From Deadbeat To Doting; Something Is Wrong With My Husband!-Chapter 26: Uncle Lucian... hurts Auntie Brianna?

Lucian’s eyes moved to her bag, then to Lucifur and back to his plate. "Lucifur thinks your bag is cluttering his dining space."

"I don’t give a fuck what Lucifur thinks."

Lucian’s fork paused. He looked at his wife, scratching her neck and currently picking a fight with a feline, then he continued slicing through his steak. "Join me."

"I already had dinner," Brianna said through sips.

That made him wonder if she’d spent the rest of the day with that nephew of his, given the weirdness of the previous night. After all, what else would keep her out until dark?

The thought made him drop his fork. But... Was this how their marriage was? He stared at the utensil for a second longer.

Well, as long as she wasn’t bothering him for sex, he didn’t care. In fact, if she was seeking satisfaction elsewhere, it saved him the trouble of maintaining the lie he’d told her earlier. He had already claimed to be "incapable"; if she found a substitute, his secret was safer.

After draining the glass, Brianna turned to leave.

"Wife."

"What?"

Without looking up, "Take your bag. It doesn’t belong on the dining table."

Grabbing her bag, she put on a smile. "My bad."

As she turned to leave again, "And your shoes?"

"I don’t know where they are." She shrugged, making her way through the door barefooted.

...

Brianna had almost fallen asleep when a knock came on her door. She groaned, thinking Annie had brought dinner despite saying she already ate.

Opening the door, "I don’t want di~"

She held back her words, furrowing her brows. "Oh. It’s you. What do you want?"

"Don’t leave your shoes out again," Lucian said, setting her heels on the floor and walking away.

Brianna stared at the shoes and scoffed at his retreating figure.

...

"Mother, you’ve been invited!"

Senior Mrs. Colburn didn’t look up. She was too focused on the petals of her rare roses, carefully snipping a stray leaf. She had been in her garden all day, but now she was admiring the arrangement in its crystal vase. This year, the estate’s Garden Fair gold prize was as good as hers!

Staring at her plant like a sudden aristocrat, Senior Mrs Colburn leaned in to inspect her rare roses. "I got the invitation to the Fair a week ago, Genevieve. That’s why I’m tending to my precious babies."

Genevieve waved her hand dismissively, nearly knocking over a watering can. "Not the Fair, Mother. I mean the banquet. I’m throwing Lucian a welcome celebration."

Pausing, Senior Mrs Colburn finally frowned, holding her shears mid-air. "And why would you do that? You know he detests the noise."

"I ran into Brianna today."

Senior Mrs Colburn narrowed her eyes. "She’s alive?"

"Yes. I was just as shocked as you are."

She sat down heavily, the weight of the news pressing into her chest. Senior Mrs Colburn never watched that tabloid show Brianna hosted, and since the girl hadn’t crawled back to the family for money, she had assumed she was buried in some unmarked grave. But now... why? Why would that devil spare her?

"But Mother, I have to tell you," Genevieve leaned in, whispering conspiratory.

"She didn’t look okay."

"What does that mean?"

"I don’t know exactly what I saw, but she was acting... strange. She was wearing a turtleneck and a heavy coat."

"In this heat wave?"

"Exactly! It was bizarre. She was clearly sweating, nearly fainting from the heat, but she refused to take them off. And she kept rubbing her neck... over and over, like she was in pain."

Senior Mrs. Colburn straightened her back. A coat and a turtleneck in a hundred-degree weather. There was only one reason a woman like Brianna would hide her skin so desperately.

"Did she have bruises?"

"She had bruises!"

The mother and daughter spoke the words at the same time and their eyes locked in a moment of dark realization.

Gasping softly, Senior Mrs. Colburn’s hand fluttered to her chest. She knew it. Lucian wouldn’t keep that woman alive unless he intended to turn her life into a living hell.

Genevieve sighed, though her eyes danced with the thrill of the gossip. "Poor Brianna. She even tried to act like everything was fine. She’s clearly suffering, but she forced a smile for those young girls."

"I can’t believe she didn’t let me pull the trigger when she had the chance to go." Senior Mrs. Colburn lamented with fake pity.

"I can’t believe Lucian would rather torture her than kill her. How could he hurt her like that?"

Meanwhile, in the east wing, Keenan laid on his bed, restless. He could still see the way Brianna’s face had flushed when she saw him the night before.

He tossed a grape into the air and caught it in his mouth as a smug grin spread across his face.

’She’s playing hard to get,’ he thought. ’Sending me out was just a test.’

He couldn’t wait to see her again. He couldn’t wait to show her his room.

Thanks to Supreme Master’s advice. Be bold. Be creative.

He grinned, reaching into his white bowl for another grape, but his fingers hit the bottom. Groaning, Keenan rolled off the bed, heading to the kitchen for a refill...

"Poor Brianna. She even tried to act like everything was fine. She’s clearly suffering, but she forced a smile for those young girls."

"I can’t believe she didn’t let me pull the trigger when she had the chance to go."

"I can’t believe Lucian would rather torture her than kill her. How could he hurt her like that?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Keenan froze, while the empty bowl rattled in his hand from the immediate pause mid-walk.

Uncle Lucian... hurts Auntie Brianna?

Suddenly, the image of Brianna from the other night changed to a woman who looked disheveled and had suicidal thoughts.

He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, and his breath came in hot, angry bursts!

Uncle Lucian was a monster. And monsters didn’t deserve a woman like auntie Brianna!