The Samurai That I Loved

第56章

Trigger warning: violence.

"Go back to where you came from before I blow a bullet through your black heart!" Ernest Fletchum shouted inside the gaming hell, causing an immediate uproar to arise. Several men crowded around him while Yoru stiffened from his accusations. Boring his gaze into the other man's furious eyes, he allowed him to go on.

"My life is over because of you!" The man cried out, lifting his fist above his head as if to attack. Yoru glanced at his fist for a mere moment before blocking it with his forearm. Taking a step back, he barely had time to blink before the others were pulling Ernest back and pinning him to the floor.

"Alright now, that's enough whisky for you!" One of the men grunted over him.

Yoru took the opportunity to reach for Hopkins' arm and yank him along. They vanished out the side door and into a rain-drench alleyway where fog rose from the gleaming cobblestone ground. Neither of them had even noticed the woman standing in the far back of the room, watching Yoru intently with pursed rouge lips.

"What the hell?! Who was that man, Yoru? He knew you! This isn't good, mate. If anyone starts asking questions--"

"Who he was is of no matter. It changes nothing. By the time we're finished here, our tracks will be long gone." Yoru bit out, shoving both hands into his pockets and striding quickly down the alley towards the street.

Hopkins clamped a hand over his hat while he hastened to catch up to him, saying in a serious tone, "Righto. Except...I can't help but wonder if you're getting a bit ahead of yourself."

He was forced to halt when Yoru turned suddenly to face him with a guarded expression. "I'm not." He stated firmly while his scarlet scarf whipped in the night wind. With narrowed, piercing eyes, he shoved down the meaning behind Hopkins' words with a bitter swallow.

Hopkins studied his face with a scrutinizing gaze before asking flatly, "Were you ever intending on telling her that we've been swindling her husband's entire fortune?"

"The product he's provided himself is all tainted and worthless. Who here has been the true crook?" Turning and striding down the street with Hopkins' at his side, he continued quietly, "All that matters is who becomes the whistle-blower before the law is involved. With those papers, I'll have him running to safety...for a price."

"You can't possibly expect him to--"

"Oh, I do."

"And if this doesn't work? What then? You could be imprisoned, possibly hanged. Is she truly worth that much to you?"

The corner of Yoru's mouth quirked up, recalling his death sentence to Miyakejima years ago, setting himself on fire, getting shot by his lady love, and nearly dying from it. No...nothing would ever deter him from having Eliza-chan.

"Yes. She most undoubtedly is." He answered, casting his gaze up to the night sky where smog hovered over the city like smoky clouds.

~•~

There was an overwhelming amount of emotions blazing through her. Feelings of panic, liberation, fear and joy filled Eliza's spirit while she galloped like the wind down the dusty English road. The countryside was fading away into the beginnings of the city as the sun was slowly setting to dusk in the sky. She had taken off completely alone and in the broad daylight, leaving Radford standing rigidly on the stone steps of their estate with a gaping mouth and livid eyes.

Yoru had told her to trust him. To leave everything to him. Well, she simply couldn't do that. If she did, it would only prove Radford and everyone else's assumption of her correct: A weak, demure, lifeless, cowardly willow blade of a girl. Deep down, she knew she was truly none of those things, yet somewhere along the way she had forgotten herself and all that she could be.

Well dammit, she refused to forget who she was and what she wanted.

Before fleeing the estate, she had been pacing inside the parlor with heavy breaths. Her heart warred with logic. She couldn't truly expect Yoru to save her or speak for her. Not without facing her husband first and speaking for herself. To be in charge of her own life was the paramount of taking the first step into something better. She wasn't a scared, little girl with a heart full of romantical fantasies. She was a woman. She had her own voice and her own heart to speak up for and nurture. No one, not even her lover could carry that mantle for her.

She had gone right into his study, liberated and purposeful. Her shoulders were back and her head was held high like the daughter of a Duke she was. Looking straight in his eyes, she demanded, "Radford. This marriage has been a sham since the very beginning. I know full well you made an agreement with my parents long ago. You have your fortune, your properties, your foreign trades, your mistresses, so why would you want me to? I grow weary of this place and the loneliness it festers. We've neither consummated, nor upheld this marriage by any means. And above all, I am unhappy with this life. Therefore I insist on being granted an anullment."

Radford was silent for several seconds, only boring his gaze into hers with a stern expression from his seat behind the large desk. Then he tossed back his head and released a bellowing laugh. The color drained from Eliza's face as she watched him thrive in his enjoyment. Feeling her heart sink to an entirely new low, she fisted her hand and stomped towards his desk. All at once, she undid her wooden hand and slammed it down hard onto the desk. Radford instantly stopped laughing. Jerking his gaze to hers, he straightened and scowled at her.

"Do you see this? This has been one of my life's greatest struggles and yet, also one of your most shameful burdens to bear." She voiced in a sharp hiss, "Very much like my hand, as a whole, I have always been one of your most shameful burdens and greatest struggles in life. How could a man possibly live with a woman he clearly loathes? How could a man marry a woman he cannot even stomach taking to his bed? And how could I have been so foolish enough to stay for so long in a place I was never wanted only used?! You have no more need of my dowry, Radford. Grant me an anullment or I'll--"

Radford's face darkened and his jaw lowered in cold fury. His cheeks were practically tinged red by the time he suddenly slammed both hands onto the desk and stood up. Eliza snapped her mouth closed and instinctively took a step back. Prowling around the desk with a menacing glower, he suddenly raised his arm and the loud crack of the back of his hand meeting Eliza's face was audible inside the room.

Stumbling back with wild eyes of shock, Eliza stared at him as he spat out in a contemptuous snarl, "You brazen, little bitch. Do not forget who saved you from a life of spinsterhood. No man in his right mind would ever want you or your disgusting lack thereof. If I must remind you in clearer terms, perhaps being locked in your bedchambers for another week without food will make more sense to you. Your life is mine. Your money is mine. Your damned, fucking will is mine. If I ever hear you mention an anullment again, I'll have you admitted to a psychiatric facility for your poor mental wellbeing, my dear wife."

His hateful words, along with the gleam in his eyes that revealed the undeniable joy of his own threat, sent a sickening chill through Eliza. She realized with a jolt of adrenaline that the time to seize control of her own life was now or never. With a ghostly white face, she ripped her gaze away from him and bolted out the door.

"Eliza!" He shouted from behind her.

She didn't stop or look back. The front doors were now her precious gates of freedom and she seized them like lifelines. Running down the steps as she fixed her hand, she called for her horse to be sent round.

Not waiting or wasting another second, she met a stableboy just emerging from the stables with her horse in tow. Grabbing the reins, she threw herself over the saddle fully astride with her skirts hitched around her knickers. Galloping past Radford at a mad speed, dust remained all that was left in her wake.

She had no idea where to go. Her eye was stinging and she was hardly able to open it. Panic and pain shook her to her very core. Having never been to Yoru and Hopkins' offices before, she only knew they were located somewhere near the London Docks. Consequently, she rode...and cried...and laughed. For despite the agony and chaos, she realized without any help from others, she had set herself free.