Page 140 of Cruel Knots

Slipping out from behind the curtain, I walk out among the crowd of dancing couples. Knowing my way around this part of the ground floor, I head down a solitary corridor to use the restroom.

Soft laughter suddenly reaches my ears.

Halting in my steps, I listen. The voice belongs to a woman.

“...I’m stuck here all night. Just go to bed without me tonight. I’ll wake you up when I get home in the morning.” She laughs some more and adds, “Fine, your dick will be in my sweet, hot mouth tomorrow morning.”

I peer around a bend in the corridor and come across a young woman in a waitress’s uniform talking on the phone. A big smile spreads on her lips as she listens on.

The sound of my approaching footsteps must’ve distracted her because she suddenly looks up. Her eyes widen in fear. Wrenching the phone away from her ear, she stares at me with trembling lips.

“I’m so sorry,” she moans. “I know I’m not supposed to carry a phone here. It’s just that I’m seeing this new guy. Things are going so great that I didn’t want to mess it up.” She wrings her hands and shakes her head. “It’s not an excuse...I know...I’m so sor—”

Standing before her, I extend my hand toward her, silently gesturing for her to drop the phone on my palm. The young woman is so terrified, she obeys without resisting.

“Go,” I hiss.

To my astonishment, she scurries away at once.

I stare at the phone in my hand.

It had been so easy to manipulate her into thinking I’m someone with power. She must’ve seen me with Damien and assumed I was someone important. Her fear blinded her to every sense and logic, allowing her to fall for my trick.

I wonder why phones are banned in the party but a moment later, realize the reason behind her terror. Phones can capture photographs, conversations, and videos. The kind of people who’ve gathered here tonight value their privacy over everything else.

“No wonder she was terrified of being punished,” I murmur, still staring at the phone in my hand.

Maybe I’m still half-blinded by lust. Or maybe the shy, timid omega in me is finally becoming brave. Whatever the reason maybe, I don’t hesitate to dial the old landline phone in my dad’s bedroom.

37

Lucia

Faint sounds of music and conversation float from the direction of the entrance hall but the beating of my heart sounds louder as I hear the ring of a phone on the line.

“Hello?” a female voice answers my call.

“H—hello? Who is this?”

“Miss Lucia? Is that you?”

“Laura?”

“Yes,” she says in an urgent tone. “Thank God you called. Your dad needs to be taken to a hospital right away. He’s having trouble breathing and nothing’s helping.”

Laura is a middle-aged woman who works alongside our housekeeper. Her presence in my dad’s room makes me anxious at once.

“Did you call Dr. Patel?” I ask.

“Dr. Patel is no longer his doctor,” Laura replies. “Mr. Baldwin let go of all the staff in the house. We don’t even have a nurse here anymore. I’m the only one remaining here to take care of your father.”

“Why don’t you call emergency services?”

“I was going to but you’ve got to come home, Miss Lucia,” she says in an urgent, anxious tone. “Your father is suffering from a lot of complications. I’ll be of no help when the hospital staff ask me about his medical history. You need to be here. He needs you right now.”

“I’m sorry, Laura, but I can’t come. You have to ask Callum to help you.”

“You have to come, Miss Lucia! He’ll die otherwise!”

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