CHAPTER 13: AN ACCIDENT

Braelyn’s POV

The door slammed shut behind me. Gasps of air escaped my lips as I pressed against the door trying to compose my thoughts.

Images of what happened earlier flooded my mind. He was too close; the maids had seen us, but he didn’t care.

Lucien was slowly turning to my shadow, and this was driving me nuts. My cheeks still burned from where his thumb had brushed against.

"Nothing happened, Braelyn. He is just getting under your skin." I was exasperated and my mind couldn’t help but add.

’ and under your panties.’

Ahhhh

What was wrong with me? I shouldn’t be having these thoughts. He was my uncle-in-law, and I wasn’t Raphael.

To gather my thoughts and clear my mind, I went to the bathroom to wash my face and also made a mental note to avoid Lucien.

The funeral was closer, I just had to avoid him and, technically, almost everyone in this family until the will was read. The cold water rushed over my hands while I stared back at the foggy mirror.

Ever since the beginning of this trip, I kept asking myself why I bothered coming to this funeral when a lot of people would have preferred that I weren’t present.

Although the late Mr Volkov was a good friend of my late parents. It would have been better if I had just attended the main funeral instead of keeping up this act.

It felt like deep down there was more to it than out of filial respect for the elder.

Sigh

I pulled out a dry towel from the rack to clean my hands. The door to the bedroom was pushed open, and my ears perked up at the soft humming tone

My mood was immediately ruined once my eyes fell on the familiar figure sitting on the bed staring at a photograph in her hand.

Amelia acted like she owned the bed and maybe she did. My eyes narrowed on the photograph, recognising the date signed on the back.

My body moved before I could think, to snatch it from her grip. "How dare you touch my stuff?!" I barked at her

Amelia evaded me. A smug look on her face as she toyed with that old photograph. My eyes took a quick scan of the room to realise my purse was flipped on the bed.

Not only has she evaded my matrimonial bed, but she was also evading my personal belongings.

"Chill, it’s just a picture." She scoffed, moving away. Her lips tilted. "Although I will admit you look alike." She added with a sly grin. My fist clenched once I caught a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Please, Amelia, hand over the picture. I don’t want trouble." I pleaded, swallowing my pride, because that wasn’t just any picture.

It was one of the few things I had to remind my late mother. No matter what, I could not afford anything bad happening to that picture, which reminded me of the woman I was never privileged to know.

Amelia chuckled, keeping a good distance between us. "I also don’t want any trouble, Braelyn. Just looking. After all, I don’t want your precious mummy picture getting damaged." She said,

From the look in her eyes, I knew she was definitely here for trouble. I had to be cautious and play along for now. My eyes didn’t leave the old picture whose edges were burnt.

"What do you want?" I asked, going straight to the point, dancing to her tone. Amelia scoffed. Earlier, I had noticed her and the rest when they arrived.

I wondered if this was related to Natasha after all Amelia and Raphael’s younger sister were technically best friends.

"What I want is simple? I want you gone, Braelyn." She said with a clenched jaw. I was a bit taken aback by her request.

How did my presence affect her in the least way? "If I could simply leave, do you think I would stay and watch you play house with Raphael?" I snarled at her.

Her brows knotted, and the next question was blurted out. "Why can’t you leave? Unless you have no shame." Her words had no effect on me. I was starting to go numb.

"Ask your precious Raphael." She tried to push on, but I refused to say any more. "The picture," I asked.

She was obviously dissatisfied with my answer. Amelia tried to hide but I saw it. The unease, the fear, although everyone treated her like the real Mrs Volkov, she would always be the mistress.

The only way she could claim that title was if I were gone. Her perfect smile graced her lips again to hide her emotions. "You are right. I should probably ask Raphael.." she said then put forward the photo

"Here, I just wanted to say hi since you didn’t reply to Natasha’s greetings." She added. I wasn’t interested in her rambling and grabbed the edge of the photograph that was crumbling due to age.

There was always the option of editing and reprinting it but I still kept this copy. It made me feel closer to her. Amelia smirked, her fingers refusing to let go

Before I realised what she had in mind. The sharp ripping sound tore through the air. My heart froze for a moment, dumbfounded I stared at Amelia holding the other half of the picture.

"Oops sorry." Her apology was far from sincere. My entire body trembled, and my brain was still lagging behind as anger and resentment ate through me.

She enjoyed every bit of it. I lunged at her without a word to grab the other half. She was fast, she avoided the push and pushed me against the bed hard.

"No need to act so rashly. My hand slipped." What kind of ridiculous lie was that?!

"Give me back my...." The rest of the words were stuck in the throat with tears bursting out. My heart alone wasn’t in pain, the push from Amelia has also triggered my symptoms.

There was an excruciating pain in my stomach, which made speaking unbearable, and I could only cry. I clutched my stomach as I struggled to sit up but it felt like hell.

Amelia frowned, "I can’t understand you, and besides, stop being dramatic", she snorted. "It was a slight push stop acting like I hurt you." She clicked her tongue then glanced at the half-photograph.

"There is nothing you will use this junk for." She said, taking advantage of my silence, then tore up the other half. My mind kept on screaming forcing myself to stand up as I watched her tear it into pieces but my body refused to listen

The pieces fell on the floor, the image barely recognisable. If that wasn’t enough she started to stump on the photo, her gaze was locked on me.

Maybe it was sheer will that pushed me. I was able to gather up the strength to lunge at her. My hand ran across her cheeks as I pushed her away.

"Stay away, you monster," I screamed, the pain was still tearing me apart, but saving what was left of my mother was more important. Amelia lost her balance from the fall and then struck her head against the drawer.

Her sharp scream faded in my ears. The door burst open and a thunderous voice boomed in the room. "BRAELYN, WHAT DID YOU DO?;"

His voice roared through me like thunder, but all I could see were the torn pieces of my mother’s face scattered on the floor.