Chapter 12: Signed in Blood
Callis was the first to break the silence that seemed so frozen. Her body gave a tiny jolt, and she let out a laugh that seemed both nervous and more like a cough.
"You can’t just joke about things like that, Lucas?" she said in a voice that came out higher than she probably intended.
"You almost had me thinking you’d lost your mind."
Mira, on the other hand, simply rolled her eyes. This man had hammered on the same thing for so long. Heck, it was the first thing he had even said to her.
"I’m tired of this bullshit!" she snapped, her voice cutting through the room as she faced Callis. "Thank goodness that you see how it makes no sense too. That’s exactly how I feel! Lore—"
She quickly shut up, knowing she was about to refer to herself in third person yet again.
"I... never married anyone. I say so in so many of my hundred interviews." She forced a scoff, hoping she sounded convincing and like Lorena would. "It’s just impossible. You think I’d just get married to anyone? A whole Lorena Sanders? Give me a break."
Lucas didn’t argue, neither did he look annoyed in any way. His face, in fact, had a mask of pure boredom, like he had expected this from the very beginning.
It was almost like he enjoyed her spiraling.
He walked out of the room, and after what seemed like forever, he walked back in with a file.
And he didn’t just hand it over to Mira. He dropped it on the table.
"That’s it! Your very own signature," he said in a flat tone. "I hope this will be the last time you ever make me repeat myself about this."
Mira’s eyes dropped to the paper. There were stamps, fancy seals, and then her name.
Lorena Sanders, in elegant looping script, which she just knew definitely belonged to Lorena indeed.
Lorena had indeed signed a marriage document with Lucas.
What the actual fuck? So she’s actually married then?
She looked through to check the date. It was just a month ago. In fact, it was exactly the day Lorena had been said to commit suicide.
None of this made any sense. If she signed this, why kill herself that night?
But instead of showing her shock and confusion, she curled her lips and put on her best act of disgust.
"And so what? A piece of paper I’ve never seen has my name on it and it’s real? This does not in any way make me anybody’s wife, especially if I can’t remember it. And who’s to say I can’t change my mind and just tear it off? It doesn’t count."
Lucas took a single step closer, and the air suddenly got colder for Mira.
"I don’t give a fuck about your poor memories. I only care about agreements. We agreed on something, and your signature here is proof of that. Acting like you lost your damn memory is not going to change anything."
Callis finally stood up from where she was sitting, a small choked sound making its way out of her throat. Her eyes were still on the document on the table, while her face had visibly paled.
"We... we didn’t talk about this part, Lucas," she murmured, then raised her voice in panic. "We didn’t talk about this!"
She caught herself, knowing she snapped, and then looked at Lucas, who looked like he couldn’t care less. "You didn’t talk about this with me," she corrected, dropping her voice back to normal.
Lucas shot her a look that could freeze hell if he wanted to, causing Callis to snap her mouth shut.
Mira, of course, noticed the tension and words they were using.
Oh great! More insanity in this nightmare!
It was another puzzle, but she was drowning in hers to pay attention to whatever it was they were talking about.
Lucas turned his attention back to her. "You can deny all you want, Lorena. But this is a choice you chose by yourself. Stick to it and don’t chicken out."
"That wasn’t me!" Mira flared up.
Lucas tilted his head as a dangerous smirk hit his lips. "No? Then who signed it then? Whose face and body did I give this to that day? Unless you’re crazy and telling me right now that there’s someone else in your skin."
The question hit so close to home that Mira visibly stilled. Even though he was just being sarcastic and it obviously made no sense, she knew it was what she was in right now. She quickly covered it with fury.
"I must have been tricked. Or maybe even drunk! I don’t remember things I do when drunk, so that makes this coerced!"
She then stepped forward and got in his face. "I’ll never accept this. We either nullify it or get a darn divorce."
Lucas moved faster than Mira could even blink. In a moment, his hand was against the wall by her head as he caged her in.
Mira jerked her chin up, refusing to look intimidated even if she was. "What? You don’t scare me."
But right at that moment, the stupid slippery strap of the silk nightgown she was in chose that moment to slide off her shoulder. She quickly yanked it back up, humiliated.
Lucas’s eyes, on the other hand, simply tracked the movement. He didn’t even pretend to look away. His gaze lingered on the bare skin of her shoulder, then lower on the swell of her breasts, until she was now burning with embarrassment.
"You pervert!" she snapped, her hand flying up to slap that arrogant look off his face.
He caught her wrist before she could even move an inch. His grip was not painful, yet it was unbreakable for her. It was like his hands were made of iron.
He leaned in closer. "Spare me all these theatrics, Lorena. Why on earth are you pretending to be modest? This gown hasn’t been hiding anything anyway. Your nipples have been poking out since I walked in here."
"Let me go!" she demanded, trying to yank her wrist free, but it was just like trying to move a truck.
He leaned in even closer, such that his face was now inches from hers. "What on earth are you even hiding? You think I haven’t seen it all already? Who do you think changed you? There was nothing even special, by the way. Not a single thing."
He then released her wrist while she stood there frozen and red in the face. The insult was so profound and humiliating that it seemed to drain whatever fight she had left.
"Also, don’t you ever raise your hand to me again," he said in a warning tone. "You won’t like what I would raise in return."
He then adjusted his cuff and turned to the man standing outside the entrance. "Open the door."
The man’s eyebrow twitched in surprise but he opened it wider.
Lucas looked back at Mira. "You keep acting like you’re being forced, so I think you have a better option out there."
Mira’s breath slowed. Was he... letting her go?
He looked bored. "Go now. I’d also like to see how long the pride of yours would last."