A Thief's Kiss

26| Lived

Chapter 26: Lived (Alexander's POV)

"And then?" I chuckled, eating a fry. 

"And then- oh no! My bacon!" she exclaimed, picking it off her shirt and eating the piece. "And then I got away," she laughed. 

"This really happened? You're not making it up?" 

"Of course, I'm not making it up. I even have a scar to prove it. See." She pulled her cardigan off her shoulder, showing me the small scar on her shoulder blade. 

"Whoa," I mumbled. 

She was telling me the story of how she stole something worth a lot from mighty rich people, and another local thief tried taking it from her and even pulled out a knife on her. She managed to get away but he did slash her shoulder blade. 

"It must have hurt, no?" 

"It did," she nodded. 

"Who helped you?" 

She glanced at me. "Mrs. Faye. I didn't actually know what to do or where to go at first. It was my first bleeding wound while stealing. So, I went to Mr. Charles because he was the nearest at the time. And he tried helping but..." She trailed off with a shrug. "I think blood makes him queasy. So, he told me to go to Mrs. Faye because he knows I'm close with Riya. Then she helped me and even tried keeping me with her for the night." 

"But?" 

"But... my aunt found out where I was and came in the middle of the night. She dragged me back home." 

"Literally dragged you or...?" 

She chuckled softly, looking up at me, nodding. "Literally dragged me. By my shirt, by my arm, by my hair. She even scratched the wound. I don't know if that was intentional," she shrugged. 

"What happened next?" 

"She threw me back in the attic and told me my punishment was nothing but toast for all my meals the next day. But at least it was only one day. There have been times where-" She stopped in her tracks. "It's been worse," she shrugged. 

I stared at her, my tongue rolling along the inside of my cheek while she grabbed her second sandwich. "You've really lived life, Aria." 

"Abuse is living life?" She looked at me questioningly. 

"No, that's not what I meant. Not that part. But just... being on your own, you've experienced so much and you've seen so much. You have your connections, your money, your people, your memories, and you made that all on your own. So you have lived life. You've seen the good and the bad." 

"Mostly the bad," she nodded. 

"Yeah, but you can see the good now." 

She arched a brow at me. 

"You know your time as my wife doesn't have to revolve around you getting revenge. It could be a nice thing." 

"I don't want it to revolve around my revenge, Alexander." 

"You don't?" I really thought that's what she wanted. I thought this was all about revenge for her. 

"I don't know what I want anymore," she mumbled. "I don't know if I blame you because it's your fault or if I blame you because there's no one else to blame now that your grandparents are gone." She looked up at me. "I blame you. I just can't decide how much." She sighed, sipping her coffee. "And you're saying I've lived life. But is a life like this really worth living?" She put the glass on her nightstand turning to me.