Chapter 10: He defended her

Braelyn’s pov

For a moment, no one spoke; even breathing too loudly felt like a crime. Lucien’s words did not just hurt; they sent daggers straight at Olivia’s open sore. Olivia’s face turned ashen and she took a moment to process his words before they struck.

Olivia shot up, her fragile composure shattered. “That’s it! I won’t sit here and take this kind of disrespect, especially not from someone like you.” She barked slamming her hand on the table.

The table shook, and my soup, which was directly across her, spilt over the brim of the bowl. The hot scolding liquid splashed on me, causing me to hiss and back away at the same time. Once the burning sensation hit my nerves.

Lucien shot to his feet the moment the scalding soup hit my skin.

“Are you alright?” he asked, grabbing my hand a bit too quickly.

I blinked, startled by his reaction. For a moment, I didn’t know what shocked me more, the burn or Lucien’s sudden concern.

“I’m fine,” I lied, pulling my hand from his grasp. The burn stung like hell, but the last thing I wanted was his attention. His behaviour was out of place.

Raphael’s jaw tightened. His eyes bounced between Olivia, who’d caused the mess, and Lucien, whose hand still hovered around me acting closer than he should, as if reluctant to let go.

Then Amelia started crying, drawing attention to her. Her tears felt a bit too timely and theoretical. I didn’t care about her fake tears, it had nothing to do with me.

Her voice cut through the tension like a siren. “It burns,” she whimpered, though not a drop had touched her.

Raphael snapped to her side instantly. “Where?” he asked. She successfully distracted him from reacting to focus on her.

I bit down a bitter laugh. Of course. My skin burned, but her tears got sympathy.

“On the back of my hand,” she whimpered, battling her eyelashes. Amelia attempted to pull her hand from Raphael’s grasp.

“You should not mind me. Braelyn’s burns should be worse.” She sniffled, acting selfless.

Raphael pulled her hand close and blew on it. “Sorry dear, don’t act so selfless when you are also in pain.” I almost laughed at that moment, finding it hard to have Amelia and selflessness in the same statement.

Both my heart and my skin were burning now. It was hard not to care.

Lucien could not decipher whether I was lying or not. His head snapped to Olivia who caused this.

“You’re old enough to know better, Olivia. If you can’t handle others airing out your dirty laundry, perhaps you should keep your own name clean and stop saying whatever comes to your mouth.”He barked at her.

His jaw was clenched and Lucien was ready to explode any moment.

Olivia’s gaze hardened, her eyes were piercing at Lucien, the air was thick with tension, and it felt hard to breathe. “How dare you speak to me that way? I am old enough to be your mother.” She retorted, and I knew Lucien had something nasty to say, but was interrupted by Ronan’s sharp voice.

“That’s enough,” his voice boomed. Sharp and cold like still water was doused over everyone.

“Please Ronan, don’t blame me for this. If your sister can’t watch her manners I will teach her. I am glad the likes of her aren’t my mother. I would have been raised unable to know how to control my tongue.” Lucien snapped back.

I could feel the anger emanating from his skin. His fists were so tight they could bleed at any moment.

Ronan remained level-headed; his voice calmly replied, disregarding the tension. “I don’t like repeating myself. Get back on your seats and act like bloody elders, you are in this family.” He said coldly. His every word carried weight making it hard to ignore.

Olivia and Lucien were hesitant to comply.

I took the first approach and sat down, Olivia and Lucien were still glaring hard at each other. Ronan sighed, “Just sit down and endure each other until the funeral. You are disrespecting your father with your behaviour.”

Surprisingly that did the trick. Lucien still held some respect for his dead father. Olivia snorted and then sat down first.

“Tsk.” Lucien clicked his tongue irritably before he took his seat. Ronan’s authority was firm as the eldest child. He glanced between his siblings noticing their glares before looking my way

“I hope you are fine Braelyn. You can apply some ointment on the burns.” He said with a soft voice. I nodded slowly picking up my spoon.

“I am really fine, no need to worry.” I chimed in, finding it inappropriate to bring up my burns when the room was this tense. Lucien noticed the way I hissed while moving my hand and his gaze hardened.

“Fine then, let’s try to have a peaceful meal. It isn’t much to ask.” Ronan’s voice was resolute. Olivia or Lucien didn’t protest and held back their differences for now.

” Brealyn, are you sure you didn’t get scalded? The soup was pretty hot, it should stink a bit.” Amelia asked amicably. How sweet of her to flatter me with her fake concern.

” My soup isn’t as hot as yours,” I replied, keeping up the pretence. My brows twitched but I swallowed back the bad pill.

The meal continued with an awkward atmosphere.

Amelia hissed at every movement, making Raphael do everything for her while secretly whining about her burns, which drew Natalia’s attention.

” It burns, I wonder why my soup was hotter than Braelyn’s.”

“I have a special ointment I got from Japan. It will work like magic on you.” Natalia offered sweetly.

Amelia smiled like the treasured daughter-in-law. “Thank you, aunty.” Everything she did was ticking me off. I tried to focus on the main meal, which was Pan-seared duck breast with honey glaze, but I could barely eat anything.

“It’s a pleasure dear. We can’t afford your peerless skin being scalded,” Natalia replied. I almost snorted. I was right in front of them with worse scalds, and it didn’t matter to them.

The way Raphael reacted and how no one seemed to care about his blatant affair. It felt like they already accepted her as their daughter-in-law.

There was this sharp discomfort in my stomach that slowly got worse with each second, combined with the burns. It made this dinner experience less palatable. I wondered if there was anything in the meal that instigated my flaring PCOS symptoms.

I didn’t think anyone noticed it, so I had to force a smile on and continued acting the part to avoid sticking out again. At times I will secretly grab my stomach when the discomfort spikes.

I don’t know if Raphael noticed my subtle pain because his eyes strayed to me at times then he would notice Lucien’s lingering gaze.

“Are you sure everything is fine?” Lucien asked, sensing something amidst. I brushed him off. ” It is nothing, no need to bother.” My lips could barely move to lie but I did to stay out of the light.

It made me uncomfortable to be Lucien’s centre of attention. Whenever Raphael’s gaze lingered too long on me, Amelia always acted out, maybe to call him to help her with her duck or a side dish. Things the maids could do for her. Raphael didn’t complain, so who was I to?

“Raphael, why hasn’t your sister arrived?” Ronan asked his son. She was the only family member absent. Raphael glanced at his father. “Her flight got delayed due to weather conditions.” He answered.

Ronan nodded then grabbed a napkin to wipe his lips. “I will be skipping desserts. I have some important matters to attend to.” Ronan stood up and left.

“I will also take my leave. Good night.” Raphael was the next to leave unexpectedly, like his seat was on fire. Amelia had some complaints. He silenced her with a peck and left. They were acting like a real married couple.

“Please excuse me,” I could barely say between my gritted teeth and fled the table before anyone could complain unable to keep up the pretence.

*****

It felt like a race against time. I eventually got to my room and rushed inside, not bothering about closing the door. Luckily Raphael wasn’t in.

I quickly sorted through my luggage to find the new prescription the doctors gave me. My hands trembled, barely able to hold anything.

I flipped over my bag on the floor searching through the pile urgently until I found the pills. My breath hitched, a soft cry slipping out.

I needed water. Gathering all my strength, I staggered to the bathroom and then got a cup from the cupboard. The faucet rushed into the cup, and I threw the pill in my mouth before gulping it down with water.

The pain didn’t disappear immediately. The symptoms were worse this time around. Tears rushed down my cheeks, and my body slowly crouched down with my back against the wall.

I held my stomach, cussing my luck. Why did I have to go through this much pain? My head started getting cloudy, and my eyes became blurry. I think it was the side effects of the medication.

“Braelyn,”

“Braelyn,”

I heard someone call repeatedly. I could not even part my lips to talk and the darkness pulled me in just before the door was abruptly pushed open.

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