Page 23 of Scent Of Obsession
“Lily! Finally! What’s happening? Where are you?” Adonis’s voice echoed, making me flinch and snap away from my thoughts.
“I’m fine. I—” There was no way to phrase my current situation. “I’m still at Ravencliff Manor. It’s a long story.”
“What?” he shouted. “You’re with him?” The disapproval in his voice hung like a bitter aftertaste. “Did he do something to you?”
“No, he didn’t. I’m just his guest.”More or less.
“When are you coming back?”
My heart locked inside my throat. “I’m not sure yet. I may have an opportunity here. I don’t know when—”
“What are you talking about?” His voice raised an octave.
“It’s about perfume. You know how much it means to me,” I blurted out. “I can’t tell you more. I’ve signed a confidentiality agreement.”
“You need to get out.”
My mouth shut under his warning. The smell of charcoal filled my nostrils as if flames of an old chimney had risen.
“It’s not safe, Lily,” he continued. “I don’t remember what the fuck happened during the party. One minute I was drinking, the next I awoke in the back seat of my car, some strange man in a suit knocking on my window. I was back in front of my house in Paris with a note that said, ‘You’ve broken the rules by stealing an invitation that did not belong to you.’Hemade it happen, Lily.” His voice was thick with insinuation.
A chill froze me to the spot, knowing it was just a glimpse of Radcliff’s power. I was trapped inside one of the Devil’s games, and now I had to protect not only my uncle, but Adonis too.
I couldn’t tell him that he was just a pawn, so instead, I hid the truth. “What matters is that you arrived home safely. With all the alcohol you drank, perhaps it was better this way.”
“He’s dangerous, don’t you understand?” he screamed. “I’m picking you up.”
“No,” I cut him off. “I’m not afraid of him. I know what I’m doing.” That was a lie. I was lost, with each of my nerves shrieking inside. But the Devil probably had ears everywhere.
“You can’t trust Radcliff. He’s a freaking monster! It’s disgusting how he’s keeping you there. Why would you want to stay, anyway? To play the social climber? Don’t be fucking stupid!”
A single drop of grief welled up from the corner of my eye. I stared at nothing, listening to Adonis’s outburst of disapproval. The solemn tear fell down my cheek, my body controlled compared to how tangled my mind was. I was stuck between crossroads, burying all those unanswered questions inside it.
“I need to go. I’ll keep you updated. Take care,” I finally said.
“Lily, I’m sorry, I—”
I hung up the phone and sat on the edge of my bed, a growing void inside me threatening to swallow me whole. Fighting the desire to let myself be carried away by my emotions, I hastened to take my scented candle from my bag.
It had always been a ritual between mom and me. Thanks to it, she was able to rock me to sleep when I was a child. I placed the candle on my dresser before lighting it with a match and letting the scent of ylang-ylang calm my nerves.
Taking back my phone, I ventured across the web, researching the name Radcliff. That’s all I knew about him. A name. Was it a last name? A first name? No way to know. The man was even a phantom in the digital age.
My research led to absolutely nothing. Typing “Ravencliff Manor” didn’t bring me much success. The results were just a bunch of rumors and scary tales—the ones everyone knew about. Accidentally, I came across some societies owned by Radcliff.Jewels. Even there, it wasn’t clear what this man was up to.
I gave up. He’d succeeded in the impossible, erasing all traces of him, creating the perfect mystery. The stairs creaked, the sound of footsteps approaching. I glanced at the door, checking it was closed, and once I did, I pulled myself under the blankets of the bed, not feeling safe.
The footsteps stopped at my door. An amber light lit up the hallway. I held my breath, distinguishing the shadow under the doorstep. The air caressed the underside in a shrill noise. My eyes flickered to the handle, begging it not to move. My body tensed in front of all the possibilities. What if Radcliff had come to collect more from me? What if I was truly in danger?
But seconds later, whoever that was dropped a plate of food behind the door and left. I finally exhaled the breath I was holding and turned around to the other side of the bed.
My eyes stuck on the flame of the candle. I waited for the light to fade, for the scent to give off its last final note, before finally drifting myself to sleep.
Dark circles had formed under my eyes due to my lack of sleep. My stomach grumbled; I hadn’t eaten anything yesterday. This morning, the plate of food was gone, and I had no other choice but to leave my pretty cage or starve of hunger.
My dress swayed with the draught when I went down the stairs. I followed the smell of pastries that filled the grand ballroom. The sun was hidden by the raven curtains on the huge glass windows. I shuffled forward in the hallway, tightening the sleeves of my robe on my chest.
I drifted cautiously into the dining room area, arriving in front of the old fireplace, where Mrs. Walton was serving breakfast on the regal oak table. She gave me a nod showing me a seat to take.
