Hellbound Heart

"I'm letting go of her, Alexander." Sebastian then said. His voice no longer audibly broken. It was steely. But the emotions in his eyes were still screaming out in pain. "She needs to leave Viscarria and go back to Dalenn now. As soon as possible. She needs to cut ties with me completely. And that will also include you, and every other non-human she has been acquainted with, especially Abigail. All of us need to cut ties with her."

Alexander's lips parted in disbelief, shaking his head even as he was still in the middle of listening to Sebastian speaking. But Sebastian firmly continued nonetheless. "I am divorcing Iza." His voice broke again but he stubbornly regained his composure in a blink of an eye, showing Alexander that his decision was now set in stone.

An almost mocking smile tugged at the corner of Alexander's lips. "Do you really think this will solve anything? Do you really think divorcing your wife is the solution, huh, Sebastian?"

"Yes." Sebastian answered without hesitation.

Running his fingers through his hair, Alexander sighed exasperatedly. "Sebastian... I know you've already thought real hard about this. But listen, you're going to regret this. And have you ever thought that she'd only be put in more danger if she returns to Dalenn? Who would protect her then, huh? Have you even thought about that, Sebastian? Do you really think Elijah would stop going after her just because you divorced her?"

"Elijah only came after her because he'd found out I cared about her. Elijah thinks that I love her and that's why... that's why he had dragged her into this hell! As long as Iza's with me, he'll never stop targeting her until she's... All I have to do is prove him wrong. Elijah will never hurt anyone I care nothing about, Alexander, you know that!" Sebastian pressed his forehead against the wall, his fist clenching so hard as though he was restraining himself from punching the walls until the entire castle crumbled to pieces. "No one can hurt her in Dalenn anymore." He added. His voice suddenly became soft. He was clearly exhausted, emotionally. "Brandon Haze is already in my hands and he's never going to go back to terrorize my wife ever again. I'll torture him for as long as I want. Until I'm satisfied."

"And you think Izabelle will just let you decide everything on your own? You think she'll just sit there and nod and go away without a fight just because you said so? You should know what kind of a person your wife is by now." Alexander reminded him rather pointedly.

Sebastian flashed him a bitter smile. A smile so heartbreaking that even the appearance of his dimple did not do anything to make the smile look less broken.

"She will leave me. I'll make her." Sebastian whispered, as though making a vow to himself.

"You're going to hurt her, Sebastian. Is this really worth it? You're going to break her heart to pieces."

"I know... I know..." his voice nearly inaudible now as he slid down to the ground. "But I'd rather break her heart and break myself than have her broken corpse delivered to me one day."

A long silence reigned within the wine cellar. Sebastian had wanted Alexander to finally leave him alone, but the man spoke again and said, "You know... there could be another way out."

Just when Sebastian's jaws clenched and was about to retort, Alexander continued. "How about we make this as an act instead? That way, we can save you both from breaking yourselves. Let's have the divorce, but just make it as an act instead. At least until we are able to deal with this time bomb in Elijah's hand."

"No..." Sebastian shook his head. "Don't underestimate Elijah, Alexander. I don't think someone could ever fool him."

"I think it's you who is just thinking of the worst already, Sebastian. No matter how intelligent Elijah is, he'll always have some blind spots like every one of us. Even Zeke who is supreme in every way compared to Elijah had missed out some vital things. Your extreme fear of losing her has made you surrender and â€""

"What if Elijah won't be fooled, then? No, I'm not going to risk Iza's life anymore, Alexander. Never. I've taken risks before just because I refused to give up... I have never won. All I got in the end were the corpses of the ones I had been fighting for. I know I started risking Iza the day I started to want her. My guts warned me, but I ignored the warnings and told myself I can protect her... I told myself, this time I won't fail... And look what happened to her. So it is enough now... never again." His eyes closed and he sucked in a deep breath.

"I still think you need to think more about this , Sebastian. Give it a few more days before you decide..." Alexander trailed off. Whatever he saw in Sebastian's face at that moment seemed to make him finally understand that whatever it was that he's going to say, won't change Sebastian's mind anymore.

When Sebastian opened his eyes, he looked unseeingly at the ceiling. "It must be nice to be the villain... doing whatever you want selfishly without a care, even if the world burns to ashes. I'm envious of them. I've thought about betraying you and everyone and just go ahead and kill Elijah, so I can keep Iza in my arms. I've thought, 'to hell with the world'. But if I do that, I'd be doing the very same thing that creature I once called 'father' did. Iza doesn't deserve a man like that. She doesn't deserve to even live with a monster and his f**ked up world." A heartbreaking chuckle escaped him before the smile faded and he held Alexander's gaze. "It's funny how every way I've considered, only leads to something worse. Letting her go is the best choice, Alexander. No matter how you try to twist everything, no other choice is better than that."