Bed of Nails

Chapter 57

Sorry for the delayed update.

I'm going to enjoy my freedom as much as I can.

Escaping from that hell hole was fun. Sabrina dropped me off first, and then she went home with her driver. I informed her mother that she was coming home with the driver. Once, I was inside my appeasement. I did a happy dance because I was successful in escaping that blue-eyed demon. His cold blue eyes are capable of even freezing hell. The first thing I decided to do was take a warm, long bubble bath. I needed it very badly. I wanted to pamper myself after such bad days in a row. Taking bubble baths was part of the healing process. I don't know how long he was planning to cage me there. I'm just glad that I was happy to escape. I kept sitting in the bathtub until the hot water became normal. I got out of the water when my stomach grumbled. I was hungry. I wanted to spend my day at home sleeping, but I was not sleepy anymore. What if he shows up here and drags me back to that hell hole? This thought didn't let me sleep. I didn't want that to happen, so I decided to meet my old friend over lunch. I was hungry anyway. I grabbed a sweater top and skinny jeans from my closet. I got ready in ten minutes. I grabbed my cell phone. I had five missed calls from him and tonnes of messages. I slid them in and called Isabela. She picked it up after two rings.

"Hello." I could hear her tired voice. I think she had a night shift at the hospital.

"Come to Villains," I told her, and from my voice, she could sense the urgency in my voice. She groaned but told me she would be there in half an hour. I grabbed my bag and put my cell phone and wallet in it. Grabbing my car keys, I left the house. My phone again started to ring. His name again flashed on my car screen. I slid it in and continued to drive. He deserves my silence. It took me fifteen minutes to get there. I walked while smiling at the staff who knew.

"Hey head chefs," I said to Xanthus, who was working in the open kitchen. He looked up and flashed his famous full smile. His grey eyes glinted with happiness.

"Hey, soon-to-be Mrs. Villain," he said with a teasing smile on his face. I saw Sage, who was standing behind him frozen, when he called me that. I could smell from miles away that something was cooking between these two. I had seen Xanthus's odd behaviour when I met Sage for the first time last month at the family reunion. It was just after Dad told me I was going to marry Erick. After that day, I have many times seen him look at Sage with the same look, and every time I talk to Xanthus, I see how the colour from Sage's face drains. It's like he doesn't like it when I'm near Xanthus. Something is going on between them.

"Hey, Sage," I said, and it made him come out of his daze. Xanthus turned his head to look at him. His grey eyes were glaring at him. I could see he was not comfortable under his gaze.

"Hello," he stuttered. He had a smile that didn't reach his eyes. It felt like he was not happy to see me here.

"I need to give this to the chef, Oliver'' he managed to say without stuttering this time. I gave him a small nod, not wanting to make her life more difficult. I know how Xanthus feels about someone if he doesn't like them. He immediately walked away, and Xanthus' eyes kept following him until he disappeared from his sight. I snapped my fingers in front of him to get his attention. He averted his grey eyes from him and looked at me. I wiggled my eyebrows in amusement. He just moved his head and went back to what he was doing. I decided not to ask him what was going on because I knew he would shut himself up. I need to observe things before confronting him.

"So how are things going between you two?" he asked while putting vegetables in the pan and stirring them. That question made my mood sour. He knows how things are between us.

"It is how it is. Nothing has changed except for one thing. This time, he enjoys my pain. He seeks pleasure in it," I told him, and my mind started to play about what happened at the dinner. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I looked up to swallow them.

"You both need to talk," he said while looking at me. Stopping what he was doing.

"There is nothing left to talk about," I said with a broken smile on my face. I took a deep breath to control my emotions, which were finding their way out of my eyes.

"You both are here," we heard the bubbly voice of none other than Isabella Villain. I lifted my eyes and wiped my eyes before she could see them. I don't want to ruin everyone's mood. I was here to spend some time with them.

"Hey," I said with a huge smile on my face.

"So what's going on?" she walked in with that contagious smile on her face.

"We were discussing how annoying you have become nowadays," Xanthus said, making her look at him with narrowed eyes. I chuckled when he said that.

"Not as much as you," she snorted, throwing his words in his face. At the same time, Sage once again walked into the open kitchen to get something. Isabella grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to her side. He was too skinny for a man. He was sorry when she did that.

"Are you still torturing my poor Sage?" she said with an adoration for Sage on his face. Sage smiled when he saw who had pulled him. The smile on his face was genuine, like he was happy to see her. Hmmm. He was happy to see Isabella here, but not me.

What did I do?

I looked at Xanthua to find him glaring at poor Sage, who was shifting his weight from one foot to the other. The way Xanthua was looking at him was not as if he were looking at a man. It was as if he were looking at a potential lover. Something is fishy here, and I need to find it. This curiosity lit a spark in my boring, tasteless life. It's time to bring my old hobby.

It's time to be detective Grace.

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