Nine months too late: After divorce

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"What do I do with the dress?" Raphael asked as he and Kage stepped out of the car and began walking towards the house.

Kage was silent, a maid coming to take his jacket as soon as he stepped into the house.

He watched her go off, probably taking it to the laundry room.

"I don't care. I just don't wanna see it around," he grumped.

"Okay," Raphael shrugged. "I'll just stay here and finish what I have to do."

Kage went up the stairs while Raphael settled into the living room, turning on his system.

Approaching his bedroom, his steps slowed when he noticed his door was slightly open. There was someone in his room.

A frown creased his brows. Who dared to enter his personal space?

He walked into the room and found her in front of the mirror, touching her hair.

She turned to look at him and her eyes

lit

up

with a smile.

"Hey! You're home!" Cindy happily approached him.

"What're you doing here?" The ice in Kage's voice made her freeze halfway. "I don't remember having this conversation with you."

"Um... I thought I should surprise you. You know, I had some extra time and-"

"You're in no position to pay me surprise visits, Cindy." He took a step forward. "I thought I made myself explicitly clear when I said you couldn't come to the house without informing me?"

He took two more steps towards her. Cindy found them threatening and found herself retreating on impulse.

"I-I know," she nervously touched the back of her neck. "Fine. I'm sorry, okay? I just thought I could do something new."

She forced a smile, but it faltered as awkwardly as it had come.

Kage stopped mere inches from her, his eyes boring holes into hers. Cindy felt small under his scrutiny. She crossed her arms to prevent them from shaking before him. Kage cast a fleeting look at her.

"Your hair." He tipped his head towards it. "You changed it."

Chuckling nervously, she touched the pony. "Well, yes. Do you like it?"

"No. It's not like hers," Kage's reply was instant and flat.

The smile on Cindy's face vanished again. She dropped her eyes nervously shifting on her feet.

"You're not dressed like her today." He lowered his eyes to her legs.

"How?" Cindy glanced down at her dress. "It's a jumpsuit, Kage."

"Sylvie doesn't wear rompers." His voice remained scokd as he spoke. "She doesn't like it. Today, you look just like Cindy."

He walked past her, going to stand before his mirror.

=

Cindy's eyes glistened with tears. She rolled her eyes and blinked rapidly, forcing the tears back.

"And what's so wrong with looking like me, huh?" She turned to his direction.

His back was facing her as he stood before the dresser, taking off his wristwatch.

"Am I not good enough?"

Kage paused, the watch he'd unlocked from his wrist hanging in his hand.

"Cindy," calmly, he set it down on the table. "You seem to forget the reason you're here."

He turned around to face her, leaning his waist against the table. "If you didn't have a purpose, do you think you'd be good enough to walk through my gates? I'd have ordered my men to shoot you on sight."

A thick lump formed in her throat. Cindy knew that if she had to say a word, she'd burst into tears.

"We had a deal, didn't we? What we have going isn't a real relationship, and you know it. You agreed to being used by me- however I want it. And in return, I let people think you actually have me."

He moved toward her. Cindy sniffed, forcing her legs to stay rooted to the ground and not cower away from him.

"You've always wanted me." He ran a finger along her cheekbone. "I guess you must be excited having one of your greatest dreams achieved. We may have sex, Cindy, but each time I take you to bed, I want you to know you're not the one I think of."

A tear finally broke free. She sniffled, stepping back and away from his touch.

She kept her hands crossed, her teeth digging into the flesh of her inner cheeks so hard she could taste her blood. Kage's cruelty wasn't new to her. He'd made her understand he could never love her when he offered the deal to her two years ago. Yet, there was a foolish part of her that had hoped she could change him, get him to love her.

And Cindy wasn't about to let go of that hope. Kage could continue being cruel, but one day, she'll make him hers. He'll belong only to her and her alone.

"I don't need you here today. Get out." He dismissed her as he turned and walked into his closet.

*****

Sylvie had a weary look in her eyes as she stared at the phone in her hand, particularly at the last sent text in her inbox: 'Why aren't you saying anything? I've been trying to reach you!

She'd lost track of the number of messages she's sent to her strange texter. It's been three days since she got the first text from them, and they were yet to reach out to her again.

The previous day, she'd contacted a hacker to help track the number, but it turned out the text had been sent from a burner phone which was difficult to track.

Sylvie felt hopeless. But how could they just drop such an important information and vanish like they didn't leave her on edge?

She tucked her phone into her back pocket and tried to focus on the work at hand.

Along with some other staff, she was in the production room, working on a good number of dresses.

Not long after, her phone rang in her pocket and her heart skipped a beat as she quickly reached for it.

It was a strange number calling but different from the one that had texted.

5

She gulped nervously as she picked the call, walking to a corner of the room that was quiet.

"Hey. How're you doing?" The called asked.

She froze, realizing it was Lancelot.

What?

"What're-How did you get my number?" She asked with a grimace, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Well... It wasn't exactly difficult getting it from the visitor's log at Oasis."

Sylvie closed her eyes, pinching her brows.

"How're you holding up?" He asked.

She suppressed the urge to scoff. "I don't want you calling me, Lancelot. I told you, I don't want to talk to you. I'm going to end this call and I'll—"

"I need us to sit and talk," he spoke over, although he was calm and made it clear he was making a request.

Sylvie dug her nails into her palm. "That is never happening. I want you to stay out of my life."

"I know, I just... I have something important to tell you."

Sylvie's brows furrowed. When she stayed quiet, Lancelot went on. "I know how Kage had gotten hold of the recording

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