Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 406: Loose Ends
I quickly followed them inside, sensing that the two of them were here looking for trouble. One glance at Zain, and I could tell that he was already informing Bradon of their unexpected arrival. It wasn’t like Zain could throw out Bradon’s father and stepmother, so I could understand the pitiful position that he suddenly found himself in. I straightened my back and followed them further inside, thinking to myself that I needed to hold the fort until Bradon returned. Whatever it was that they wanted, I needed to make sure to find out.
The two of them sat comfortably on the sofa as if they were in their own house by the time I made it to the living room. The fact that neither of us spoke a single word as I sat down on the sofa only made the tension in the room skyrocket.
"I’m sure that Bradon will be back soon," I said, more to tell myself than to tell them.
"Why are you still here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as he turned his cold gaze in my direction.
The way that he looked at me left no room for imagination when it came to what he could have meant by that question. I felt a deep sense of dread and déjà vu, as though I had already heard the conversation that was about to happen before, and all it did was act as a harsh reminder that everything between Bradon and me was supposed to be over.
"What do you mean?" I asked, feigning innocence. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"I’ve always thought that you were evil, but I never thought you would also lack intelligence," Bradon’s father
said to me before his lips curved into a smirk of disgust.
It wasn’t the first time that someone had called me evil to my face, but it was certainly the first time that the insult had made my blood boil so much. Regardless of the feelings that bubbled up inside my chest, I managed to plaster a diplomatic smile on my lips.
"Would you care to explain?" I asked sweetly, as if I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say.
"I should have known that this agreement between our families would lead to such disaster. Having the real Diana marry into our family was bad enough, but then we were told that we had to take you instead - the fake Diana," Mr. Vulkan said as he stared at me with his cold, unforgiving eyes.
"I guess no one could foresee the future, and I guess you got more than you bargained for," I replied smoothly.
It didn’t slip my mind for a second that it was their idea to have me take my sister’s place and also to have Bradon take his brother’s place in a sham of a marriage that was supposed to fool everyone. As I sat on the sofa, staring at the older couple sitting opposite me, I wasn’t quite sure who the real fool was at the end of the day.
Whatever it was the Vulkans thought they could gain from my family had all turned into dust, and I could tell that right now, they were here to tie up loose ends in order to minimize the damage to the family’s business and reputation. In the end, that was all that they really cared about. I sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out as I reminded myself that I was nothing more than one of those loose ends that they needed to tie off or get rid of.
"I don’t know why you’re still here, why you’re still hanging around my son, but I assure you that there’s nothing you will gain from our family. We don’t need you anymore," he stated, confirming what I had already pretty much accepted as obvious.
To a certain extent, I knew better than anyone that I didn’t have anything I wanted or needed to gain from their family, and if I could have chosen right from the start, I wouldn’t have gotten myself involved in any of this. On top of that, I already knew I wasn’t needed anymore. Although I wasn’t sure what Bradon was trying to achieve or what kind of deal he had struck up with his father, it was already painfully obvious that I was now useless to them both.
"You’re right. I have absolutely no reason to be hanging around your son or your family, for that matter. It’s strange, and it might be hard for you to believe, but your son has placed me under house arrest," I said before shrugging my shoulders innocently.
His eyes immediately narrowed at me as if I had just told him something so completely unbelievable. There was a deep, mutual distrust between the two of us that was undeniable.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"I know that this might be hard for you to believe, but your son doesn’t seem to want to let me go," I said before shaking my head from side to side helplessly.
"Are you sure that you’re telling the truth? Aren’t you the one clinging to him and refusing to dissolve the marriage and leave?" This time it was Bradon’s stepmother who spoke up, her tone sharp and accusing as she looked down on me as if I had no social standing of my own.
"There’s no need for me to cling to him. If anything, I want to leave this place as soon as possible. However, according to Bradon’s orders, all his men are determined to keep me here," I replied quite truthfully.
The look in their eyes seemed to change, and for the first time, it felt like they were starting to believe in my words. I had to admit that when they arrived at the mansion, I never thought they would end up serving as an opportunity for my escape. I knew, however, that I shouldn’t simply disappear without properly parting ways with Bradon, because there was still a part of me that was holding me back from executing that option. Perhaps I feared that not having any kind of closure would mean that I wouldn’t be able to move on from him. However, in order to have that conversation with him on equal grounds, I would need to be outside of his territory, where he ruled with absolute power.
–To be continued...
