The Man Left Behind in His Own Marriage

Watching Serafina act so gently with me left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Maybe none of that care had ever been meant for me in the first place.

I took the medicine from her and swallowed it.

“Cassian, Serafina, are you awake?”

The door opened before either of us answered.

Lucian walked in holding a tube of frostbite ointment, smiling like he meant well.

“You took a bad fall on the slope today. You’ve probably got a few spots that need treatment. I asked the doctor for this. It works fast. Let me help.”

I frowned and refused on instinct.

“No.”

Lucian and I had never been close enough for this.

His expression stiffened, then turned wounded as he looked at Serafina.

“Is he still that wary of me? I’m only trying to help. I know he’s never liked me, but I don’t mean anything by it.”

Serafina touched my face, her voice as soft as ever.

“Lucian feels bad about staying here and disrupting things. He just wants to make it up to you. It’s only ointment. Don’t be so tense.”

My throat tightened.

Again.

Between me and Lucian, she chose him without hesitation.

Even knowing what he had always been to me, she still took his side.

Something inside me went cold.

By this time tomorrow, I would be gone. I would be on a plane and far away from all of them. There was no point in fighting anymore.

“All right,” I said quietly. “Go ahead.”

Lucian smiled.

“The ointment needs to be spread evenly,” he said. “He shouldn’t move too much, or it won’t absorb properly.”

He pulled two fastening straps from his pocket.

“They’re medical restraints. Not tight. They won’t hurt him.”

I looked at Serafina, hoping she would finally hear how absurd that sounded.

Who needed restraints just to apply ointment?

But Serafina said nothing.

She let Lucian bind my wrists and ankles.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said with a pleasant smile. “Give us a minute.”

Serafina nodded. Before leaving, she took my hand for a moment.

“It won’t take long. I’ll come back.”

The door closed behind her.

In the same instant, Lucian’s whole face changed.

The warmth vanished as if it had never been there.

I twisted hard against the straps, only to realize I could barely move.

“Don’t bother,” Lucian said, lifting the real elastic bands with a grin. “Those are the stretch ones. The ones on you don’t give at all.”

I stared at him, my face darkening.

“You know, don’t you?” he said lazily as he stepped closer. “You know Serafina didn’t marry you just for you.”

I said nothing.

He tapped my cheek like he was enjoying the look on my face.

“Knowing changes nothing. She’ll still choose me. Just like Mom and Viola.”

I bit down hard, my chest heavy and tight.

Then he bent toward me, his voice turning soft and ugly.

“You know what else? Dad’s death had nothing to do with you.”

My heart stopped.

He watched me with open pleasure.

“Before that trip, he adored you. Said you were the one who took after him. Said the best things he had would be yours one day. I got sick of hearing it.”

My whole body went rigid.

“So before we left for the mountain, I tampered with his safety line.”

For a second I couldn’t breathe.

“Then the accident happened exactly the way I hoped it would,” Lucian said, smiling wider. “He died saving you, and Mom and Viola blamed you for the rest of your life.”

I was shaking so badly my voice barely held.

“You’re insane.”

He gave a soft laugh.

“No. I just took back what should have been mine.”

“These years worked out well, didn’t they? All their love went to me.”

Heat rushed behind my eyes. It felt like someone had ripped something open inside my chest.

So my father’s death had never been my fault.

The guilt I had carried all these years had been something Lucian handed to me with his own hands.

“Tell them,” he said, leaning close enough for me to feel his breath near my ear. “See whether they believe you or me.”

Then he uncapped the tube in his hand.

For one second I thought he was really going to use it.

Instead, he poured a different liquid over my forearms.

The smell hit me first. Sharp. Chemical.

A cold pulse of fear went through me.

“What are you doing?”

Lucian smiled and pulled a lighter from his pocket.

“Cassian, you always wanted to know why everyone chose me over you.”

He flicked the flame alive.

“Because you’re so easy to destroy.”

Then he touched the fire to my arm.

Flames jumped up my skin in an instant.

The pain was so violent it turned my vision white.

I screamed and thrashed against the restraints until one wrist finally tore free. I hit the floor hard and smothered the flames the best I could, pressing my arm down, half-blind with pain.

Footsteps pounded down the hall.

In the same second, Lucian let out a shrill cry and threw himself to the ground like he had been attacked.

Serafina burst into the room.

“Don’t blame Cassian,” Lucian said at once, red-eyed and shaking. “I must have touched one of his injuries. He got upset and shoved me.”

Serafina turned to me, her face tightening.

“Cassian,” she said, her voice hard, “how could you hurt him?”

I opened my mouth, but the pain in my arms tore the words apart before they could come out.

Serafina was already crouching beside Lucian.

“I’m taking him to the hospital.”

She never noticed how white I had gone. She never saw the burns properly, never saw the last traces of fire still eating through my sleeves.

The door slammed behind them.

I stayed on the floor, shaking so hard I could barely hold myself up.

After a long while, I forced myself to stand. I went into the bathroom, washed the chemical residue from my skin, and put ointment on the burns with hands that would not stop trembling.

Then I gathered every document I would need and packed the rest of my things.

By dawn, I would be gone.