Bound to my Enemy novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Chapter 57.

Margaret doesn’t leave the dining room.

She comes back in carrying a small plate, something simple she must have forgotten the first time. Bread and butter, her movements are slower now, cautious in a way they weren’t before.

I’m halfway through standing when she stops beside me.

"Elaine," she says softly.

I look up at her.

Her eyes are fixed on my neck, looking intensely at the juncture between my neck.Like she’s making sure she isn’t mistaken,

"That mark," she says. "What happened?"

Zane stiffens across the table, I feel it without looking at him.

I don’t hesitate, I don’t weigh my words. I’m still tired, sore, and past pretending or trying to cover up for any asshole.

"He did it," I say, nodding my head ince toward him. "Last night. He grabbed my neck and threw me down."

Margaret’s face immediately drains of color.

Her fingers loosen around the plate. It slips and cracks against the floor. The sound is sharp and loud in the quiet room.

"No," she whispers. Then louder, "No, no, no."

She steps back like the floor has shifted under her feet. Her breathing turns uneven and her hands shake as she presses them to her chest.

Zane is on his feet immediately.

"For fuck’s sake," he snaps at me rounding the table. "Elaine, get out. Now."

I don’t move.

Margaret’s breath catches. She’s shaking her head, eyes unfocused, stuck somewhere that isn’t here, deep in her mind.

Zane drops to his knees in front of her. The anger drains from his face like someone flipped a switch.

"Margaret," he says, calm but urgent. "Look at me. You are safe, you are here. No one is going to touch you."

She doesn’t respond.

He pulls her gently against him, one arm around her shoulders, the other braced on the floor to keep them both steady.

"You’re okay," he murmurs. "No one will hurt you. I won’t let that happen. You hear me?"

Her breathing is shallow now. Sharp inhales that don’t seem to reach her lungs.

"Thomas!" Zane yells without looking up.

The driver appears almost immediately, as if he’d been waiting just outside the room.

Thomas crouches beside them, immediately understanding the situation. "Margaret, it’s me. Let’s go somewhere quiet, yeah? Away from here."

She doesn’t answer, but she lets him take her arm.

Zane stays kneeling until she’s on her feet. He keeps one hand at her back, steadying her until Thomas takes over.

And when he finally, he looks at me.

His eyes are hard again.

"You shouldn’t have said that," he says coldly. "Leave the dining room."

I open my mouth to argue, then close it.

This isn’t the moment and time and I know it.

I turn and walk out, still dumbfounded by what just happened.

——

I don’t make it far before the driver who now has a name I can attach to his face finds me again.

He knocks once on the door to the small sitting room I ducked into, then steps inside.

"She still has triggers. Voices. Certain words. Seeing marks like that, like today ." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

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