Lib Novel Page 57
“Ba, I’m not sure if Lily is ready,” I found my voice cutting through the thick tension that had enveloped the dining room. Everyone’s eyes shifted to me, a mixture of relief and apprehension in their gazes.
Lily, who sat to my right, met my gaze with a fierce determination that was all her own. She was the youngest, yet there was a steel in her that even Ba couldn’t bend.
“I can speak for myself, Nathan,” she said, her voice steady despite the gravity of the situation. She turned to face our father, her posture straight and unyielding. “And I want nothing to do with the family business. I want to become a doctor. I want to help people, not…not this.”
The words hung in the air, a bold statement of rebellion against the life we had been born into—a life that demanded loyalty and obedience above all else. I could barely suppress the fear that raged through my system, making my heart hammer and my stomach roil.
She was in danger.
We were all in danger…from him.
The silence that followed was deafening. I could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds to an explosion I knew was coming. Ba had always been a ticking time bomb, and defiance was the match that lit his fuse.
And then he exploded.
Ba stood so suddenly that his chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor, clattered to the floor. His hands slammed down on the table, jolting the dishes and causing the silverware to clatter in discordant protest. A glass of water fell over, but Ba didn’t give a damn; it just made his point clear, that he would leave all kinds of wreckage in his wake.
Lily and Ma flinched, a shared instinctual reaction to the years of living under Ba’s volatile temper. Even I felt my body tense, ready to spring into action if needed.
But Abby, she didn’t so much as twitch—in fact…she looked angry.
“Ungrateful,” Ba spat out the word like it was poison. “Rebellious children.” His voice was low and menacing, a growl of discontent aimed at us all. His eyes, dark and unfathomable, fixed on me. “Am I cursed? Is Nathan my only child who will ever be obedient?”
I wanted to shout, to rage against him with every fiber of my being. The words scorched the inside of my chest, a wildfire of anger that begged for release. But I couldn’t. Speaking up would only put them all at risk; Ma, Lily, even Abby. I bit back the fury, swallowed it down like broken glass. It cut me up inside, but I remained silent.
The truth burned within me, aching to be set free—that I didn’t want this either, that our father was cruel, that—
“How should I prepare?” Abby asked, her eyes locked on Ba’s, unflinching.
I sucked in a breath, my heart pounding a wild rhythm against my ribs. The room seemed to contract, shrinking until there was nothing but the space between Abby and my father. Ba’s gaze shifted toward her, and I could see it—the interest gleaming in his eyes, the satisfaction curling his lips into a half-smile.
It was like watching a predator eye its prey.
It scared the hell out of me.
This was the side of Ba that had always kept us in line, the side that could decide your fate with a look. And right now, he was looking at Abby as if she had just offered herself up on a silver platter. My hands clenched under the table, nails digging into my palms. I wanted to stand up, to pull her away from his gaze, from this whole damn situation.
Ba’s rage seemed to dissolve as quickly as it had erupted, an unnerving calm settling over him like a storm passing. He righted his chair and sank back into his seat at the head of the table, fingers steepled before him as if nothing had disturbed the peace of our family dinner—even as the glass of water he’d knocked over started drip-drip-dripping on the floor.
“Abigail,” he began, his voice now eerily serene, “you will be taken through a set of vows. Nathan will help you prepare.”
I stiffened, my throat tightening. Helping Abby meant guiding her deeper into this twisted world—the very thing I’d been trying to protect her from. I met her gaze across the table, searching for any sign of hesitation, any trace of fear. But all I found was resolve. It made my chest ache.
Ba then turned his attention to Lily, who had shrunk back in her seat, her eyes wide with something that looked a lot like dread.
“You could learn something from Abby,” he said sharply, the words like a whip crack in the tense air.
I hated what that meant—Abby was now in Ba’s favor, and thus in his crosshairs. My sister might have been spared tonight’s wrath, but Abby… she was stepping right into the line of fire.
I couldn’t afford to let my guard down, not even for a second.
Not now that Ba had marked her as someone of interest.
The weight of that realization settled heavy on my shoulders, as cold and hard as the steel of a gun pressed against your temple. I had to stay close, to be vigilant. Because whether Ba realized it or not, by pulling Abby into our world, he wasn’t just testing her—he was challenging me. And I knew then, with a certainty that sank deep into my bones, that I would do anything to keep her safe. Even if it meant standing up to the man I called father. Even if it meant risking everything.
The game had changed, and there was no turning back.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Abby