Chapter 127: Keep Fooling yourself

Malachi looked down at her.

Everything from head to toe. The only parts of her that weren’t covered in bandages were her eyes, lips, and two fingers.

He had believed that Katherine’s acts had turned him into a cold-blooded demon. He’d also once — and maybe he still did want to believe that Della was, and has always been, innocent.

But she’d confessed. The damn woman had opened her mouth and confessed to... everything!

So maybe this beating was something she deserved.

Keep fooling yourself, Malachi.

If it’s something she deserved, why on earth did you send for Orson’s arrest?

"Moonfire,"

"I asked you a question!" She cracked out again before whimpering in pain again.

"The Healer told you not to speak,"

"Answer me!!" She burned in rage, tears pricking her swollen eyes, "Did you come here to finish what they started?!"

"Della, please...," Annelise whispered.

"No...no," Della wanted to shake her head, to get out the misery in her heart, but everything was just pain after pain, "If you’re not going to answer me, you should leave,"

"I—" Malachi swallowed, still trying to hold his composure tightly. Seeing her like this was shattering a part of him over and over again, and he honestly didn’t know what to say, because he’d caused this.

He’d withdrawn the guards out of anger.

"I just came here...to see you,"

"Well, you’ve seen it, haven’t you?!" Tears ran down the side of her face, disappearing behind her ears, "The Broken bones, the battered body, and everything else. Once you’re done feeling proud of yourself, you can then get out,"

"Moonfire,"

"Stop it!!" She yelled again, forcing the painful words from her pained body, "Stop calling out to me like that. Stop sounding like you’re being shredded from the inside out. Stop looking at me with that...creepy, warm, soft gaze. It’s not gonna work anymore. Whatever it was that I felt for you, it’s gone. It’s all gone. You might as well stop with the act,"

Anne felt deeply out of place.

She wanted to get up and leave the room and give the both of them space to talk it out. But at the same time, she didn’t trust leaving her friend with Malachi. Moreover, Della has been clutching her hand really tightly ever since she woke up, and every time the conversation got more intense, her grip would tighten like she needed the support.

"I’m not acting," Malachi replied, "Moonfire, I rue every second of this right now. I was supposed to keep you safe, and I—"

Della turned her head from him, now staring at the other end of the room. She’d been dying to see this man again, but now that he was right here she wanted nothing more than to be far away from him again.

When the hell was this torture going to end?

"So where were you, then?" She asked, turning back to look at him angrily, "Where were you when I was being stomped on, kicked, clawed at, punched? Where were you when all that was happening?"

He looked away this time.

She clutched Anne’s hand again.

"I thought you were protecting the baby. I thought you had guards secretly watching over us, so why?"

The look in his eyes was unstable, and a vein was strained on his forehead, "I... withdrew them,"

"Why?" She asked again.

"Because—" He glanced down at her belly, and then back at her face, "I didn’t think...you deserved the protection anymore,"

One thing Della was thankful for when it came to Malachi was how he’s always been brutally honest with her. He never conveyed anything different than what he was feeling. If he loathed her at that moment, his words and actions would reflect it. If he wanted her, his words and actions would convey that too.

The thing she actually hated was how those actions made her feel. How it made her feel small. How it made her hate herself more than she already did.

Her whole body was shaking now, and it was now because of the physical pain, "What made you decide that I didn’t deserve your protection? That the baby doesn’t need protection?"

"The Truth made me decide that," He replied.

"What truth?"

"One you probably never would have told me on your own,"

"And that is?"

He looked down at her belly again, and this time Anne followed his gaze and saw the way he was staring at her stomach with something close to regret and anger.

Anne felt her body grow cold, and a thought suddenly occurred to her. Does Malachi somehow... believe that the baby isn’t his? Is that why he decided to withdraw the guards?!

"Focus on getting better, Moonfire," He sounded cold again and dismissive, now staring at the door, "The Market incident has spread far and wide. Thankfully, many think you’re dead now, and I’ll try to keep it that way for as long as I can. It should give you enough time to recover, then you can leave,"

"That’s not what I asked you!!" She started to yell again, but he was already walking out of the room. Walking out on her.

Anne also watched, the words that’d been on her tongue falling short. She’d wanted to ask Malachi to give Della his blood to help her heal faster and for the baby to also recover, but how was she supposed to do that now when the man believes he’s not the father?!

Why do things keep getting worse?!

Della felt like bursting into tears. She wanted to let it all out again and cry till her lungs failed her completely.

Instead, she reached over and touched her belly.

That was the only thing that could soothe her right now. Feeling the soft flutter of her baby whenever she touched her belly was therapeutic.

It was healing.

Della waited, but...the flutter never came.

That was weird. Her little growing cub always answered her.

She forced her wrist to move again, fought against the pain and rubbed again.

Nothing.

Now, she was slowly starting to panic.

Why wasn’t her baby answering her?!

"Anne?" Della sounded breathless, turning her head to stare at Anne.

Anne couldn’t bring herself to look into Della’s eyes, and so she just kept them lowered.

"Anne?" Della tried again, "My...baby...,"

"The cub...has withdrawn to itself," Anne finally let out, her voice shaking as she lifted her head to look at Della.

When Della saw the look in her eyes, it almost broke her all over again.

"Only... it’s father’s blood can cure it before it’s too late,"