CHAPTER 54: THE TRUTH ABOUT THAT NIGHT

Her first instinct was to throw herself into a full Sprint and hope to outrun him. Aaliyah had thought she could not touch it, even though she could see it.

The first time in the bathroom she had gotten carried away and made to touch it, her hands had passed through it like thin air.

Even now the same thing had happened and she was not able to touch it, but somehow her fingers had grazed the object as she had withdrawn them and it felt as if her hand had been set on flaming hot charcoal.

And Alastair had seen that.

Chills ran down her spine. Why was she suddenly able to touch it when she couldn’t before?!

Seeing a smirk for the first time on his lips had her swallowing. Aaliyah would have tried and hide the surprise in her eyes and keep a natural look on her face so she could deny ever brushing against the Maqbath, but her facial expressions were already revealing her true emotions.

"I should call you a liar instead of a Siren," His legs moved forward and he took a long and threatening step toward her, making her move back too, "You lie while looking me straight in the eye. Did that feel good?"

His hand grabbed her shoulders and pushed her roughly against the wall. There was no escape from him.

"Many times I asked you if you could see it. I shared with you why I wanted it out and what I will achieve once it’s out. Yet...you remained quiet and refused to pull it out. You kept lying with that tongue of yours!" He lashed out furiously, but the smirk never left his lips, "Now, you’re going to pay the dire consequences of your actions, Aaliyah,"

"You don’t understand," Aaliyah said helplessly, "I don’t know what I just touched. I cannot see what you think I can see. I’m confused and I don’t know what just happened!" Aaliyah was still lying while staring into his eyes.

And damn, it was hard.

Lying made her heart heavy continuously. But if she did tell the truth... would it save her?

"You will!" His eyes turned fierce, and he grabbed her hand and pulled it back to his chest. She tried to stop him, but she was powerless against him.

Once again, her hand passed through the Maqbath like thin air and touched his chest instead.

"Will you stop this already?!" She yanked her hand away when the opportunity presented itself, "I told you. You’ve misunderstood everything. I see nothing and I touched nothing!"

He looked up at her, confused as to what had happened. He was more than sure she had touched it seconds ago, and now she could not again.

"You do not want to pull it out," He said in a mumble, realizing why the whole process of touching it has been fluctuating, "For you to be able to touch it, you must want to touch it. But your heart disagrees, hence the reason why your hand keeps passing through it like dust,"

Even Aaliyah debated on what he had just said. Could that be it? Ever since she understood the reason he was being kind and nice to her was because he thought she could see the Maqbath, she had told herself she would pretend not to see it so that he would continue to treat her like an egg till she was satisfied with his treatment and would finally reveal that she could see it.

But as the days went by and she got more attached to him and his kind side, she realized she would never be satisfied. She wanted what they had forever, but Alastair was only getting more and more suspicious that she could see it.

Yet, she kept disagreeing that she could see anything.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Aaliyah denied again and he pressed her hand tightly over his chest.

His chest that was without a heart.

His eyes became cold, "It’s silly how you think dragging this on would make me believe you,"

"Let’s end this madness. Let me go. I’m leaving this mansion tonight. I’ve had enough of you," She swallowed her spit, putting on a brave face to cover the weakness weighing down on her bones.

"I don’t think you understand what is going on here," The smirk was back, "There’s no leaving the mansion,"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Did you really think I just demanded you be given to be by the church? Did you ever think for a second that... something else wasn’t involved?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" She grabbed the side of her clothes.

"A transaction occurred that night, Little Siren," He whispered, "I bought you, but the fake marriage was conducted instead to make it look more... natural. You needed to be convinced that I was your husband and I was going to take responsibility now so you wouldn’t try to run away with every opportunity handed to you. Me being kind was just a bonus to keep you here further with me, slowly removing the urge of you escaping from me. Slowly filling your fickle heart with my name and our memories. So that wherever you go, you will always want to return...to me. Because In this world... there’s no one that has ever treated you with so much love and care ... like I did. Because Alastair Hawthorne...is your home,"

Oh my God. Her lips formed a pout as she tried to keep the tears from falling.

So everything had been a lie. Her chest tightened and squeezed, and she bit her lips till she drew blood. Her pains were red with pain, and every beautiful memory she had with him flashed in her eyes for a second.

It was all a lie. A big fat lie.

A man like him does not care about the memories. There’s no feeling of guilt, pity, or remorse from him.

"You’re a big pile of evil," She cracked out.

"Now we are making progress,"

If everything was a lie, then there was nothing to hold on to. Her hopes had been shattered, and she could only blame herself for thinking that somehow...maybe...he could still cherish her without a heart.

Then she drew in a very deep breath, "If I pull out the Maqbath, what happens to me then? If I give you what you want, will I be set free...for good?"