Reiha walked out of her room and saw servants working.
Some of them was removing dead flowers, and some removing the lighting decorations from the wall.
Her hand froze on the wood balustrade when she saw a familiar face; it was her mother-in-law, or at least she thought it was her mother-in-law.
The rich silk dress and diamond jewelry were no longer on that woman’s body; instead, there was a wrinkled plain grey dress like the other servants’.
Her hair was tightly gathered up in a bun.
Reiha descended and stopped a few steps behind that lady and looked at her.
The servant lady was kneeling down and wiping the center table with a cloth in her hand.
The servant lady looked at her and suddenly lowered her gaze again.
“You must be wondering.” A female voice came behind her.
Reiha turned.
It was the rich lady from the garden; with this close, the lady even looked more elegant and rich.
Every time she moved her hand, the diamond in her hand shone.
The rich lady walked towards her slowly and grabbed Reiha’s arms as she leaned closer.
“Arthav was right, you do look good,” she said, squeezing her arm tighter.
“And your hair.” She touched a handful of her hair softly and smiled.
The touch was soft and gentle, but it was her smile that was evil.
The rich lady looked past her shoulder, her gaze drifting behind her at the servant lady, and smiled sideways.
“Her role is over,” she said.
“It was just for a show for you and your father.” She leaned closer “to fool them.”
Reiha looked at the lady with a straight face, as she had already guessed this when she overheard Arthav’s and the lady’s conversation in the morning from the window.
“The mother and son both laugh alike,” she thought.
“I am Kiara,” the rich lady said, lifting her chin with quiet elegance.
“Arthav’s ma, Kiara Advani.”
Reiha gasped.
“Advani.”
“Yes, Advani’s your father’s rival.”
Reiha’s throat tightened and her world tilted for a second; she took a long deep breath.
When all the puzzle pieces connect together, it all make sense why Arthav behaved like this the other night.
“I got it,” Reiha said, raising an eyebrow.
“Why Arthav married me and why the servant was in our wedding in your place.”
“Papa knows you, doesn’t he? That’s why you hid your identity behind that servant.” She brushed her hair back with fingers.
“Now I get it, everything.”
“Your Father, huh?
Do you have any idea what he did to me and my family?
Kiara said squeezing her arm tighter.
“He took everything from me. He killed my husband, then he took my firstborn’s life in front of my eyes, and I saw him taking his last breath.”
Kiara squeezed her arm with more force.
“Aah—” Reiha winced, her brows knitting together as she instinctively tried to pull back.
“Let her go, Maa,” Arthav said from the staircase.
“I have more painful way to give her pain.”
Reiha pulled her arm free from Kiara and chuckled.
Reiha put her hand to her face and smiled faintly.
“You two are true dreamers, but you chose the wrong girl, Mother.” Then she looked towards Arthav, “husband.”
Arthav descended from upstairs and stood beside her mother.
She looked directly in Kiara’s eyes and said, “I am not the kind of girl that gets scared easily.”
“And if you two think that torturing me can take revenge on my father, so listen closely,” she said sharply, clapping her hands together.
“Your plan has failed.” She laughed and leaned closer to Kiara.
“My papa doesn’t give a fuck about me.”
“He didn’t want me in the first place; he wanted a son to run his illegal empire.” She scoffed.
“So I live or die; he doesn’t care,” she said, crossing her arms.
“Sorry you have to make another plan.”
She chuckled and walked outside into the garden, and Kiara only watched her in disbelief.
“I cannot believe this girl, what just happened? This girl didn’t even flinch for a second.” Kiara frowned deeply, her eyes narrowed.
Arthav held her mother’s hand and said, “I’ll make her flinch, I promise.”
“No,” Kiara said, her breaths gone wild, and she looked into Arthav’s eyes.
“I kill her; I should have killed her long ago.”
“We can’t kill her,” Arthav said, “Not yet. Killing her isn’t enough.”
“She has to live so she can experience hell every day.”
Kiara cupped his face.
“You’ll take my revenge, my boy.”
“I will, Ma.”
Reiha at the garden held an iron chair with her hand, trying to hold herself straight.
She sighed deeply.
“Shit…did I just challenge them to torture me?” She put both of her hands on her face and shouted, “Fuck…” looking at the sky.
“Why me? Why always me? Why you always choose me to be your stronger warrior?” she said, still gazing up at the sky.
“Who are you talking to?” Arthav asked, just standing an inch away from her.
“Holly—fuck, you startled me!” she blurted out, clutching her chest as she stepped back.
Arthav took a step closer to her.
“Do you wanna die early? Challenging her back there wasn’t a good move.”
“Ohh, really? What else could go wrong, huh?”
“You can’t even imagine.” Arthav said, grabbing her hand and dragging her forcefully inside.
Reiha tried to free herself from his large, beastly hands but couldn’t.
“Leave me, leave my hand, you bastard.”
Arthav turned and grabbed her neck so tightly that it choked her.
“Another word from your mouth and you’ll be silent for your entire life.”
“Do you understand me?”
Her eyes widened as she tried to breathe; she shook her head in agreement.
Then his fingers slowly released her neck.
Reiha took a step back and coughed as her lungs tried to get some air.
Her chest was breathing irregularly; she lifted her gaze and looked at him, and then she looked at the left side of the hall.
Kiara was standing there in silence.
Her side of the lips lifted slightly.
There was a cold, satisfied smile on her lips.
Arthav grabbed her wrist again and dragged her down the hallway toward their room while Reiha stumbled behind him.
The door slammed shut behind them.
He threw her on the bed.
She looked up at him, her breath still shivering with dismay, and the mattress sagged under her.
Arthav climbed over her.
Reiha took a deep breath; he put one hand beside her head other grabbed her arm.
She looked up at him.
He hovered just inches from her face, close enough that she could feel his warm breath against her lips.
His gaze fixed on her, his eyes darkened.
“You’ll stay here,” he said in a low voice, each word controlled.
“Until I come back.”
They both stood motionless for a split second.
Arthav moved back and stopped near the door.
He looked back over her shoulder, then walked outside, locking the door.
Arthav walked to the kitchen and called out to the same servant lady, “Maya,” and handed over the key to her.
“She’ll be inside for the rest of the day,” he inhaled deeply.
“Feed her something.”
Maya nodded once and put the key in her pocket.