Chapter 344
Anger
Inside the room that was her prison, Melanie stared at the delicate showpieces and flower vases on the table, her vision blurred with tears.
He didn’t even know she was with him! With a sudden, guttural cry, she slammed her hand across the surface, sending them crashing to the floor. Glass shattered and porcelain cracked and even water spilled over the edge of the table and onto the carpet. But the sound wasn’t enough, it didn’t match the fury and hurt clawing at her chest.
She kicked the edge of the table, then grabbed a framed photo and hurled it at the wall with trembling hands. Her breath came in ragged gasps and she could hardly breathe, but the ache in her heart, wouldn’t stop… as she sank to her knees
“Why?” she whispered, voice cracking. “Why did you do this to me?”
The shards buried into her knees, but she could not care less. Was even unaware of the pain. All she could feel was the weight in her chest, the choking grief, the disbelief that Adam had failed to recognise her.
The door creaked open behind her, but she didn’t look. Didn’t have to. She could feel him enter. The man who was responsible for all this! If he hadn’t kidnapped her, if he hadn’t been obsessed with Melody, this would not have happened!
“Melody-” Cadence’s voice was quiet, hesitant.
Her body stiffened and she heard the glass crunch as he took a step forward and knew that he was coming close to her. Soon, he knelt beside her, “You’re hurt. Let me help you-“
“Don’t,” she snapped, jerking away from him. “Don’t you dare touch me!”
She pushed at his hands when they tried to steady her, and in doing so, she lost her balance and toppled backward. A sharp sting tore through her palms as more glass dug into her skin, making her cry out in pain..
“Damn it, Mel, stop-” Cadence reached for her again, but she twisted away, cradling her bleeding hands, shoulders heaving.
“I said leave me alone!” she screamed, voice raw.
He paused, watching her. Her knees were bleeding. Her palms were bleeding. Her whole body shook, but the rage in her eyes was fiercer than anything he’d seen.
“You’re bleeding,” he said again, softer now. “You need a doctor.”
“I don’t need anything from you,” she spat out in a trembling voice.
“Melody-“
“Stop calling me that!” she shrieked until her voice was hoarse, hating the name and the woman associated with that name. “My name is Melanie! Melanie, not Melody! I am not her. I never was.”
Silence stretched between them as Melanie wiped her tears from the back of her hands, letting the blood drip from her hands drip onto her face.
Cadence’s jaw tensed. Then, slowly, he rose to his feet and stepped back. “I’ll send for a doctor,” he said after a pause in a tight voice.
She didn’t respond. Didn’t look at him. Just stared blankly ahead memories of Adam and her playing in her head in a loop.
He stood there for a second longer, unsure, then turned and walked out, closing the door quietly behind him after giving her one last look-sitting there bleeding and shaking, refusing to even acknowledge him.
The only reason he had shown her the video was to make her accept the truth. To make her admit she wasn’t Melanie. But her reaction… His hands clenched into fists.
She had looked shattered. Not confused. Not surprised. But devastated. As if someone she loved had cheated on her. Why?
A sick thought began to twist inside him, tightening with every step he took. Whether it was pretending to be Melanie or really believing herself to be that, why would Adam Collins’ doing have such an effect on her. She had even shattered their picture frame that he had placed there….
Had she fallen in love with her brother-in-law? Was that why she wanted so desperately to believe she was Melanie? Was that why the truth had gutted her- because it meant that what she felt for Adam was forbidden and seeing that man with the real Melanie made her jealous? A cold fury rippled through him at the thought.
She was choosing a lie. Choosing someone else. Choosing Adam Collins.
His jaw tensed as the thought hardened into something sharper. She was hurting for someone else!
With a sudden, wordless growl, Cadence slammed his fist into the wall. The impact left a dent, the sharp pain in his knuckles barely registering. Only he was allowed to make her tear up! Only he would be the reason for her smile, her sadness, every emotion she felt!
He wanted to go inside and tell her that. Remind her that she belonged to him and him only. But he didn’t go in. Instead, he walked away from her.
First, he called the doctor and said, “Go to her room. Now.”
Then, he made another call.
“I want a full report on Adam Collins,” he said into the phone, voice low and controlled. “Everything. The more, the better. His connections. His weaknesses. What keeps him up at night. I want it all.”
“I don’t care how well protected his information is or if it endangers our situatuon! I want it! Do you understand? Or I wll finish off our cooperation! Get me Adam Collins, by hook or by crook! You have an hour!” With that simple threat on the call, he disconnected the phone and threw it aside and glaring at the table as he bit out,” Melody, you can only be mine in this life. If another man, so much as looks in your direction, I will chop him to pieces. You seem to have forgotten that. But I will remind you…”
Because if you continue to insist on being Melanie and insisted on pining after another man- then he would have no choice.
Adam Collins would have to disappear. Only then would Melody be his wholly. Like he wanted.