Chapter 519: So stupid.

ANABEL.

The horrifying realization hit me like an iron weight to the gut.

I shoved my hands violently against Vincent’s chest, using every ounce of my strength to tear my mouth away from his. I stumbled backward until my spine slammed hard against the cold, damp stone wall across from him, my chest heaving as I gasped for air.

"You... you crude, sick bastard!" I yelled, my voice ringing off the cellar walls, a mix of pure horror and self-loathing choking my throat. I wiped my mouth furiously with the back of my hand, trying to scrub away the feel of his lips, the taste of his blood.

Vincent didn’t look bothered in the slightest. He leaned his head back against the stone wall, a lazy, dark grin spreading across his face as he looked down his nose at me.

"If I’m crude, Anabel, then what does that make you?" Vincent rasped out, his tone dripping with mockery. "You’re just as crude and shameless. Why are you standing there acting like you didn’t actually want it? You kissed me back, sweetheart. Your own mouth didn’t lie."

"Damn you to hell, Vincent!" I cursed, my eyes burning with fresh, scalding tears of fury. "Rot in hell!"

Vincent just smirked, raising his hand as far as the heavy iron chains would allow. He casually used his thumb to wipe a smudge of blood from the tip of his lips, his dark eyes fixed on my shaking frame.

"Stop being so pathetic, Anabel," Vincent said, his voice dropping into a low, sharp command. "If you really want this so bad, if you cannot get me out of your head or your mind, as all you think of or want is my touch, then try the impossible. Ensure I don’t rot in this cell Anabel..." He paused looking at me hungrily. "...Save me."

I stared at him in complete, paralyzing disbelief, a harsh, humorless laugh bubbling up from my chest.

"Save you?!" I screeched, my voice cracking under the weight of his absolute absurdity. "You are completely delusional! How in the world do you expect me to save my own brother’s killer?! You murdered Adrein! Galen--- Your stupid sister shot Damien!"

"You’re here in my cell, aren’t you?" Vincent countered smoothly, his voice carrying that infuriating calmness that made my blood boil. He gave the chains binding his wrists a slight tug, the metal clinking softly in the tense silence between us. His eyes remained fixed on me, steady and unreadable, as though he had already figured out exactly why I had come down here.

"You walked past the guards stationed here just to see me." He paused. " Or tell me, isn’t this against your brother’s will...are they even aware you are here?" He asked with a darker smirk. " I’m not sure, because I can tell that all you just want to do is see me!"

"I came down here to see the monster who destroyed my family!" I spat, taking a rigid step toward the cell door. My boots struck hard against the stone floor, each step fueled by the anger twisting violently inside my chest. I clenched my jaw until it ached, forcing myself not to let the sight of him weaken my resolve. "You better prepare yourself, Vincent. You deserve whatever horrible, bloody death is coming to you in that courtyard today!"

The words came out harsher than I intended, but I didn’t care. He deserved to hear them. After everything he had done, after everything he had taken from my family, there was nothing in me that wanted to show him even the smallest shred of sympathy.

"Oh, really?" Vincent sneered.

His smirk widened as his gaze followed me closely. There was something maddeningly confident about the way he watched me reach for the iron bars, as though my fury only amused him. My fingers curled tightly around the cold metal, and I glared through the bars at him.

"Do I really deserve it, Anabel?" he asked, his tone almost tauntingly calm. "Because I’m sure you can leave if you want to..." He paused deliberately, his eyes holding mine. "...but we both know you’ll be thinking about me."

"Go to hell!" I screamed.

I tore my gaze away from him and spun toward the heavy wooden door. My anger surged again as I raised my fist and slammed it against the thick wood.

"GUARDS!" I shouted, striking it again. "Open the door! Get me out of here!"

The sound of my pounding echoed through the cell, but Vincent’s mocking presence seemed to linger behind me, making every second feel unbearable.

The key turned in the lock with a loud, heavy CLANK, and the guard pulled the door open, looking at me with wide, nervous eyes. I didn’t give Vincent a single glance back. I pushed past the guard and sprinted up the dark cellar stairs as fast as my legs could carry me, running away from his dark, echoing laughter.

I didn’t stop in the main hallway. I didn’t go to the medical wing to see my surviving brothers, and I didn’t look for Noah or Maria. I couldn’t let anyone see me like this—disheveled, hysterical, and carrying the sickening, unforgivable secret of what had just happened in that cell.

I bolted down the eastern wing toward the newly assigned guest apartments, shoving open the door to my room and slamming it shut behind me. I slid the heavy wooden bolt into place and collapsed onto the floorboards right by the entrance.

"You are so stupid!" I sobbed into the quiet room, beating my fist against my own knees in sheer self-hatred. "You are so, so stupid, Anabel!"

I wrapped my arms around my legs, burying my face in my knees as tears streamed down my cheeks.

How could I have let him touch me? How could I have let my emotions betray me so completely to the very man who had turned my brother into dust?

"Gracious goddess, Adrein... I’m so sorry," I whimpered into the empty room, my heart breaking all over again. "I’m so stupid..."