The Sins of Duke Evander (BOOK III)

Chapter 42- The Next Victim

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Excuse me, what?

I'm not even going to entertain this ridiculous idea of hers any further.

"You need to go back to sleep and clear your head," And I got up, making a beeline towards the door, but paused by the cabinet to pull out a small set of keys before continuing on my way.

And it didn't take long for her to catch onto my intentions.

"No... No! Alvise, let me go! Open the door, Alvise!" Quickly closing the door, my strength won over hers as I pulled the door shut, twisting the handle as I slid the key in, successfully locking it while she continued to slam her fist against the other side.

"You can't do this!" She yelled from the other end.

"I told you everything, everything! But now you want a fucking divorce!? I told you on the first day that I met you that I was going to make you mine, and I worked so hard to make that a reality, and now, after all this time, you tell me that you want a divorce!" I yelled right back.

"And you just told me that this marriage of ours has broken after the revelation that it's all been based on nothing but lies!" She shot back.

"For the sake of both our lives and for the sake of our child, we need to make a decision that will make him happy... Love is no longer enough to maintain this relationship, and being in an empty-shell marriage will break my son which is something that I won't let happen,"

"Don't use Elio as an excuse to leave me, Alina," I spoke under my breath. He was supposed to strengthen our relationship, not the other way around.

"As you said, we've both been hurt, and we're both damaged. So, to prevent any more pain in the future, it's best that we go our separate ways now or it's going to be too late, Alvise... I can't handle anymore of your lies,"

"I did it to protect you,"

"And this is where I say that cringy line; I don't need your protection,"

"Yes, you do. How can a woman that can't sleep without having a cup of milk, or a woman that gets caught by a few droplets of rain and catches a cold, protect herself?" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, how can a man who murders people out of jealousy, or a man that lies to his wife about his split personality, do any better to protect me?"

"You're really going to go down that route now?" I crossed my arms.

"You started it,"

"If you're trying to tempt me to unlock this door and come in there and teach you a lesson, then please, by all means, continue. I might just let myself be tempted," I smirked at the end. This was supposed to be a serious conversation, but here I was making a joke out of it as if it were any one of our other small arguments that never lasted longer than a few minutes.

A few belated seconds of silence followed my words.

"How long are you going to keep me in here?" She eventually asked.

"Until you change your mind,"

"Then I guess that's forever," She grumbled, and I heard the retreating of her feet as she headed back into the room. My brows furrowed at her words, an annoying feeling hovering over me at the thought of her really finding a way to leave me.

But I wasn't going to let it happen, no matter what.                            

"Then what about Elio? You can't keep me from my seeing my own son," I heard her add on.