A Perfect Virgin

Chapter Nine | 09

Bellatrix doesn't offer help to anybody unless she's going to benefit from it in some way or the other.

That's just the person she is, a woman who goes out of her way to exchange assistance for something that won't be very pleasant to the desired scapegoat of her choice.

And today, she chose a scapegoat, a very rebellious and stubborn one.

She chose me.

And I'm baffled.

I don't know how to escape Bellatrix's disastrous ambition, however, I strive to figure everything out such that she won't manipulate me into doing evil.

Just like her refined name goes, Bellatrix is very beautiful and full of tricks one can't even begin to imagine.

On the other hand, her daughter's beautiful features don't complement one another.

Just a mere mention of Christina's name in social gatherings leads to chaos since she's so wild and ready to fight whoever challenges her authority.

An authority that has been borrowed from Morris, the one and only rich businessman in the region.

For the first time since my coming to this massive mansion, I doubt that Christina is Bellatrix's blood-related daughter, but that of a neighbor, due to the absence of nice feminine looks and a very decent personality which could have enhanced her appearance to something worth being looked at.

I don't notice it immediately, but my thoughts plunged into a fascinating confusion working out how Christina got to know about my breakup.

Did she pester Carlos till he told her?

Or she was there to witness it?

And if so why didn't I notice her presence?

Yet, there's this distant part of me, forever small and stressed that makes an effort not to venture out of what is within control.

As if it were even practical not to worry about the place Bellatrix has invited me to, I severely fist my knuckles till they go numb.

Gulping slowly, I take note of the heavy tension between the three of us in the living room.

My eyebrows are completely raised.

"How is what's in the basement important to me?"

If there was any unresolved family tension in the room, what builds up after my query is a volcano ready to violently erupt if triggered.

Nothing can beat the unpleasant stares mother and daughter swing in my direction.

I don't take my eyes off Bellatrix.

I try to appear neutral by grinning and carrying my shoulders as high as they can be lifted to touch the white bricks in the ceiling.

"I... I... I don't think it's a nice idea," my fingertips harshly ting, so I rub the ache against my thighs, "to get in there without authorization."

The stuttering causes me to bite my innermost cheeks and pause before picking up again from where I left off.

"I can't go down there to the basement without authorization from Morris."

There's a lump in my throat that forces me to breathe. "Even though I respect you as his spouse, I just can't... I can't bring myself to go against his rules and regulations just to satisfy you."

Bellatrix has her persuading eyes already fixed on something else, an access card, and she sips on coffee, while Christina hawks at me with nothing but disbelief and jealousy.