OPHELIA: Chapter 25
Blurb
Elizabeth Lockwick wants one thing… to ensure Ophelia remains dead.
For years she’s weaved a life seen through rose-coloured glasses in idyllic Vermont with her husband Sebastian Lockwick, an alluring man with a broken moral compass, whose intent lies in protecting his wife. However, apart from her unorthodox understanding of Sebastian’s dark and gritty hidden nature, she finds herself slipping away from her sanity in maintaining this picturesque life.
After receiving a gruesome gift from an unknown sender threatening to expose her, she finds herself haunted and possibly hunted by her buried past.
In order to make things right for herself and ensure that her secret is hidden, she reluctantly travels back to her sleepy small hometown in Wisconsin. A town where young girls seem to be mysteriously disappearing. There, she reunites with the dysfunctional Pierre-Louis’, a French-American family who sheltered her in their manor in her time of need.
With time slipping away, she struggles with her guilt and a dangerous affair and realizes that perhaps Ophelia wasn’t dead after all these years.
Elizabeth suddenly finds herself caught in a game of cat and mouse, unsure of which she really is this time and who she can trust.
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Chapter 25
Sebastian Lockwick stood before her, just about to knock. A wash of surprise flushed over his features but he quickly and gracefully withdrew it.
“Ah,” Victor voiced from behind, “Glad you could make it.” “Come Ophelia,” Victor continued, “Don’t stand in his way. Let him enter.”
Sebastian entered, tasting the sound of her new name trickling through his ears. A subtle smirk glazed over his slightly bearded face as she sucked in the stiffening air into her lungs.
“Forgive her, she has had such a terrible day. She needs her rest.”
As old as she was, Victor’s authority never allowed her to challenge him in any way. Ophelia nodded silently, retreating her steps back up the stairs. She could have felt Sebastian’s eyes burn into her back like hellfire. Walking into the study, she shut the door behind her as Stefan stood and placed the folder which he was reading to the side table.
“What happened?” His voice was firm, entangled in worry.
“Why is he here Stefan? Surely you know. Why is he here right now?”
His eyebrows knitted together. “Victor must have called him for dinner. He’s the potential investor for the project.”
Ophelia sucked in her shallow breaths.
“What happened today?” Stefan frowned while gently touching her face.
“I saw the Sheriff and Father Greywood-”
“I don’t mean that. Rosie told me. I mean this,” he said as he grazed his thumb across the cheek where Diane had slapped her. “Who did this to you?”
“Stefan, it’s fine. I took care of it.”
“Did you?” He scowled. “Lily, you have been blacking out, getting yourself injured, and putting yourself at risk just in a matter of one day.”
“Well what? Did you want me to watch your bloody grandmother hit the girl across her face with an iron poker? Should I have done nothing? God forbid but your mother would have gone missing or dead if we hadn’t found her. Yet I come back to find the maid gone. So what the fuck did Diane do to her? Where is she, Stefan? I open the door and what do I see? Sebastian Lockwick standing before me.”
“Ophelia, please calm down,” he tried to reason.
“I can’t. You don’t know Sebastian the way I do. If he finds out about us Stefan- if anything displeases him, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”
“If you’re afraid he’ll hurt you-”
“That is not what I am afraid of. Sebastian will not harm me, but I can’t guarantee he won’t hesitate to anyone else. We have enough problems already. Decline his offer. Make him leave or something.”
“Lily,” he sighed gently pressing her shoulders, “You know I can’t do that. Victor is fixed with his decision to agree. I tried to disagree with it but you know how he is.”
Ophelia sat on the sofa, frustrated at the entire situation. “This can’t be happening.” She whispered to herself. “This bloody town. I hate it here. Nothing good ever happens here.”
“And I understand that-”
“Do you? Do you really, Stefan? Don’t you see? There’s something sinister here. It’s been happening for years right before our eyes. And yet we do nothing, we say nothing, we choose to ignore it and pretend it’s all in our imagination.”
“I don’t disagree with you, Ophelia but we can’t make rash decisions.”
“The only decision I want made is the decline regarding Sebastian’s investment. You don’t even need the money, Stefan. So why even accept it?”
Stefan sat opposite her, in a thought and a frown plastered upon his face. “What if one day he does?”
“What?”
“What if one day he hurts you?”
“He won’t,” she stated in a short breath.
“Ophelia, I care about you and your safety. If this man is as dangerous as you say then what’s stopping him?”
“You’re not thinking reasonably.”
“I’m not?” He arched an eyebrow. “You’re being naïve, Lily.”
A flush of anger rushed through her veins. “He. Won’t,” she finished and walked out the room.
Stefan hated when they fought, or rather, have disagreements. She was stubborn and he was way too tolerant and that was one of the reasons they were in this mess in the first place. He didn’t want the past to repeat itself but the worst thing to do right now is to force her to understand his concern. She did have a hard day after all. She needed the space.
Diane stood solemnly at the door to gain his attention. “Did you meet your mother yet?”
“I did,” he simply stated as he stood and fixed the documents within the folder back into place.
“Good.”
She was about to walk out when he stopped her with icy words. “I don’t care if you’re my blood, but don’t you dare even entertain the thought of putting your hand on Ophelia again.”
“You sound like your father,” she chuckled, “Weak. Pathetic. Blood is blood, boy. Learn that.”
“Where’s the girl?”
“What girl?”
“Don’t play coy with me, grand-mère. What did you do to the maid?”
“I simply gave her her freedom.” She turned in a smile. “Your father wishes to see you downstairs with the guest.”
He didn’t want to get angry. He wouldn’t let her get that, no matter how frustrated he was at her. Walking away coldly, he headed downstairs. He was about to forget everything and go to his car when his father suddenly called him from the wine room. A special room his father used to celebrate his deals and achievements with his work partners. In that moment, Stefan understood. His father wasn’t celebrating anything but rather trying to divert his mind away from the pain of not knowing where his little girl was, hence accepting this deal. Something dark and terrible and gutting ached within Stefan just thinking about Claire. If this was his father’s way of coping meanwhile, then he wasn’t going to take that away from him. He couldn’t.
Sebastian leaned against the island with a drink in hand while his father poured the smooth liquid into his own glass. His father’s phone suddenly rang and he excused himself out the room leaving the two men behind.
“I have to say,” Sebastian chuckled, “You sure have good taste.”
“Sorry?”
“In the wine. Your father said you were a collector.”
“Something of that sort. I rather appreciate than overindulge,” Stefan corrected while popping open a beer for himself.
“I see. Your father tells me you’re not too fond of the partnership.”
“Oh, you’re wrong. I am very interested in the project. Perhaps I’m just not fond of you.” Stefan smiled as he took a sip from his bottle.
“Don’t worry Pierre-Louis, I don’t intend on staying here for long.” Sebastian chuckled, “When I take what’s mine, I’ll leave.” Placing his glass to the side, he gave a subtle nod as he walked towards the door. “No hard feelings, it’s just business.”
“None whatsoever,” Stefan frowned as he watched the man leave the room.
**
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