Chapter 71: Chapter 70

Amethyst saw rage in his eyes. Now she had blurted it out, there was no going back. “Yes!” she added, “I am tied to you on a contract. Perhaps you will find it in your heart to dispose of me so coldly like your ‘employees’ then. This is what scares me. You being so cold and willing to brush the matter off. You scare me.”

It was true. Amethyst was scared of Alexcent. She wasn’t scared of him physically hurting her. But she was constantly scared that she meant nothing to him, that she was disposable as other people he was so indifferent towards. She couldn’t bear looking at him anymore, so she looked down at the steak on her plate.

Meanwhile, her words hit Alexcent like ice pricks through his heart. He flinched. He knew she would be gone by next year, and he wasn’t able to comprehend why it affected him so much. Although one thing was perfectly clear, he didn’t want her to be frightened of him. To her, at the least, he didn’t want to appear a monster.

“Ash…,” he called. Only silence greeted him. “Ash, please,” he tried again.

“What?” she said.

“Look at me,” he urged. She turned to face him with a massive effort on her part. “I apologise,” he said gently, “I am sorry. It was wrong of me. I will take care if something like this happens in the future.”

“Really?” said Amethyst, surprised.

“Yes, of course,” he said.

Amethyst felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was about to smile but knew that there were other things they had to settle first. “What about you?” she asked.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“You were mad at me,” she said in hesitation, “You said you wanted to punish me.”

She wondered what kind of punishment he had in store for her. Somebody who didn’t hesitate to kill could only have so many brutalities that he didn’t mind committing. Is he going to end the contract? Amethyst was afraid.

Alexcent looked at her trembling hands that she tried so hard to hide from his view. He could never ‘punish’ her. He had never meant it frighteningly. He had been furious that the bastard had tried to force himself on her. He had been infuriated with Amethyst too, for putting herself in danger like that. But seeing her bruised neck, still with imprints of the bastard’s fingerprints and her sore wrist, his anger at her was replaced with an ache in his heart. How in hell can I punish her when none of it is her fault?

He sighed.

“If you ever put yourself in danger so recklessly,” he began, thinking that it would be enough to just remind her how worried and helpless she had made him feel, “I will crush your head myself.” He looked at her levelly, not hiding how infuriated he was with her for being so impulsive.

“Fine,” she shot back, “I will be careful if you will be more responsible. But if you ever try to crush my head, I will stab you with this same fork.” She stabbed the meat for emphasis.

Alexcent blinked and burst out laughing. She never fails to surprise me, he thought between his mirth. Amethyst wasn’t joking, her eyes were determined and sincere. Pon swallowed dryly, hearing his master laugh like that. He wondered if anybody had ever survived after saying something so bold to him before. Nobody, in his opinion, had survived such kind of laughter.

“Come here,” said Alexcent to Amethyst.

“No,” Amethyst shot back. She wasn’t so easy that he would order her around and she would run to his arms. He needed to learn his lesson. She focused on cutting her meat.

“Come here, Ash,” he said softly.

“No,” said Amethyst, “Don’t order me around like I am your dog. You come here if you want to meet me so badly.” She continued her attack at the meat on her plate, nonchalantly.

Pon was terrified. But Alexcent smirked and got out of his seat. He walked slowly over to her and stood before her. She tried to focus more on the meat on her plate. He knelt down so he could look at her.

“Ash,” he called her name softly. Amethyst put her cutlery down and turned to look at him. As her eyes met his, her fear melted away. The anxiety and helplessness she had felt after Dajal had tried to assault her, the fear she had felt from him. Everything melted away. She felt safe. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her in an embrace, tears pricking her eyes. Soon, she was crying, her tears streaming down in rivulets on her cheeks. She finally felt unburdened and relieved. It seemed like this was all she had needed. An embrace from him and everything was fine.

“I was so scared,” she sobbed, “If you hadn’t arrived, I don’t know what would have happened. I was so scared.”

“Ash…,” he said softly, returning her hug.

“If it wasn’t for you, I…,” she sobbed, unable to continue.

“Shhh,” he said, tenderly, stroking her hair, “It’s alright. You are safe now.” She snuggled deeper into his arms and he held her, gently. He lifted her into his arms and left the dining room.