Chapter 20: She Trusted Me

Chapter 20: She Trusted Me Asher’s POV In the end, all I could do was stand there, watching her walk away with Lucien. The man I barely knew, the man I didn’t want near her, and yet... she chose him. As if that’s where she felt safe and he was the one whom she trusted in that moment, then who the hell was I to stop her? The truth was harsh. I had no right to intervene. Where would I even take her? Back to that house? Home? What a joke. That place was never a home. It was a graveyard for her behind the locked doors. A buried hell where she was buried alive. And I? I was blind. I let her rot in that place, thinking she was being taken care of, that she was just being dramatic and greedy. I believed Melissa when she said Sera wanted attention and Grandma’s special treatment had spoiled her, making her demand more. I thought she didn’t need our love and was an attention seeker. Only a troublemaker. But all this time... she was dying inside. And I didn’t see it. Or just didn’t care to see it. God. What kind of brother does that? What kind of man? I felt the guilt seeping into my bones like lead. I felt heavy and suffocated. My hands curled into fists, my jaw locked so tight I thought I might crack a tooth. I wanted to break everything around me, rip this place apart with my bare hands... just to let the rage out. But nothing could undo what had already happened. I couldn’t change anything. I was alone in that room, my men were long gone, probably thinking I needed space. And I really did. But then the door creaked open. "Fuck, man!" a voice burst through, sharp and angry. "How could they just let her go that easily?!" I didn’t turn right away. I was still processing and trying to hold myself together. He stepped closer, his heavy boots stomping across the blood-stained floor. "You fucking bastard!" he growled behind me. "You couldn’t even protect an autistic girl? She could barely speak or move, and you lost her again?! What the fuck is wrong with you?" I froze. Autistic? My stomach twisted. My heart skipped a bit. Who the hell was he talking about? I stayed silent, still my back facing him, but his words kept cutting into me like knives. Autistic? Speech problems? Could barely move? Was he talking about... Sera? No. She had trouble speaking when she had just arrived at our home, sure, but no one ever told me anything. I didn’t know. Was she hiding that? Or was this bastard confusing her with someone else? I didn’t know what to think. The only thing I did know was that I wanted answers. And someone was going to give them to me—now. He kept going, not even realizing I was there. "Can’t believe they let her out. She couldn’t even talk properly most days, and now she just vanishes? That damn bitch should’ve been locked up from the beginning—" I wanted to turn around, slam him against the wall, and end him right there. But I didn’t. I just stood there with my head lowered, jaw clenched, burning with guilt for letting this happen with Sera in the first place. "And what the hell happened here?" he kept going, oblivious to the storm building inside me. "How could you idiots screw this up? We were supposed to keep her!" And the next part made my blood run cold. "Today, we were going to make exclusive content with her," he said, like it was just another job. Exclusive content? My heart stuttered, and my stomach twisted. I knew what he meant. And it made me want to fucking vomit. There was a rage building inside me... slow, vicious. I could hardly control it. My fists curled at my sides. I was holding it in barely. "I..." I forced the words through gritted teeth, pretending to play along. "I’m sorry." "What’s the use now?" he muttered, kicking the man lying half-conscious at his feet. "That bastard Jim—he told us she was an orphan and no one would care even if she vanished." My nails dug into my palm. "Wh... What should we do? She’s already gone?" I asked, keeping my voice low, still playing dumb. He scoffed. "I don’t want any more trouble. Someone’s backing her, and I’m not going to ruin everything just for her. Tell Melissa I’m done with this product... send someone new." My breath hitched at the word product. And Melissa? What was he talking about? How was she involved in this matter? He waved his hand at me and continued. "Hah. It would’ve been better if she’d been caught during the mental hospital trip. Doing her there would’ve been fun." He laughed after shitting from his mouth. "Fucking dumb girls with no family—no one to protect them, no one to listen even if they screamed." His voice was casual as if he had done this a lot of times. And that was it. That was the moment I snapped. I didn’t even realize when my fist connected with his jaw. The sound echoed through the room. He staggered back, and blood was already spilling from his mouth, but I didn’t stop. "You think she is a product?" I growled, speaking a single word at a time, as I slammed him against the wall. "You think you can laugh about what you planned to do to her?" He tried to fight back, but he was too slow and weak to do so. I grabbed him by the collar and threw him down. My boots thrashed against his ribs, one after another. He screamed, but I didn’t care about that. All I could hear was Sera’s voice in my mind. All I could see was her, trembling, bruised, calling my name like she had not been through enough. "You sick fuck," I spat, driving my elbow into his face. "She trusted me. She lived under my roof, and I let this happen."