𝐴𝑅𝑅𝐴𝑁𝐺𝐸𝐷 | 𝐷𝑀

~ F O R T Y - T H R E E ~

"I can't believe you haven't unpacked yet, Jones. It's been two months since we came back to school," Draco pointed out. He and Lilith were in her room, taking clothes and books out of the bags she had taken over winter break.

"Yeah, but I was too lazy to do anything. Besides, there aren't, like, everyday essentials packed in there, it's just extra clothing. Can you do me a favor and look into the brown bag and place the books back into my bookshelf?" When she didn't hear him move, she looked back at him. He was tilting his head at her and raising an expecting brow at her, "Please."

"That's better," he smiled at her. Draco did as she said, and when he finished with her books, he checked her other bag which was almost empty. He took one last thing out of her bag before snapping his eyes to her with a confused look on his face. "Why do you still have this?"

Lilith looked over to him from where she was—standing next to her dresser, folding her clothes and placing them inside her drawers. She walked over to him and looked down at his hand where she saw the necklace her father had given her residing. "What?"

"The necklace, Jones. You told me what it represented, so why do you still have it?"

"Because," she snatched it from him, "It was a gift."

"Yes, from your father!" Draco's face hardened and his eyes clouded with growing confusion and anger from the new discovery of her still keeping gifts from the parents who arranged a union between them and mistreated Maya as well as Blemmy.

"Yes, from my father, Malfoy! Why does that matter? I may not agree with him but he is still my blood so I will not throw away something he gave me!" She turned away from him to shield the blood rising to her face. She didn't understand why he was getting mad at her but she didn't like it, and she knew that if she got angry at him, all hell would break lose.

"And you plan on keeping it as a reminder the type of people your parents are?"

"You do not get to speak that way about my parents," she turned to face him with brows scrunched together in anger. "Despite what they've done."

"And why the fuck not? We're both adults, Jones, and we both know what they're like," he scoffed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Is this really about the necklace or my parents, because I don't see the reason for you to lash out otherwise," she placed the necklace into a special jewelry box her father had given her.

"It's not about the necklace, Jones. You told me your father told you to wear keep it as a sign of commitment to your position as a pawn in his little game of rising to the top," he walked closer to her, "So excuse my 'lashing out'?"

"Don't come any closer, Malfoy. I don't want to fight but if you push this on, I'll be the one to act out," she looked at him over her shoulder, forming fists with her hands at her sides.

He disregarded her statement and allowed for his rage to cloud his judgement, "Just answer me one thing then. Did you really accept my proposal because you wanted to or because you still follow your daddy's orders?"

He crossed the line and he knew it. Lilith slammed her fists on her nightstand and turned to look at him, "Are you fucking serious right now, Malfoy? I literally told you I was in love with you and now you think it was all part of a plan— all of this because you saw a necklace! Not to mention how I confided in you—telling you how much I hated my parents for what they did. How dare you doubt me?"

His hardened features relaxed and his voice calmed. Realizing what he had said, he tried to take it back, "Fuck. Jones—"

"You know, maybe I should ask you the same thing?" She warned him not to push her too far but he didn't seem to care.