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He wrapped his hand around my throat, slamming me back against the side of the car. I clawed at his wrist, gasping and choking. My heart pounded against my breastbone, threatening to burst through and fall at his feet. I couldn’t breathe past his grip.
“You’re forever stuck with me now, little blondie, and I plan to get everything I fucking can from you. Maybe I’ll tell them what a shitty wife you are, not doing your wifely duties, and I’ll divorce you. It’ll shun you in the eyes of the church, ruin your entire family—”
“He’ll kill me,” I gasped.
Amadeus brought his face close to mine, a sinister smirk tilting his lips. “Not my fucking problem, little blondie.”
He released me, and I fell to my knees, coughing and rubbing my sore throat. Amadeus inhaled on his cigarette, turning to stare out at the field next to us. “I’ll see what I can do about getting them to postpone it because Idon’twant to fucking marry you, Lillian.”
I looked up at him through my tears. “Then just go ahead and kill me, Amadeus. It’ll be less painful,” I rasped, coughing again.
He shook his head and tossed his cigarette down, putting it out with his shoe. “No. Now get up and get back in the car.”
With that, he walked back around the car. I slowly got up from the ground and stood on my shaking legs, sniffling and swiping my trembling fingers across my damp cheeks.
I looked up at the sky for a moment, drawing in a shaky breath.
Maybe it would just be easier if I tried to end this whole ordeal myself. Wasn’t like Father could do anything to me that he hadn’t already done. Would death be more peaceful than this life I’d been born into?
Maybe Hell wouldn’t be so bad. Couldn’t be too much worse than how I currently lived.
I silently slid into the car and buckled my seat belt. Without a word, Amadeus pulled back onto the road, his hand clenching the steering wheel, his other on the shifter between us.
I hoped he hated himself for this. And Ireallyhoped he couldn’t find a way out of it.
Because if I had to suffer, then it was only fair if he had to as well.
ChapterTen
Amadeus
Father took a seat at the breakfast table, and like clockwork, my mother placed a plate of food in front of him. Bacon, eggs, ham, and a biscuit. A cup of steaming coffee came right after. It was like she was his fucking maid instead of his wife.
I hated this goddamn family. Hated my mother, too. She was a woman with no goddamn backbone. For as long as I could remember, she’d never had one. Had always turned a blind eye to his cheating, to beating his children, and to trying to fucking molest us.
She treated him like a king when he was nothing more than a fucking peasant in this game he tried to play with everyone. And I couldn’t wait to one day show him who the real mother fucking king was.
“I’m surprised you’re willingly sitting here at this table,” he finally commented, lifting his cup of coffee to his lips. He was taunting me, but I knew his game by now. I’d spent years studying him, memorizing his mannerisms. My ability to switch my personality so easily to fit whatever fuckery I was involved in was deadly.
A psychologist would no doubt have a fucking field day with me.
I thrummed my fingers on the table, staying silent. He hated that I did that shit, but I knew how to play his game. And making him wait…well, patience certainly wasn’t one of his better qualities. In fact, I wasn’t sure it was a quality he had at all.
“I proposed to Lillian yesterday,” I finally told him. I arched a brow at him. “As I’m sure you already know.” His expression didn’t change. “But I’m not marrying her on Sunday, Father. It’s not happening.”
He clenched his jaw. “It will—”
“It’s. Not. Happening,” I repeated, enunciating each word so he understood clearly what the fuck I was saying. “I will leave her at that altar and disgrace this entire family if you force me to. I said I was ready to commit to her. So, I proposed. You’ll let me marry her on my own fucking time.”
He slammed his coffee cup down, his face turning red. Coffee sloshed over the side. My mother quickly worked on cleaning it up as he jabbed his finger in my face. I calmly stayed right where I was, not intimidated in the slightest. “Don’t you use that language at this table—”
I barked out a laugh and leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest, unbothered by his outburst. “I’ll give you the respect you want when you’ve earned it.” He was practically steaming. I pushed back from the table and stood, pushing my plate toward my mother. It clattered to the floor, shattering at her feet. She looked at me in alarm, but I didn’t give two shits about her misery or her fear.
I looked at Father. “I won’t marry Lillian on Sunday, and she doesn’t want that either. If you and her father knew what was good for the two of you, you’d let us decide to get married when we’re ready.”
Father clenched his fist. “You are the worst son God could have given me,” he snarled, shaking now with his fury.
I smirked. “That’s because I’m a son of the devil,” I retorted. I was pretty sure he was going to break something soon. It took everything in me not to laugh in his face.Hehad created this, and now, he had to live with the consequences. “Now, are we clear on my marriage?”
