Page 51 of Scent of Desire
“You tried to—” I wanted to vomit at that smell, the nausea making my stomach spin. “You tried to fuck me. You knew it was me. That’s why Adonis said you had a bruise on your face. You didn’t get beaten up. It’s because Radcliff stopped you that day. He did that to you and—”
Radcliff’s revenge.
Radcliff started punishing Christian for what he did to me that night at the club. Radcliff knew all along. He had entered a war for me. He wanted to protect me. From him. Because he knew I couldn’t fight this battle on my own after what Christian tried to do to me.
“Lily, why are you saying this?” Adonis’s jaw went slack. His father had manipulated him too—he had no clue.
“Your father is a liar and a rapist! He goes to a club to fuck young women, and he’s—”
“Let’s talk in private, Lily. You’re certainly not feeling well for having such a wild and vivid imagination.” Christian’s voice pretended to be sweet and paternal, but it was laced with venom.
I glared at the hand he held out to me with disgust.
“No.” I switched my attention back to Adonis. “You have to believe me, Adonis! I’m telling the truth. Your father isn’t who you think he is.”
“Why would I believe you?” Adonis’s eyes sharpened with anger. “After what I saw you doing to Radcliff and the way you’ve been behaving lately… Now you’re accusing my dad of such things? What’s the matter with you?”
“Adonis…” I wailed.
“I told you to stay away from him. Look what he did to you! You’re siding with the evil side of the story.” Adonis gulped, girding himself with superiority. “But it’s not too late. We can help you if you—”
“No, you don’t—” I shut my mouth, eying the three of them. I was done. They wanted me to believe I had lost my sanity. It was all pointless.
My uncle was mute, staring in the middle of nowhere, and even if he did believe me, he was too much of a coward to speak against Carmin. He had sided with him from the start.
I narrowed my eyes at Christian with a promise. “You’ll pay for it. No. 27 is mine. The truth will come out.”
I would put the final ending on the reign of Christian.
I stormed out of this soulless living room, my heart filled with hatred.
“Lily! Come back!” My uncle yelled after me.
I locked myself inside the small elevator, pulling the iron grille, fully decided on leaving that place behind. Right before the elevator departed, Christian was ambling toward me.
His eyes danced wickedly, and a demonic smile curved on his lips.
His mask had fallen, and he thought he had won.
Being in my oldchambre de bonnefelt ghostly. Depressive. Lonely.
It felt more exactly like I had been pulled awake from a dream to land inside a frigid nightmare with no light.
The only remaining part of Ravencliff Manor was inside my luggage—my notebook of recipes, or some would say spells, and my creation. I hadn’t even smelled it since I arrived at my place, consumed by the rotten scents around me, letting them wrap me into a cloud of misery.
Sitting on the balcony of the roof, even the view that once was beautiful and magical was now blurred, as if all hope had been erased from the landscape. My uncle knocking at my doorstep for the ninth time seemed like a distant memory. It was too late for forgiveness. The sound of his persistent knocks vanished, and the silence filled my inside gloominess once more.
Radcliff and I didn’t feel over. We would never be. But the impossibility of being together made my heart ache and transformed the color of my soul into a ghastly white world.
I’d have to get back on my feet, eventually. I squared my shoulders, sat straighter, and lifted my head, locking my eyes on the horizon. A last tear dropped under my expressionless face, and each of my features closed. I’d present my perfume to the world. The pain was momentary, but a masterpiece was forever.
My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was an unknown number. I furrowed my brows. I wasn’t in the mood to talk, but a gut feeling in me spellbound my fingers into accepting the call.
“Lily?” the woman’s voice called. My nostrils immediately flared. I could smell the illusion of her green notes of mint and galbanum. “This is Melissa.”
“What do you want?” I exhaled, already cursing my damn gut.
“Something happened to Radcliff at the club.”
