Hellbound Heart

OMG! We did it!!! Thank you so much guys!! T^T!!! To all the generous supergifters and to everyone who casted their GTs on this book, this mass release is for you!!! Again, thank you once again for all the support and for making me happy beyond words! <3

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A deafening silence filled the room.

Sebastian froze by the door while the fear in Elle's eyes slowly faded as she looked at him. She had looked as though she was a frightened rabbit, ready to bolt at the first hint of danger approaching her. He had caught the look in her wide eyes - a look that told him she was the prey and that the predator was out hunting for her.

"S-seb... you startled me..." her voice eventually came out, laughing softly. "Sorry I... I wasn't expecting you to come home so early so I –"

"Don't move." He cut her off. His fingers were itching to clench so tight as he approached her. But he held back and kept his fingers slack. He had a feeling that any unnecessary movement he made would startle her and she would get hurt in the process. "You might cut yourself."

His eyes stared down at the shards of broken glass on the floor. And then at her bare feet.

With jaws clenching hard, he wordlessly scooped her up into his arms. Though his aura was flaring and his face was taut, his arms that curled around her were as gentle as could be.

"What happened?" she asked him with concern as Sebastian lowered her on the couch. "Is everything alright in the Black Forest?"

Her questions made Sebastian feel even worse. His chest felt extremely stuffy and was even heavier now. When he saw that horror in her eyes when he opened the door as if she had expected for a moment there that a ferocious monster was the one who had opened the door, it struck him f**king bad.

And now here she was, asking him what had happened or if there was anything that went wrong in the Black Forest. He felt like something was strangling him.

"Sebastian?" Her warm, soft hands lifted up and cupped his face. She gazed worriedly into his eyes as her brows furrowed and she asked him gently. "Are you alright?"

His hand grabbed her wrist as he sank onto the floor and knelt on one knee before her. Her gentle caring was like a sharp knife being stabbed deep into his heart. 'F**k... I should be the one asking you those questions...! Not the other way around! Stop... stop looking at me with concern. I'm not the one who is needing any concern...'

"Sebastian!" She called out again, shaking his face slightly. Her actions and call had pulled him out of his own thoughts. "W-what happened?"

His fist on her side clenched so hard before he finally spoke. "Tell me, Izabelle. What happened to you yesterday?" He did his best to keep his voice from being too intense.

It was her turn to freeze up. She blinked at him and then her pupils began to wander. She looked like she had not expected Sebastian to ask about what happened to her yesterday.

"Oh... Alexander told you about it...?" she uttered, and then her expression suddenly shifted. A sweet but awkward smile curved on her lips. "I actually got lost in the market yesterday. And that had caused Alexander to mobilize Caelian and the others to come looking for me."

She covered her face with her palms as she continued. "I feel so embarrassed about causing so much trouble for them that I asked them not to tell you."

Sebastian's clenched fist tightened even more. She was still trying to cover it up. Still trying to deny it.

"Why...? Why won't you want me to know?" he asked in an almost inaudible voice.

Putting her hands down slowly, she looked over to the window and stared out unblinkingly at the reddish sky. She did not speak for a while and Sebastian remained quiet, allowing her time to arrange her thoughts.

"I did not think that it was necessary for you to know. I don't want to trouble you or anyone else with something that was not even a big deal." She returned her gaze to him and gave him an apologetic small laugh. However, Sebastian could see that the smile did not reach her eyes. Her eyes that were usually warm, were now tinged with a little darkness. And he realized that he did not know where that darkness came from.

When he did not say anything in response to her statement, she looked like something suddenly dawned on her and exclaimed, "Wait... is this the reason why you came back early today?"

Sebastian did not answer this question as well. The more he looked at her this close... the more she feigned those smiles and small laughter... the more the strangling feeling got worse.

"Yes... Alexander said you didn't leave the house the entire day." He finally answered her, his voice tight.

"Oh... oh my, I hope Alexander didn't tell you I'm sick just because I stayed in our room the whole afternoon." She sighed and then laughed awkwardly. "I just decided to spend time with the twins and also to rest my eyes a little as I had been reading a lot for the past few days. I've actually taken a long nap and had just woken up not long before you arrived."

He could not respond. That fear started to creep under his skin. That fear where her smile started to become too bright and fake. That fear that her laughter would not even reach her eyes anymore.

He thought that he was already prepared for this. Yes, the moment he decided to own her and make her his forever, he had already expected that she would sooner or later get tainted dark as a result of her getting tied to someone like him. Just like everyone he had cared about, she too, will change for the worse as time goes by. Despite knowing all that, he had selfishly claimed her instead of letting her go or even giving her a choice. He had decided to chain her to him and drag her down to his hell. So, this should not shake him anymore. This was already something he had predicted.

But now that he was watching it start to happen... Now that he began to watch her fake her smile and force a laugh right before his face... it was... it was f**king unbearable.

And for the first time in his long life, he felt the kind of fear he had never experienced before. Fear that this fragile princess of his would one day end up broken in his arms.