Sold To The Untouchable Alpha novel Chapter 25

[Arissa's POV]

Images of that day began to flash unbidden in my mind, sending me back to that time in which I wished to forget.

I remember laying in bed recovering from broken ribs and a busted skull. There was just the faintest of tugs at my consciousness, indicating that someone was trying to mindlink with me.

Out of pure curiosity, I let that person in to find that she was my maid, Tracy.

She was hiding under a desk with her hands held over her mouth and nose in an attempt to stay quiet. The scene she was seeing was something that would haunt me even now.

Standing there with his hand covered in blood was Isaac, but the blood that stained his skin wasn't his own.

In his hand, he held the hilt of a sword, and the blade of that sword stabbed cleanly through my father's chest.

The look on my father's face was one of pure shock and betrayal. At first I didn't understand it since he didn't know Isaac, but after Tracy shifted her gaze a little further, there stood my mother with a look of triumph on her face.

At that moment, I was left in confusion and rage. Why was this man here and why was my mother helping him? What exactly was going on?

I'm sure my father felt that way too, as life slowly slipped away from him.

Had the sword been removed, he probably could have healed himself, but with the blade in place, the skin couldn't be repaired. From the way his body stayed completely stiff, I knew that he had been drugged with a paralysis potion. Otherwise, there was no way he wouldn't fight.

My mother and Isaac were monsters that happily watched my father take his final breath.

Afterwards, I saw the beginning of my mother and Isaac's sinful acts and tried to pull away. I didn't want to see them touching and caressing each other, spreading my father's still warm blood across each other's skin.

It was only when I managed to slap myself that I finally broke free and was left to mourn alone in my dingy cell on that cold island where the only escape was death.

Something warm was trickling down my cheek and an odd caress managed to snap me out of it, returning me to that cramped carriage.

Opening my eyes, I found Ivan sitting much too close with his hand out touching my cheek where a tear that managed to escape had been.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, quickly jerking away from his reach. "Why are you touching me?"

For a moment, Ivan just stared at me with an unfathomable look that caused my heart to start racing.

"What?" I asked, trying desperately to calm down. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You were whimpering the word, father." He said slowly, finally breaking the silence. "And then started crying."

"I think you're mistaken."

My cheeks began to burn with the blush of embarassment that was beginning to spread. There was no way I could have let him see me like that, no way.

My pain was my own to bear, and I had no intention of letting anyone else near it. However, within just a few days, Ivan had managed to get a peek twice. I really needed to be more careful when I was around him.

"Were you remembering your father's death?" Ivan suddenly asked, rocking me to my core.

"It doesn't matter." I said slowly, putting my guard up. "And it doesn't concern you even if I was."