her cruel lover

when you said you love me, i felt it with every beat of my heart. i let you rip me open and trace your fingertips all over my skin. i let you map and study all the little secrets i hid beneath each contour of my body. i let you love me with saccharine cruelty. 

as we lay together in this bed filled with our warmth, we whispered the coldest goodbye one last time. in the silence of this night, my heart decided on a plane that divided our path. but i only hoped you understand that not everyone who leaves wants to. you told me to go and i was simply moving on to find a way to love you better.

(Wren)

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ᚔ A week later ᚔ

Aillard offered to drive me to the airport, and we sat in silence for the entire ride. I wished I knew what to say but there was just too much that stood in between us. Or perhaps, I was simply afraid that all that I felt would fail to be conveyed in a proper manner, ending up pulling us further apart. 

The car slowed to a stop in front of a private jet. Looking around, there was no one around and I expected that Aillard had decided to send me off discreetly. I walked towards it, feeling him watching me from right behind. I was afraid to turn, unsure what to expect from those storm grey eyes that contained all his incomprehensible thoughts. I was just one step away from the flight of stairs leading up the plane when I stopped. 

I turned. 

And I ran. 

I crashed right into his towering frame and into the warmth of his embrace. Aillard had folded his arms around me and buried his face into the short strands of my hair. He ran a hand down my back and asked tenderly, "What's wrong, angel?" 

"Aillard," I sobbed. "Can I please stay? Can you please not send me away?" 

"I'm sorry, Wren," Aillard whispered softly but his tone was firm. "I cannot let you stay." 

"I love you, Aillard," I tried, desperate for a way to let him change his mind. 

He kissed my forehead and trailed a path of kisses down the bridge of my nose before pressing his lips softly on mine. Aillard refused to say anything but I felt it all from his gestures. When he removed my arms that were wrapped around his torso, I bit on my lip tightly in an attempt to hide any sound that threatened to escape; my heart sank. 

Nudging me forward, he murmured, "Fly high, my little songbird. Don't turn back anymore." 

I remained unmoved for a second but I eventually did. I walked, without looking back until the plane door clicked close behind me. 

I settled back into the car after the plane took off. Lightly tapping on the interface to wake the car system, I dialled a number. The ring went on for a while before a familiar voice sounded through the speakers, "Aillard, what's up?" 

"Jeremiah, you and I need to talk," I said, stepping hard on the accelerator and sped my way to find the troublemaker who brought a huge problem to my already wretched life. 

"By your tone, I should consider bringing my bodyguards," Jeremiah joked. "The usual place?" 

"If they could fight faster than I shoot my pistol, sure, bring them along," I scoffed. "Yes, and you better be there in an hour." 

"Demanding fuck—" 

I ended the call before Jeremiah could finish his sentence because sending Wren off had already placed me in a darned foul mood and the last thing I needed was to burn with the rage of wanting to skin my best friend alive. Tapping on a song, I notched up the volume to distract myself until an incoming call disturbed the peace I was fucking finding. I had wanted to cancel the call but I saw that it was Naya and I answered impatiently, "What is it, Naya?" 

"Who pissed in your cereals again?" Naya clicked her tongue disapprovingly and continued, "I just called to let you know that I've arranged everything as planned." 

"Only children eat cereals," I almost snarled, before toning it down. "Thank you, princess." 

"The love of your life happens to love Honey Nut Cheerios, you ass," Naya remarked casually. "I would do it for Wren if not for you too." 

"Talk about temper, you still had it worse than me," I commented. "I should let Ismael know about it." 

"If there's a use in that, Ismael wouldn't be fretting over my marriage plans." Naya scoffed. "I've got to go now. Catch you someday, lover boy." 

"Reinhardt's son is a good option," I teased. 

"Oh, fuck off!" Naya whined and ended the call snappishly. 

I exhaled a laugh before focusing back on the road until I arrived at the place I planned to meet with Jeremiah. 

The bar glowed dimly in a sophisticated golden hue as soft music hummed in the background, adding to the luxurious ambience of the whole place. I followed behind a staff as he guided me towards a man sitting at the far end of the bar, away from the crowd. Jeremiah was definitely daring enough to come here alone because I was already smothering with the anger to murder him. Casually dismissing the staff, I walked towards my best friend and he looked at me with an arched brow. He smirked, "Look who's here?" 

"You better have your answers ready," I cautioned dangerously, unbuttoning my suit jacket as I settled into the seat opposite him. "I haven't seen you in a long while and it seemed that you're back to bring trouble to me, Jeremiah." 

"I'm not behind Lorelei's return," Jeremiah stated simply, almost trying to paint himself innocent from the matter totally. 

"Why the fuck is she here then?" I enunciated. "I didn't strike an expensive deal with your uncle to have your cousin coming here to torture me with her idea of marriage. I'm just telling you that my patience is wearing so fucking thin that I had no promises on what I would do to the Hepburns. You wouldn't like that, Jeremiah." 

"Don't associate me with the Hepburns, Aillard," Jeremiah reminded. In exasperation from all my accusatory comments, he threw his hands up and explained, "I didn't bring her here, for heaven's sake. Lorelei is a grown woman and she made her decision to follow me back. You've met her?" 

"Met?" I exhaled. "She was at my house, acting like she already owned that place and she mentioned that you told her a lot about me. Care to share, you fucking snitch?" 

"Really? " Jeremiah amused, resting his glass of scotch back down on the coaster. I felt the vein in my temple pounded as I was just a second away from wanting to throttle him for having the nerve to be entertained. A corner of his lips tipped up into an annoying smirk and he said, "I really didn't say anything Aillard. I barely exchanged five sentences with her for the whole duration after we left Stockholm." 

"Tell me more," I dared. 

"As for why she's here, you should know it very well," Jeremiah mentioned. "These few years, she had been known to push the Hepburn Corporations up the heights and even Uncle Carlos no longer have control over her. If there's anything I should let you know, it's that her return is backed by your old man since he cannot get you to marry Robyn Franchini's daughter." 

The glencairn glass nearly shattered within my crushing grip. Just when I was about to celebrate my ingenious success to get Macy out of the marriage arrangement with me, another woman appeared to stand in my way. For a man who ruined his own family, my father had definitely gone senile when he seemed so desperate to rush me into marriage. 

It was easy to work with Macy because she didn't feel a single romantic attraction for me, but I knew that Lorelei would be a pain to deal with. I could only be thankful that I had sent Wren away before Lorelei could start making a move on the people around me. Because if anything were to happen to Wren, I would never forgive myself. 

Holding the glass up, I emptied the contents in a single swig as I allowed the burn to singe within. The taste ignited bitterness that became a striking reminder that I didn't send Wren away to let others bring my life down to ruins. I was done swaying with the fates and I would never submit myself to follow through with the plan others forced on my life. I would fight against the currents if I had to. All for the sake of my own dream to hold her back into my arms and listen to the perfect sound of my name tumbling past her soft lips. 

Parting with her was never my intention, but I loved her enough to not trap her within the clutch of my obsession. I wanted her to be daring enough to hold big dreams and live a life that she had always wanted without regrets. I was done letting my father dictate over her belief that she stood under me. No. Wren deserved the place right beside me, as my wife, as my equal, to reign over the empire I built for us.

I threw out the chips and laid my next move on the card table; the moment I freed the canary, I had hoped for a phoenix in return.

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a/n:

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