Chapter 12HopeThere was not a man in the world that was as confusing as my husband. He did things that I couldn't understand at all. For example, he invited me to a private dinner with himself and Annalise.It wouldn't be the first time in the past week that he had invited me for something that had to do with Annalise. I couldn't tell if he was doing it to spite me or if it was because of Annalise herself who seemed fond of me.And not in a friendly manner. She liked to show off the fact that Darius was married to me but preferred her. She kissed him in front of me countless times, touched him for no reason, and made indirect insulting comments to me about being too naive to cater to his needs.I wished I could decline coming to their dinners, but I couldn't. Maybe I could, but I was too scared to try. I was afraid that Darius would do something horrible to me if I decided to go against him, so I did as he commanded. Every. Single. Time.I walked over to the garden where some maids

Chapter 14HopeI was summoned by my husband. I had just returned from the library and had a weird conversation session with Amara when Orion came stomping into my room and demanded that I come along with him because Darius summoned me.As we walked down the hallway to the east wing of the palace, my heart kept thumping. Perhaps he found out that I was reading erotic books and conversing with a crazy woman who claimed to be a witch. If he did, then what would my punishment be?Would he send me back to my home or kill me right away? The possibility of the latter made my heart race."My goodness, stop that! Your heartbeat is too loud. Control yourself." Orion snapped at me, and I stiffened.That was right. They could hear loud heartbeats. I should control myself. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Calming thoughts. He couldn't kill me just like that. He would be killing his wife which should be a crime as far as I could tell. He would warn me off the library and lock me u

Chapter 16HopeShe was staring at me with a sly look in her eyes. This library was forbidden, I knew it. And now, she would tell Darius about it and I would be stopped from coming here.'What do I do? What I do? What do I do?'"I see you're into books." Annalise's eyes slowly glanced at the book in my hand. I yelped and hid it behind me with a nervous smile plastered on my lips."Yes," I answered, breathlessly.Annalise smiled, taking two slow steps closer to me. "You haven't been hearing any kind of chiming noise inside, have you?" she asked cautiously.I shook my head immediately. "Of course, not." I quickly dismissed it but she looked unconvinced."Are you sure? It's an old library. Such things tend to happen." She spoke in a tone that made me know that she knew everything about me."I- I'm- I—""Shhh," she cut me off, placing her delicate hands over my shoulder. "It's alright. There's no need for you to get so scared. I understand you. You're alone in this castle, no one talks to

Chapter 18HopeIt has been a rather boring week for me. No one came to summon me for dinners. No one visited me except the haughty maids who came to serve me food with evident distaste in their eyes, like I had wronged them in some way. The only thing that has been keeping me company was India's diary.I read a page in the morning, a page in the afternoon, a page in the evening. I was persistent in savoring it because I had no idea the next time that I would have access to such a thing. The next time might be when I got out of this lockdown and went ahead to secretly visit Amara once again.Yes, that was my plan. Just because Darius commanded me not to go there again didn't mean that I would blindly obey him. Without any friends or source of entertainment in this entire castle, I might lose my mind without a doubt. So, as soon as the ban of my movement was lifted, I would return to my place of comfort. But for now, I would continue to seek my comfort in the pages of someone who was

Chapter 20Hope"I don't want to." I said with a slightly shaky voice. After my sentence, it was as though the entire world had come to a standstill because Darius froze up. I gulped down on my saliva, regretting those words immediately."What?" Darius said, sounding flabbergasted that he even had to ask that in the first place.I cleared my throat. "I said I don't want to. I don't want to train for anything. I'm not even going to be here for long. Once you find Light, there'll be no need for any of this."I was going to die for saying such things. I was going to die a slow and painful death after this. The expression on my husband's face said as much. He burned with fury."I- I," I tried to take back my words but I couldn't. Unfortunately, I couldn't form any complete sentences under such a gaze of terror."The choice was not yours to make in the first place. I am ordering you to report for training by tomorrow. I am not suggesting it." Darius gritted out forcefully, like he was try