Love Me Or I Die

CHAPTER 6

The corner of his lips finally curled up but he did not see the bitter pain in Lucia’s eyes.

“Sister, this is Daniel” Sophia said happily while she rested her head possessively on Daniel’s arm.

At this point, Daniel’s look turned from extremely grouchy to a gentle one which not many have seen before.

“Let’s go.” He took Sophia’s hand and walked into the household. They did not pause as they passed by Lucia, not even a step. The girl could only look and feel dumb as they passed. For a moment, her heart started to shatter.

She balled her hands into a tight grip. The faint sunlight touched her cheeks and she managed to smile slightly, albeit that smile was sad and full of misery.

Steven was very satisfied with Daniel. He had expressed his motive very directly and clearly to him. He wanted to marry Sophia. Steven was determined to have things his way. He thought he might have been a bit arrogant but, he had the means and the position to behave like this.

Daniel, the heir to his family's business, to match his beloved daughter. It was not a shabby arrangement for them at all.

Lucia stared at Daniel, feeling all numb all over. No one knew that she was trying her very best to not cry on the spot.

She walked back to her room. She would forever be an outsider in this family. If it was possible, she would rather go back to a tough life with her mother.

From then on, Daniel became a regular visitor at Steven's household. Lucia had wanted to approach him many times, to tell him that she was the one who he had made a promise to. But every time she was on the verge of telling him, she was incapable of doing it.

For she knew—she knew that as aloof as he was, he had fallen completely head over heels for Sophia. It was just a promise made when they were just children—true love—but Lucia could never compare to Sophia.

She closed the door and recollected her emotions. She locked herself in her narrow and tiny room.

The door opened at this moment but she maintained the same posture. Her hands were around her kneecaps, tightly hugging them. She stared outside without any emotion but on her face, her fragility had fallen apart.

She was made of flesh and blood. She was not a block of wood. She could feel ache and pain.

“Lucia…” A woman’s voice rang in her ears. It sounded unreal. She turned her head and found herself standing face to face with her mother. She had no idea when her mother had come in.

This was her mother but she had forgotten when was the last time she had called her mother. It had been so long ago.

She straightened herself. She hid the unyielding look, which was not often seen, under her long eyelashes.

“Lucia, Daniel belongs to Sophia.” Stella issued this warning the moment she opened her mouth. That shook Lucia out of her daze in a split second. She had been very careful and yet, her mother had managed to see through her.

“Sophia, you should know your status. You do not deserve him. So, do not think about him and don’t hurt your sister.” She caressed Lucia’s hair with both hands. That gesture had instead caused Lucia’s body to shudder over and over again.

Status . Right. Daniel would be the future CEO of a huge company. While she would forever be an orphan, one who lived under other people’s roof. She had a home that was not hers. She had a mother who belonged to another.

“I know.” A faintly discernible voice came out which quickly crushed the air. It didn’t seem to sound like her though.

“Sophia, one must learn to be grateful. Your father gave us the life that we have now. He provided for you, allowing you to go to school and clothes to wear. Otherwise, the two of us, mother and daughter, would be living out on the streets.”

“I know.” Still, there was no anger in her voice. Lucia merely looked outside but in reality, her mother was beginning to feel like a stranger to her.

The corner of her lips curled up in sarcasm. She would rather they gave up this kind of life.

As she watched a thin and cold smile appear on Lucia's face, Stella could not stop herself from an unfound feeling of guilt. She hastened to remove her hand from Lucia's hair, it felt as if her fingers were being pricked by her hair.

That’s right. Even if her hands were not pricked, she could feel the pain from the sensation that filled her heart.

The door closed once more. No one would even know that she had been crying, for the tears that rolled down her cheeks were almost translucent, and it blended well with the look of despair in her eyes.

As more tears streaked down her cheeks, it evoked a sheer sense of despair and regret within her.

She gathered up her emotions carefully and hid them—her heart and her feelings. She watched Daniel and Sophia in silence. Yes, her mother was right. Only a princess like Sophia was worthy and deserving of him.

But with every glance, she came to a realization that her feelings for Daniel had become a habit that she built bit by bit over the years. She could not stop herself from thinking about him, from loving him.

And now, with each day, she was suffering.

Daniel held Sophia’s slim waist, his gaze darkened. He quickly leaned down and before she regained her composure, kissed her heavily on her lips. The way he treated her was different from the other women he knew. Because she was the bride. The one he had chosen in his childhood.

“You must grow up faster. By then, you can marry me.” He reached out and stroked lovingly at Sophia’s face. It wasn’t until he saw a silhouette at a distance that his gaze gradually changed to a frosty glance.

“She again.”

Lucia.

Lucia’s hand went to her chest, her face turned ashen. So, the reality of everything did hurt. But it hurts, even more, to have witnessed it. She thought she had gotten used to pain, but no, she never thought that such pain felt as if she was being ripped apart.

She turned around. A dark shadow fell over her face. She looked up abruptly. Daniel was leaning casually by the wall. His aloof features hinted at a little rivalry.

“Do you like me?” His haughty voice was cold as the wind on a winter’s day. His tone made Lucia felt like her body had split down the middle into two. She was in misery from the chilled, cold tone in his voice.

She simply evaded his gaze because she was at loss for what she should do next.

Yes, she liked him. No. She loved him. She could deceive everyone around her but she could not deceive herself.

Daniel straightened his frame and walked closer to her. He grabbed her chin abruptly, “I am warning you. Keep your unreciprocated love to yourself. If you dare to even harm Sophia a tiny bit, I will make your life a living hell. Do you know what hell is? You hurt even one strand of her hair: I will destroy your whole head of hair.”

He said it in such a cruel and heartless manner that Lucia could only lightly nod her head. A teardrop had fallen on the back of his hand but he shook her chin off. The smudged tear stain on the back of his hand had particularly caused him to feel discomfort.

He hated it when women cry. Especially this woman’s breathless crying.

He strode out in wide steps leaving behind a heartbroken woman who watched his silhouette in despair. It was as if she wanted to etch his life in her eyes and deeply in her soul.

She turned around and put the back of her hand against her lips. She bit on her hand but it tasted bitter—like her tears. So, she really liked to cry.

**********

That year, Lucia was nineteen and Sophia was eighteen.

“Sister, do you think this look nice?” Sophia was showing off her treasured diamond ring. “Look, Daniel gave me this. He finally proposed.” In her hand was an exceptionally beautiful diamond ring that had an everlasting shine.

“Congratulations.” Lucia closed her eyes in agony and allowed her pain to recede slowly. She opened her eyes with a smile, but the smile made her look worse than when she was crying.

“That’s good. You’re finally getting married.” In her heart, there was another pang of sharp pain.

“Sis, let’s go for a car ride. He gave me a new sports car a few days ago. You must remember to say that this was your idea to go out.” Sophia rolled her eyes. She had not driven a car for a long time since her father never liked her driving. He had remarked that she drove like a maniac. Even her fiancee Daniel had thought the same. But today, she finally thought of an excellent idea.

As she stood in front of Steven,  Lucia could not stop herself from feeling conscious. He was a father who belonged to someone else, but she had to call him such. Somehow, she could not bring herself to do so.

“All right, just remember to come back early,” said Steven as he waved his hand. He had always felt a sense of guilt towards Lucia. He knew that the girl was smart—even way smarter than Sophia. All these years, they mistreated her, and still, she had to stand behind Sophia.

Which was why this was a first. But it won’t be the last either.

Lucia felt something changed in her sister. She had noticed that sometimes she would appear distracted, and she wondered what went on in her mind.

“Sister, let’s go.” Sophia was becoming antsy as she pulled Lucia out.

Once they got in the car, Lucia alighted and then walked away. This was how they have always got along. The younger daughter would have fun while the elder would sit and wait at another location.

On that particular day, she waited—she kept waiting, but Sophia never returned.

But what waited for her were countless nightmares. That new sports car was wrecked and burned beyond recognition. As for the driver, they never found her again.

“It wasn’t me…” She lightly bit at her dry lips. It swelled considerably. She had no clothes to cover the hideous bruises on her legs. He had taken her body without giving her a kiss. He did not even touch her.

She sat up and the instant she did, a sharp pain between her legs shot through her body. He had really torn her apart. The most humiliating thing to her was the red patches on their bed; they reminded her that he took her so callously and cruelly. She recalled what he had said—he asked for the price of her virginity. He knew… he had always known, but she didn’t.

As she stood up, she could only manage a small step before she fell on the bed again. She bit down on her lips. She could not describe the pain on her lips or the pain between her legs.

She opened the closet door only to find out that there was not a single piece of clothing that belonged to her. She looked at her naked body. Was it his intention not to let her have even a piece of her own clothes to wear?

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door. She hurriedly grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself in it.

“Madam, may I come in?” With that, the door opened. The one who came in was a maid who worked in the mansion. She inquisitively had looked at Lucia before she laid down a piece of clothing on her bed.

“Madam, Master has instructed me to give you this.” She lifted her head and looked at the woman with her red and swollen eyes. She looked so pathetic. The master must have really treated her roughly last night.