𝓑𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽'𝓼 𝓜𝓸𝓸𝓷

Chapter-28

*•.¸♡ AUTHOR'S POV ♡¸.•*

The chamber reeked of fear and despair, the air thick with the metallic tang of old blood that stained the walls like twisted reminders of past victims. A dim light bulb swayed weakly from the ceiling, casting flickering shadows across the room where agony had left its mark.

Sage's screams pierced the silence, raw and haunting, as they echoed off the stone walls. She had known her fate the moment her reckless words left her lips in the dining hall, right under the gaze of Myra and Diego. But no amount of foresight could have prepared her for the severe torment she now endured.

The pain was foreign to her; she had always been the one to deal with it, never to feel it. But now it coursed through her body like fire, leaving her breathless and disoriented. Her hands trembled against the restraints, bloodied and bruised from her struggle.

"Still so proud, even when you're bleeding like a slaughtered animal," Diego's voice sliced through her haze of pain. She forced her swollen eyes open, seeing him lounging in a chair before her.

He was unnervingly calm, one leg crossed over the other, his cruel gaze fixed on her with disinterest. He studied her with the eyes of a predator—cold, calculating.

Sage spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor, her body racked with a shuddering cough. Her gaze never wavered from Diego, though—defiance still lingered in her stare, even through the agony. She tried to speak, to summon her arrogance, but only managed a low, strangled growl of pain.

Diego's icy tone echoed in the room. "You dared to use your twisted words on my moon? To bring some misunderstanding between us."

"Too bad. My wife is a smart woman. She does not get swayed by some useless words." Diego's voice was sharp as a blade, but his eyes gleamed with pride.

Despite the turmoil Sage had stirred, he knew Myra's mind wasn't so easily twisted. Even if her anger with him simmered, it was because of him—because he had hidden parts of his past from her, parts he had no desire to unveil.

But now, he had no choice.

Their past is slowly entangling leaving him with no choice but to reveal everything to Myra. However, when he knows every unknown piece from their past.

"Really...?" Sage coughed, blood trickling from her lips as she forced the word out with effort. "It doesn't seem like it... She left you as if—"

Another fit of coughing racked her body, but she didn't stop. She savored the sharp glint of annoyance that flickered in Diego's eyes. The mockery in her voice was barely audible, but it was enough to cut. "—as if she was going to leave you for good."

Sage's words hung like a curse, her breath ragged and wet. But before the satisfaction of her insult could fully settle, she felt a crushing force tighten around her throat.

Her hands flew to her neck, clawing at the invisible grip that seemed to constrict her airway like a steel vise. She gasped, choking for air as her pain-filled eyes sought Diego's.

He stared at her without a flicker of emotion. His gaze was like ice, but the blankness in his expression was somehow more terrifying. The darkness swirled behind his eyes, ruthlessly unfeeling as he watched her writhe under his power.

"She doesn't have permission to leave me," Diego declared darkly, his voice like thunder before the storm. "Not now. Not ever."

His hand clenched the armrest of the chair so tightly it splintered beneath his fingers, yet his eyes never left Sage's struggling form. 

There was a possessive glint in his gaze, one that revealed the depths of his madness—a madness that refused to let Myra slip away from him. Not even death could sever the bond he had forged between them.