Chapter 130 Lies
Daphne was shell-shocked for a while before finally realizing the meaning behind Lewis’ suggestion.
“You want me to leave the country?”
“Take your husband and son along with you on an overseas trip. That way, you won’t drive yourself crazy with your paranoia,” Lewis patiently advised while acting as Daphne’s caring older brother.
It was as if Daphne merely had a nightmare and was just overthinking everything.
When she heard about the solution that involved her going on a vacation with Seth and Bambam, she was quickly convinced that it was the perfect solution for her.
She did love Seth to the point that she was willing to do anything for him. After all, her goal was to live happily ever after with him and Bambam as a family of three.
“W-Will Seth want to leave with me, though?”
“You’ll have to convince him yourself. Then again, there’s nothing left for him to yearn for in this country. Why wouldn’t he agree to this suggestion?”
Daphne frowned slightly. Lewis was right; Seth was an orphan, so she and Bambam were the only family he had left in this world. Why wouldn’t he want to leave with them?
That was unless he had other plans that she didn’t know of.
Daphne wasn’t confident at all because she knew very well that Seth didn’t care about her.
The reason why he married her wasn’t out of love.
However, she didn’t dare to admit that reason in front of Lewis. Otherwise, the latter would never let her off.
Daphne gradually calmed down at some point. She bowed her head silently for a moment.
“Alright. I’ll talk to him later.”
“Sure.”
The woman raised her head to look at Lewis, noticing the faint smile curled on his lips. He was still the same older brother she knew, but he seemed a little different at the same time.
The man sitting beside her evoked a sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity.
Daphne felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness stemming from her heart.
She stood up while forcing herself to act as normal as she could. After taking a deep breath, she left the mansion quickly.
Lewis watched Daphne leave before gazing at the burning cigarette between his fingers. Then, he leaned forward and threw it into a glass of water.
A faint sizzling sound echoed from the glass as the cigarette sank to the depths before slowly rising to the surface.
Intuiting a presence, Lewis tilted his head upward ever so slightly, his glance swiftly shifting towards the staircase. He ended up making eye contact with Josephine.
The moment Josephine noticed him looking at her, she crouched down immediately.
Crouching down, she could feel her heart pounding rapidly behind her ribcage. Her complexion, initially pale, now took on an even more pronounced hue of white.
She had overheard the entirety of Lewis and Daphne’s conversation.
Josephine hugged her knees to her chest, feeling numerous thoughts cramming into her mind at that time She felt that the man she had spent many years with was starting to morph into an unfamiliar stranger.
In Josephine’s mind, Lewis was still the same teenager who would patiently wait for her to finish school each day. The memory of him in a clean white shirt lingered in her mind, and his smile mirrored the pristine cleanliness and purity of his clothing
Did Lewis change over the years, or had he been concealing his true self the whole time?
Josephine could feel another headache coming right up. She clutched her head, feeling as if the blinding pain was about to overwhelm her senses.
Suddenly, a pair of feet in leather shoes appeared before her vision. Stunned, Josephine pursed her lips before raising her head slowly Naturally, she saw Lewis standing right in front of her.
Then, he crouched down and reached out to caress her cheek.
Almost immediately, Josephine avoided his hand, clearly frightened of him. To her, he was
like a bloodthirsty monster.
Lewis’ hand froze in mid-air as a result. He stared at Josephine, a trace of unknown emotions.
flashing across his eyes.
“Come here,” he commanded.
Josephine could only gaze at him with terror flashing in her eyes. At the same time, she couldn’t help but back away from him continuously.
Suddenly, Lewis grabbed Josephine’s wrist and pulled her to his side. “Why are you avoiding me?”
Josephine could only support herself with one hand on the ground. She was forced into a
kneeling position, so she could only raise her head to look at Lewis. Her eyes still held their
usual sparkle, but Lewis could still see through her attempts to distance herself from him, which was something that he had never seen her do before.
He gripped her chin tightly before repeating his question. “I’m asking you a question here. Why are you avoiding me?”
Josephine tried to turn her head away, but she could not avoid Lewis’ gaze. Hence, she could only look down at his collar.
His collar was slightly open, allowing her a glimpse of his delicate collarbone.
“Look at me, Josephine.”
The woman nervously chewed on her bottom lip while gradually lifting her gaze to meet Lewis ‘. In that instant, as she locked eyes with him, she discerned dangerous and unspoken currents swirling within the depths of his dark eyes.
“Are you afraid of me? Why are you afraid of me?”
Lewis leaned toward Josephine, hoping to detect even the slightest hint of emotion in her eyes.
“What did I do to you?” He continued to bombard Josephine with questions without any regard for her condition. “Tell me, what did I do to you to make you fear me this much?” 1
Josephine closed her eyes upon hearing Lewis’ accusatory questions. She was so frightened of him that even her eyelashes kept trembling slightly.
Had he not done enough to her?
Did he seriously think he didn’t do anything to her as long as he didn’t kill her?
“Josephine!” The man’s tone was tainted with rage this time. He increased the force in his grip, causing so much pain to Josephine that she had no choice but to open her eyes.
Lightning flashed while thunder boomed outside the mansion. The bright lightning could be seen flashing outside a nearby window. Its intense light stung Josephine’s eyes so much that she started tearing up.
“Why can’t you speak?”
Lewis had been monologuing the whole time, seeing as Josephine could not respond to him.
He was right. Why couldn’t she speak?
She hated the fact that she couldn’t speak at all.
She wouldn’t have ended up like this if she could do that from the start. The world wouldn’t have alienated her, and Lewis wouldn’t hate her for her inability to speak.
Anyone would have gone crazy just by spending too much time with a mute like her.
Lewis closed his eyes before snapping them open two seconds later. Just like that, he was able
to suppress the flames of rage that threatened to burn him alive.
He released Josephine before pulling her into his arms. This time, his tone was tinged with a hint of helplessness. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Josephine pursed her lips tightly while listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat that echoed from his chest. Finally, tears started rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably.
He spent a long time hugging her. It lasted for so long that Josephine thought she might die from getting suffocated in his arms before he finally released her.
Then, Lewis cupped her cheeks and started wiping her tears away for her. He even sat down during the process.
Once he was done, he encroached upon Josephine’s personal bubble with the intention of kissing her.
At that moment, the scenes from Josephine’s nightmare came flooding into her mind. All she could see was Lily’s distorted face. For a moment, she felt as if she could smell the stink of blood coming from Lewis.
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