Chapter 2: Falling Apart
1580 Words
"Who is this man, Victoria?" Sir Thomas's voice was razor-sharp. "And why, in God’s name, is he half-naked in this villa?"
"Father, I swear, I don’t know who he is!" Victoria’s voice cracked. "I just found him in the sea—he was drowning!" Her hands trembled. "I couldn’t just leave him there. He would've… died."
But Sir Thomas simply clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. He turned sharply, glaring at the stranger, who still hadn’t spoken a word.
“So you’re telling me you just happened to find a man drowning and dragged him here, ‘alone’?” His voice rose. “In the middle of all this? Days before your wedding to Dorian Blackwood?” He scoffed, running a hand through his graying hair. “Do you have any idea how this looks?”
Before Victoria could respond, Lord Edward Hale stepped forward, a smirk playing on his lips as if the chaos amused him.
“Ah, Thomas…” He slowly shook his head. “This is the consequence of spoiling your daughter. You've raised her to think she can get away with anything.” He shot a disdainful glance at Victoria. “You see, she’s no different from her mother.”
Victoria stiffened. Her uncle’s words cut deeper than her father’s accusations ever could.
“What are you implying, Edward?” Sir Thomas asked, his voice faltering slightly.
“I’m implying that Victoria here has a habit of keeping filthy secrets.” Lord Edward gestured toward the man slumped by the door. “Look at this scene. What do you think this ‘really’ is, Thomas?”
“That’s not fair!” Victoria interjected, stepping forward. “I told you, he was drowning! This isn’t—”
“Not fair?” Lord Edward towered over her. “What isn’t fair is your blatant disrespect for your family’s honor. What will people say when they hear of this? That you were here, playing savior to some nameless, half-dead man while your fiancé waits? Or perhaps that you’re already following in your mother’s footsteps—deceit, lies, infidelity?”
“Enough, Edward,” her father growled. “This isn’t about her mother.”
“But it is, Thomas,” Edward insisted, his grin widening. “This behavior? This recklessness? It’s exactly what her mother did. And now, look at her—bringing some lover into the villa. Do you really think Dorian Blackwood will tolerate this insult?”
Victoria’s face paled. “He’s not my lover! I swear! I don’t even know his name!”
“Of course you don’t,” Edward spat. “The story’s always the same. Do you really expect us to believe you found a stranger drowning and dragged him back here out of the goodness of your heart?”
Sir Thomas stood still, his fists clenched. His face now hardened as anger boiled to the surface. “You’ve disgraced this family...” His eyes were filled with disappointment. “How could you… be so foolish?”
Victoria took a step back, her heart hammering in her chest. She had never seen her father this enraged, and she could feel the air in the room grow heavier.
“You really think you can get away with anything, don’t you, Victoria?” Sir Thomas spat, raising his rough hand.
Time seemed to slow as Victoria braced herself. She couldn’t process what was happening—this wasn’t the father she knew.
Just as his hand began to swing toward her, a blur of movement cut through the air.
The stranger was suddenly there, catching Sir Thomas’s wrist with one swift motion, stopping the blow just inches from Victoria’s face.
The room fell deathly silent.
Sir Thomas, startled, stared at the stranger in shock. He tried to pull his arm away, but the man’s grip was ironclad.
Though still weak and visibly exhausted, there was a fire in the stranger’s eyes. “You will not lay a hand on her,” he said, his voice hoarse but steady.
Victoria’s breath hitched in her throat.
Sir Thomas yanked his hand back. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
The stranger stood firm. “It doesn’t matter who I am,” he said.
His hand gripped Sir Thomas’s arm with a force that caused her father’s face to twist. His dark eyes held a silent warning as he towered over everyone.
He wouldn’t let them harm her.
“Let him go,” Victoria pleaded, her voice barely a whisper. Her hands trembled as she reached out to the stranger. “Please, let him go.”
The man’s grip on her father’s wrist tightened briefly, as if considering her request, before he slowly released him.
Sir Thomas staggered back, but before anyone could react, the door to the room burst open.
A wave of bodyguards stormed inside, weapons drawn and ready to defend Sir Thomas and Lord Edward.
“Take him down!” Edward barked, pointing a finger at the stranger. “But don’t kill him.” He smirked. “Not yet…”
The guards hesitated only for a moment, but that moment was enough.
The man moved faster than anyone could anticipate.
The first guard swung a baton toward him, but it was caught mid-air and thrown aside like a twig. A swift kick sent the second guard sprawling across the floor, crashing into the wall with a sickening thud.
Another lunged at him, but the man ducked low, sweeping the guard’s legs out from under him and sending him crashing into a nearby table.
One by one, the bodyguards fell. He moved with the grace of a trained fighter. Within moments, the room was filled with groaning men, guards clutching their sides, arms, and legs, while the stranger stood untouched.
Victoria’s eyes widened. She had never seen anything like it. She realized that this man wasn’t just a stranger who had appeared by chance—he was someone far more dangerous than she had imagined.
Edward, too, was momentarily speechless, his smirk faltering as he watched his men fall so easily.
“What… who are you?” Fear crept into Edward’s voice.
The man remained silent, his eyes still cold. He took a step toward Victoria, positioning himself protectively between her and her family. It was clear he wasn’t going to let them touch her again.
Lord Edward seethed with anger. His eyes glared at Victoria with disgust. "You shameless girl! Is this how you repay the family that took you in? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? All that we've worked for, our reputation, our honor—ruined!”
Sir Thomas stood beside Edward. He shook his head, looking at Victoria as if she had betrayed him in the worst possible way. “Victoria,” he said, his voice low. “I expected more from you… so much more.”
Her heart shattered as she saw the hurt in his eyes. “Father, I—” she began, but her voice broke.
“I don’t want to hear it,” her father interrupted. “This… this behavior… it’s inexcusable. Your mother may have been shameless, but I thought you were better than this.”
Tears stung her eyes. “No! I—”
“Enough!” Sir Thomas’s voice rose with finality. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. You've made your choice, and now you’ll have to live with it. If you go through with this… I will disown you.”
The air seemed to leave the room. Victoria’s legs felt weak as she stared at her father.
Disown her? Her entire world was crumbling, and it was all happening so fast.
Without another word, both men and their guards turned and left, the door slamming shut behind them.
Victoria stood frozen, her heart pounding, her mind spinning. Her hands trembled as she turned her gaze toward the stranger.
“You…” she whispered breathlessly. “This… this is your fault.” Her chest tightened. “If you hadn’t—”
But before she could finish her sentence, the man suddenly staggered. His knees buckled, and he collapsed into her arms, his body heavy against hers.
“Wait! What…” Victoria gasped, struggling to hold him up. His skin felt cold to the touch, and his breath came in shallow gasps.
Panic surged through her, but something else stirred within her. This man, whoever he was, had protected her, and now he was vulnerable. Despite her anger, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon him.
“Please, don’t die on me.”
She managed to guide him back to the bed, laying him down as gently as she could. He was unconscious now, but he was still alive.
She hurried to tidy his clothes. As she adjusted his jacket, something hard brushed against her fingers. Curious, she reached into his pocket and pulled out a small emblem—a metallic shield engraved with strange symbols and intricate patterns.
But she set it aside, focusing instead on the man lying before her.
She brushed a strand of damp hair from his forehead. “Who are you?”
There was no response, just the steady rise and fall of his chest.
As the light dimmed outside, Victoria made a decision. She would care for him, at least until she understood who he truly was—and why fate had brought him into her life at the moment when everything else had fallen apart.
- Writer
