Chapter 111:
Marcus’s Point of View
The door opened with a light creak, and my body froze in place when her features met mine; "Violet."
Her long brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her green eyes, which had long inhabited my dreams, stared at me in bewilderment.
In that moment, a total blindness struck me toward all the anger and doubts; my trembling hands extended to cup her face between my palms, and I crashed my lips onto hers in a fierce kiss, as if I were emptying into her all the longing and burning I had endured in her absence.
I felt her body stiffen violently, then she pushed me with a force that made me stagger backward.
She screamed in my face with features distorted by disdain:
"What is wrong with you, you insolent harasser? I will call the police!"
Before I could process the impact of her words, a man appeared from behind her; he had a long face and green eyes, looking like an ordinary man to a degree that stirred my nausea.
I realized immediately that it was him... her husband. He lunged toward me with a flushed face to strike me, but my instinct was faster; I delivered a powerful punch to the middle of his face that knocked him to the ground.
I fixed my burning gaze on her, pointed my hand toward the man lying beneath my feet, and said bitterly:
"For this failure, you abandoned me?"
She shot me a strange look, devoid of any recognition, and said in a cold tone:
"Who are you? I don’t even know you!"
I shouted at her, bewilderment paralyzing my mind:
"I am your lover, Marcus! Why are you acting like this? Why are you trying to deny what was between us?"
At that moment, her husband, crouching on the floor, spoke in a fragmented voice while wiping blood from his mouth:
"Did... did you cheat on me with this guy?"
I felt the air grow heavy in my chest as I watched the exchange of looks between them; "Violet" stood there denying my existence entirely, while her husband struggled with the bitter truth I had hurled in his face like a bomb.
Violet turned toward her husband lying on the ground and screamed in a shaky, pleading tone:
"No, Stewart... I didn’t! Don’t you know me? I am your wife, I couldn’t betray you!"
I felt a boiling in my chest, and said with an anger that made the tendons of my neck bulge:
"Stop the denial, please! Your denial makes me ache."
She turned toward me with a flushed face, her eyes radiating a hatred I had never known, and said sharply:
"Stop your nonsense, you lowlife! I don’t know you!"
Then she went back to clinging to her "damn" husband’s arm, bursting into tears:
"I swear to you I didn’t betray you!"
I stepped toward her and pointed at her with an index finger trembling from pure oppression:
"Stop acting, Violet! Your daughter told me you were married, but I forgive you... just come, let’s leave this place."
Her features froze suddenly, and she stammered as she whispered dryly:
"Violet?"
I said with losing patience and a thundering voice:
"Yes! I know that even this name isn’t your real name, but I don’t care if your name is Sandra, or Selena, or Christine... I don’t care at all!"
Her green eyes searched my face in a strange bewilderment, and she asked in a faint tone:
"You... you know Violet?"
Meanwhile, her husband gathered his strength and stood on his feet with difficulty while wiping the blood from his face, then said in a faltering voice:
"You are mistaken... this is my wife, Meredith!"
I didn’t look at him, but kept my gaze fixed on her, as if I were trying to pierce through her mask:
"Violet or Meredith, it doesn’t matter! Come with me, let’s go!"
She took a step back, leaning her back against the house door while panting distractedly, then said words that fell on me like a thunderbolt:
"Listen... I am not Violet. Violet is... my sister."
I laughed with bitter sarcasm, feeling my head about to explode:
"What? Are you still continuing to lie?"
She shook her head in a firm denial, tears burning her cheeks, and said in a confident voice this time:
"I am not lying... Violet is my twin sister!"
My veins froze as I listened to her final claim; I felt my head spinning in a whirlpool of doubt.
I laughed with bitter sarcasm and said in a voice filled with oppression:
"Do you expect me to believe this ridiculous lie?"
She didn’t flinch; instead, she looked at me with a confidence that shook my foundations and said:
"Since you were with Violet... then you surely know where her distinguishing mark is."
My body stiffened suddenly; I was shocked because she had hit the core of the truth... Violet possesses a secret mark that no one knows except those who have truly been close to her. I muttered dryly:
"Yes... I know."
"I want to kill that lowlife girl, Meredith."
I crossed my arms over my chest and felt a bitterness in my throat as I said:
"She is taking revenge on us... because we sold her."
Stewart replied, spitting blood from his mouth:
"It’s very clear who she resembles!"
I clenched my teeth tightly until I felt pain in my jaw, and memories of those years when I was forced to live with her under one roof haunted me.
Just seeing her miserable face was enough to make my blood boil with anger.
I remembered how she used to try to get close to me, how she used to court me hoping I would love her, while I felt a physical disgust that shook me.
My fingers twitched as I remembered her voice; I couldn’t stand it, nor could I stand the touch of her small hands over my skin.
I hated her to an unimaginable degree, as if she were a plague pursuing me. I turned to Stewart and said in a poisoned tone:
"I cannot get rid of my hatred for that damn girl... even though you sold her, Stewart, I hope she is now drowning in agony in that place."
Stewart leaned his back against the wall, a malicious smile forming on his swollen face as he recalled that day. He said in a mocking tone:
"If only you could have seen her... how she started crying and begging me that day to take her back home with me."
He burst into a laugh, his chest shaking with a cackle, then continued while wiping the corner of his mouth:
"Even if Mr. Robert hadn’t offered me the money, I would never have taken her back... and if I had, I would have married her off to that old merchant who was panting after her."
I couldn’t help myself, so my laughter rang out through the room, and I said while feeling a strange euphoria:
"If only I had been with you to see the look on her face as she begged you, Stewart! But at least she was useful... we made five million dollars off her back."
Stewart nodded his head, his eyes gleaming with the glint of greed as he said:
"This is all thanks to that young man... what was his name? Yes, Jake... the one with the blue eyes. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to sell Julie for such a massive amount; we would have settled for marrying her to that old man who only promised me crumbs of money."
I felt a poisoned gratitude toward that stranger, so I said:
"If I ever find this Jake, I would thank him immensely."
Stewart’s tone suddenly changed, and he knit his brows, asking with annoyance:
"And your damn sister... has she really started having relationships with young men much younger than her?"
My facial features contorted, and I felt a desire to spit as I answered angrily:
"She is a whore... and she has always been one since she was a little girl, so no filth from her surprises me."

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