowed his mother's abuse. she had endured his coldness. She had cut open a man's throat on a bloody deck to save his life. She had given him her youth, her loyalty,her entire existence.
And to him,it was just trash.
No.4
Allena, still kneeling on the floor holding Tate,let out a soft, triumphant giggle. She pressed her face into her brother's shoulder to hide her massive smile.She had won. The wife had been completely,utterly destroyed in her own home.
Cyprian took a slow sip of his scotch, shaking his head at Elisa as if she were a pathetic, hysterical animal.1
Elisa stood frozen. The frantic trembling in her hands suddenly stopped. The burning pain in her blistered skin faded into absolute numbness.
A strange, terrifying silence descended over her mind. It was the absolute, freezing peace of a heart that had finally, completely died.5
She slowly lowered her pointing finger. She straightened her spine, pulling her shoulders back.The desperate, pleading look vanished from her black eyes, replaced by a glacial, bottomless void.
No.5
August watched the shift in her posture. A microscopic flicker of unease twitched in his jaw.He was used to her fighting. He was used to her crying. He didn't recognize this dead, empty stare.It made him feel a sudden, sharp loss of control.2
To mask his sudden discomfort,August scowled.He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small,worn blue velvet box.
He didn't hand it to her. He didn't walk over.
August tossed the box through the air. It hit the wet stone tiles with a dull thud and skidded to a stop right at Elisa's feet.
"There is your mother's locket," August sneered,his voice harsh and dismissive. "Take it and leave.Stop embarrassing me in front of my guests."
No.6
Allena's eyes locked onto the velvet box,flashing with greedy resentment, but she kept her mouth shut,knowing better than to push August right now.
Elisa looked down at the blue box sitting in the dirty rainwater.
She didn't bend down to pick it up.
Instead, she slowly lifted her head. Her dead eyes
bypassed August entirely. She looked at the giant,ruined wedding portrait lying in the puddle near the edge of the terrace.
No.7
If he thought this marriage was trash, if he thought her memories were garbage to be burned by a child,then she would not leave the corpse here for them to mock.
A dark, absolute resolve locked into place in Elisa's brain. She would give this dead marriage the exact funeral it deserved.