Chapter 69: Betrayal.
July 11 2026, 9:21am.
At first, Nyx’ara did not want to believe what she was hearing— or maybe she believed but chose not to understand.
Her hands shook as he dragged a lazy finger over the length of her arm, trailing it upward until they settled on her shoulders. Goosebumps sprouted on her body as his fingers moved, but just as he arrived at the nape of her neck, and noticed the scattered bumps rising on her skin, he pulled her in, wrapped his fingers along her neck, and leaned in to press a kiss to the tip of her nose.
Her nose, not her lips.
And she had closed her eyes, thinking he was about to kiss kiss her.
Her breath caught in her throat, and, goddess, for a split second, she felt a flicker of something akin to annoyance flare hot at the base of her stomach.
Her hand shot up before she could stop herself and she had only slightly brushed at the surface of his chin before she knew what she was doing— that is after he had caught her hand.
Rhys’ eyes glowed with rage and something so twisted, it made her stomach dip. His fingers dug into the skin of her wrist until it was almost bruised. She whimpered when his grip became so tight, she could hardly breathe, and hissing through gritted teeth, she snarled;
"Y-you’re hurting me."
"I tried to pamper you, mia farfarlla, but I guess you like it better when I am rough."
The double meanings in his words hit her face like a slap, and she felt her cheeks burn with a heat so intense it was hardly known to man.
She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp only to stumble right into his chest, causing a rumble of laughter to tear right through him, echoing throughout the hall and sending shockwaves down her spine.
She didn’t intend to talk back to him but for some reason today, she felt fearless. Also, she figured that he was in such a great mood, and deciding that she wanted to test just how far she could go until he snapped, she hissed;
"F-fuck you."
Rhys stopped laughing immediately he heard that. His eyes zeroed in on her face and he tilted his head to the side in deep concentration. A beat of silence stretched between them both for what felt like an eternity until he finally broke it by asking;
"Fuck me?"
"Y-yes, fuck you...!" Nyx’ara snarled, causing his smile to widen so much until two identical dimples dug into his perfect perfect cheeks.
If she didn’t know better, she would’ve said he was dazzling.
But she knew better.
His eyes gleamed with twisted mischief and without hesitation, he smacked her butt cheeks once, causing a shocked gasp to slip past her lips just as the sound echoed through the air.
"Urgh! W-what was that f-for!" Nyx’ara cried out, her eyes wide in mortification. But all Rhys did was smile— that same twisted smile of his, and muttered;
"You didn’t have to take permission, baby. You know you can always fuck me whenever you want."
As soon as he said those words, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Her head reeled with a thousand and one retorts she could come up with but nothing sounded smart against his very ’meaningful’ words.
However, before she could snap out of her momentary daze, she was suddenly pulled into a deeper one when he flicked the stray tendril of hair on her temple away, beamed a smile so bright she almost needed sunglasses at her, and muttered softly against the top of her ear;
"I’ll be expecting you downstairs for dinner."
Nyx’ara’s mouth snapped open but immediately clamped shut.
"...I would take any excuse and if you come up with one, I’ll come up here to drag you out myself."
His words re-referencing the fact that he’d overheard her earlier conversation with Eloise— in case she had forgotten— made her cheeks redden, especially when he added:
"And make sure to dress less... mundane... you ought to remember that today’s Friday after all, and that there’s an occasion."
His choice of words made Nyx’ara as infuriated as she was short of words... and breath. So all she could do as his lips brushed against the side of her face, igniting several goosebumps that scattered across her skin, was stand there and collect it all.
She still stood there and collected it when his fingers lazily traveled up her spine and flexed at the nape of her neck... and there she remained when he brushed his lips against the crook of her neck before taking a step back and letting go of her.
"I’ll see you downstairs." He said, and with that, he turned and left, leaving her staring at his disappearing back with a mixture of frustration and intrigue.
Frustration because she could not begin to fathom how to deal with him or his brothers, and intrigue because there was something about him— about his attitude, his callousness, rawness, and egoism— that pulled her to him stronger than a magnet would pull a piece of metal.
And she was curious to know what it was.
—
She stepped out of her room about forty-five minutes later when she was done with showering and changing into something else...
However, contrary to what Eloise and Rhys had said to her earlier, she ended up wearing something even more ’mundane’ than the clothes she had worn to school.
Now, she was clad in simple black shorts and a blue top so big it could fit Rhys and her put together. Her damp waist-length hair was uncombed and not fully dried, causing tiny droplets of water to drip down her back and legs.
But she did not care about it.
In fact, at the moment, all she cared about was defying Rhys’ and Eloise’s instructions. All she cared about was the look she would find on their faces when they found her like this, and she sure got what she wanted because as soon as she stepped into the dining hall, Eloise’s nose scrunched up in distaste while Rhys lowered his head to cough exaggeratedly into a handkerchief.
She smiled. "I a-am sorry I am late."
At the sound of her voice, everyone else turned to look at her. Everyone else seemed equally surprised to see her arrive in the way she had. Her smile widened as her eyes darted across the room... until they once again landed on Rhys’.
Rhys who now looked as though he was mad.
Rhys who was gripping at his handkerchief until his knuckles turned white.
His eyes blazed with something wild and dark as they raked down the length of her body, coming to stop at her fluffy Hello Kitty slippers, and Nyx’ara, seeing the look on his face, almost did a happy dance.
Almost.
That is until she noticed Seraphina seated at a corner of the table, sandwiched between Kieran and Azriel.
Her face fell and she didn’t even bother to hide the annoyance in her voice as she seethed; "You came."
At the sound of Nyx’ara’s very dry acknowledgement, Seraphina’s head whipped up. She cast a dazzling smile at her and rose to her feet.
For a moment, something akin to panic settled at the base of Nyx’ara’s stomach as she watched Seraphina walking over to her with the sure strides of a seductress.
The flimsy pink dress she wore accentuated her curves until there was little to nothing left to the imagination. It was a sheer material, the dress, which was made entirely from silk and decorated with tiny shiny stones that could pass as diamonds in the dark.
On the left side of the dress was a slit so high it was almost scandalous... and put right against Seraphina, Nyx’ara appeared like a backdrop. A prop. She looked like a rusty cast iron against a rare gem.
A stray cat against an exotic tiger.
Her lips pressed together and for the first time in her life, she felt something akin to jealousy take root at the base of her stomach. And when she turned in Eloise’s direction, she could not help but notice the look the older woman had on her face.
A look that said: ’I told you so.’
She turned away.
"I am fa-farmished..." she hissed even though her heart was racing so fast, one could hear it from a mile away. "Please can we eat quickly? I-I have some assignments to attend to."
Draven who had been quiet the entire time finally lifted his head. He took one lazy glance at her then turned to Seraphina before looking away.
He drawled; "You cannot retire to your room for your assignments yet."
"Why?" Nyx’ara cried,
"Because we just secured a huge deal with our investors in Singapore. We are celebrating and you should be here because you’re our wife whether you’re dressed for the occasion or not."
Fire burned hot on her cheeks, but do you know where it burned hotter?
On Seraphina’s.
Why?
Because she had been ignored the entire time. Because she had walked into this room twenty minutes ago with the intention of catching the attention of one or all of them, and do you know what she had managed to catch so far?
Chills.
Yes that. They had only passed cold looks at her that had made her skin erupt in goosebumps. Yet, here they were, breaking all that ice for Nyx’ara, a girl who didn’t even do as much as comb her hair for them.
She felt betrayed.