HIS GREATEST BETRAYAL

Chapter 54

Claudius stared at her in a new light. She was a bitter and resentful creature. He felt guilty for accusing her of being inhumane. Now he knew , her feelings ran deeper than that. He wrapped his arms around her . With a sob , Silvia laid her head on his chest.

He held her in his arms for a brief moment as she cried out.

"Now l wish my parents had another child. Then l wouldn't feel so alone and shattered," she stuttered between sobs.

"You will be fine. I know that you are strong," he murmured against her hair.

Silvia released a mocking laugh , wiping away her tears in the process.

"I am not as strong as you think. It's a facade. That's what l want people to see and believe. When my parents kept denying me , l promised myself that l would never give anyone a chance to hurt me and that l would hurt them first before they hurt me."

"I am sorry for calling you all sorts of names. I didn't know you were hurting this much," Claudius apologised.

A warm smile flickered on her face.

"There is no need to apologise. What you said about me was true. I am indeed selfish and l hate to see anyone happier than me."

"That's not true. You only want to hide your pain under sarcasm..."

Silvia silenced him by placing a finger over his mouth. Their eyes locked together. The scent of lavender teased his nostrils. His eyes moved down to her lips and he gulped. Unaware , they inched closer to each other until their breaths mingled. They continued to stare at each other their breathing louder. Silvia leaned forward to kiss him but Claudius averted his face at the last moment.

"I think you should go to sleep. You need some rest," he said and pulled the blanket over her.

Silvia swallowed and forced a smile on her face.

"You are right. It's been a long day," she said and brought back her head on Claudius's chest.

They remained silent for a while, their hearts still beating frantically. Claudius was holding himself by a mere thread.

"You do know that this means nothing, right?" he asked in a husky voice.

"I know," she agreed with him.

~****~

JANE'S POV

A bright light flashed in my face. I groaned and turned my head the other way. Ferracco had opened the drapes so early in the morning. He enjoyed teasing me to no end every opportunity he got.

"Let me sleep , will you?," l murmured in my sleep.

Ferracco laughed in response and another flash went off. The side l was facing had no windows. So what was that? I immediately opened my sleepy eyes and l saw a smirking Ferracco behind a camera , clicking my pictures continuously.

"Ferracco ! ," l gasped out in disbelief.

I couldn't believe he was doing this again.

"Good morning , my sweet little beautiful wife," he said in a singsong voice.

"You still have that camera!," l noted in disbelief.

"It's special to me. Why would l lose it," he answered and continued clicking my pictures.

I had gifted him that camera on our honeymoon and he had became obsessed with it to the extent that it irritated me. I used to accuse him of loving the camera more than me.