Athena
He.....was going to mark her?
My eyes searched for any sign of deceit in Celine's orbs, trying to read her face but unfortunately for me— All I saw was the truth.
He was going to mark her......
She was not lying. It was true, the news she broke to me was nothing but the truth— Another of the decisions taken by Sebastian, perhaps solely intended to hurt me.
My gaze shot at Sebastian, my hands began shaking and my legs fought to give up yet I stood still, denying to show any sign of weakness that would give these individuals the satisfaction they desired to feel.
"Is....is this true?" I found myself asking Sebastian who seemed reluctant to look at me.
The trembling of my voice surely gave it all away even though I did not want my struggle to become apparent, or even be near the surface for anyone to notice but how could I help it? He was all I ever wanted.
His silence gave me the answer— It was true.
"Why are you asking him, honey?" Celine made a sound of pity, "I know it's hurtful to see your dear mate marking someone else. But good for you, you can find another man who'd not treat you like shit. Not gonna lie, you actually are a piece of shit."
I couldn't tear my eyes away from Sebastian who did not bother to look at me even for a second. For once it did not matter to me what Celine said or what was she trying to do. What amounted to something to me was that, my mate did not spare me any glance, not even once. Perhaps he simply didn't care or it could be his way to hide his guilty eyes.
Guilty eyes that in their mesmerizing cruel depth stored the reasons behind everything he made me face, all the storms he put me through, every time he turned me into ashes and stepped on it like dust, each moment where his sole intention was to make me doubt my worth and fill me with regret that would evolve into such an amount of hatred, that could burn all the strings between us and leave us with nothing.
And today, he has finally succeeded. Not with hatred but by breaking me and leaving me with nothing but despair. He used pain as a weapon and all this time, I'd watched him do that, doe-eyed as he ruined me. My whole life flashed before my eyes, and all I saw were the bloody hands of the different culprits as each of them buried a part of me deep under the ground.
But I still didn't hate him. I'd never be able to hate him. There'd always be a part, perhaps dead or alive, that'd keep craving him; Try to get alive with the rise of new hopes that were supposedly false yet pleasing, a comfort in the midst of all this chaos. But I'd have never accepted such comfort if I knew it was this venomous.
I walked past Celine and Stood in front of Sebastian's desk, releasing a sigh as I watched him trying to hide beneath his facade that did nothing to cover up him. He was like an open book to me yet mysterious, even vicious if explored through every chapter but cruel cause you would never reach the end. You'd get pushed away before you unravel the mystery.
"Is this true, Sebastian?" I asked.
I wished he could see how broken I was and feel at least, the least amount of sympathy for me and change his mind. I knew I was pathetic for thinking like this, it was fucking ridiculous that I was still willing to stay with him and waiting to hear just one word from his mouth—Stay.
"Don't you see he is not interested to talk to you?" Celine walked closer to me and turned me around by my arm, "Why are you even here? You are not wanted, Athena. Leave. Why don-t you just—"
"I'm not here to talk to you, Celine. Just don't start it now," I cut her off, "I am trying to talk to my mate so let me do that in peace. After all, he's yours to have anyways, isn't he?"
I saw a look of surprise cross her expression, but she hide it beneath the dark and opened her mouth once again,
"Yes, of course, he'd never be yours and he was never yours," She chuckled and waved her hand in front of my face, "And you see this ring on my finger? This too can never be yours because you, chanting that you are his mate does not change the fact, no matter how much you try, you'd never be able to be at my place."
My eyes took a look at the ring and unknowingly as sharp pain attacked my chest, deepening the knot in it.
It was not the shine of the diamond or the glazing silver that hung the huge weight on my back all of a sudden. It was the realization that was the hand, he decided to put the ring on. He chose her to be in his life, as someone even more than just a mate and throw his own mate out like a used tissue paper.
"And before you run your mouth, let me tell you the secret— He proposed to me last night." She smiled, flaunting the ring with pride knowing and feeling absolutely delighted that she was crushing mine in the progress.
"You kept calling me mistress, sweetie but the mistress here won the game and you...." She judgementally looked me up and down, "You are nothing and your so-called pure bond too did nothing for you. So what makes you then? Neither you hold the importance of a mate, nor do you hold the place of a mistress. What are you, Athena? A purchased good that he used for his satisfaction in every way he wanted and now that he's bored he is discarding you."
Tears fought to blur my vision but I did not let them overpower me. It might be a fact that nothing Celine said was false but I was not going to let the truth break me, cause Sebastian had already done the job well.
"You are right, I am nothing. I mean fucking nothing and hold no importance in my mate's life, that could be my misfortune or perhaps fortune, who knows what the future has stored for me. However, tell me something Celine when has he actually proposed to you or just thrown the ring at your face and told you that you are going to marry him without bothering to hear your opinion?"
Suddenly all I saw in her orbs was hesitation and that was adequate to confirm that what I presumed was exactly the real story and the whole time and effort she took to build a fake scenario that she thought credible enough to make me ironically walk out of the room and not attempt one last conversation with Sebastian that could change his mind even though the possibility was less than one per cent, failed. Her attempt failed and the defeat was swarming all over her face.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Trying to hide your shame by addressing the connection between us as a counterfeit?" She nearly stammered but bless her luck, she managed to stay put together and shady as always.
"That's your thought, Celine. And believe me, I'd not address the connection between you and Sebastian as anything since I don't think you two have one anyways. On the other side, you can't force relationships and no matter how much you try to disguise the truth, it comes out anyways, either mistakenly apparent in your defence or just on its own when it's the right time."
"Look, You--" Just when Celine was on the verge of being out of her mind in the extreme desperation to prove her point, something strange yet expected happened.
Sebastian decided to break his silence.
"What do you want, Athena?"
Calm and collected, no waver in his voice or no sense of remorse nor any sign of anger— Deceitful. Just utterly misleading. In a way that could divert anyone to sail far away, get vanished in the waves of the sea and not reach the shore they desired.
He knew the art of deceit. He knew how to turn the truth into lies and present the lies as truth— A man of cruel art that he used to tear us apart.
I turned around, my heart aching so badly as I took a look at his face which was void of any emotion. I loved him and he knew it, yet, he did not care and this....hurt so bad. Really really bad.
I had to take the help of a few full moments of silence, having to calm the shivering of my breathing and bury the hopes of my heart, until I finally managed to let out the words I needed to.
"A few moments alone— One last conversation."
"I thought we were over this already," He spoke, sounding cold as ever.
"You were. Not me."
"Sebastian just ignore her, darling. She's here to waste our time and—" Celine decided to poke her nose in the conversation, but soon as Seabastian's eyes shot at her in a warning, she stopped before even finishing her sentence knowing what could be the consequences if she kept going.
As his mistress fell silent, he turned his attention back to me.
He looked at me, for a brief moment and I stood still, not having an idea of what was he thinking. Undoubtedly, I was certain—It was not going to be in my favour, and the chances of him changing his mind were slim.
"Fine, we can talk if that's what you want," He leaned back against his chair, letting out a low sigh, "Celine, leave the room."
"What?" She stuttered in disbelief.
"I'm sure you have heard me. Do you really want me to repeat myself?"
"No," She finally let out, her eyes bore holes in the back of my head before she stormed out of the room.
A pin-drop silence fell into the room giving the tension scopes to sprout, and then finally Sebastian's voice crushed it into mere pieces, bringing me back to reality from the momentary daze I did not know I'd fallen into.
"Okay, now that you have got what you wanted. Spit it out," He looked at me dead in my eyes, "And before you start, get this straight—I want it to be the last time we are going through it. There's not going to be any more one last conversation after this."