Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 62

NICHOLAS

"What are you doing here?" Lucia asked, her steps wary as she made her way toward me. Wisely so.

It took everything in me to remain in my seat as I watched her. I kept my face blank, letting her drive herself mad while trying to guess why I was here. The fear in her eyes slightly eased the anger burning in my chest. Good for her.

"It's your jewelry store, isn't it? I misplaced Giselle's ring. I'm here to replace it. Your sales attendant asked me to wait here for your arrival. I must say, you have excellent customer service," I said, gesturing to the bottle of wine placed on the table next to me.

"Why, thank you." She swallowed, the fear in her eyes easing up. Foolish woman. A smile pulled at her lips. "In that case, I'll have a few choices brought in. You're going for extravagant, yes?"

She didn't wait for my answer before she dallied out of the room. She walked in a few minutes later with four sales attendants holding jewelry boxes in tow.

"This is my personal favorite." Lucia grabbed a jewelry box from an attendant, handing it over to me. "It's quite expensive, but you're no stranger to gifting your wife expensive things."

"Hm," I hummed before I opened the box to stare at the ring. The stone was enormous. This was why it was her favorite. She rambled on and on about how many carats it was and how expensive it was.

I found it hard to believe this was the same woman who had spewed vile things at her daughter - a daughter who looked exactly like her. There was no denying her maternity. The only difference between them was their eyes. Giselle's was bright blue, conveying every emotion she felt while Lucia's dead brown eyes stared back at me.

"Giselle will love it! She's always had expensive taste. I like to believe she got that from me." She laughed at her joke.

"You think?" I took the ring out of the box, fingering the gemstone as I fixed Lucia with my blank, unwavering stare. "She's currently in the hospital after she tried to kill herself."

From my periphery, I saw the sales attendants' eyes widen in shock.

Lucia's smile fell off her face. "Oh. I didn't know."

"I know. That's why I'm here to break the news," I said with a smile. "After all, you only call her when it's time for you to belittle her and tell her how unworthy of love she is."

Her mouth fell open and closed a few times before she finally said, "Excuse us."

The sales attendants didn't need to be told twice. They scuttled out of the room, leaving just me and Lucia in the room. Big mistake on her part. I no longer had the will to hold back my anger.

I shot out of my chair, curling my hand around her neck before I squeezed hard, cutting off her circulation. She batted at my hands, fighting to get air down her lungs.

"What's the problem, Lucia? You don't want to die?"

She shook her head at me, eyes pleading for mercy.

"So, what the fuck were you thinking when you picked up the phone to call Giselle, hm? Did you think nothing would happen? I bet you did. Nothing happened in the past, did it?"

"Pl-please," she choked, her voice barely above a whisper. Sweat rolled down her chin as a vein popped out on her forehead. Her face almost matched the color of her hair.

I released my tight grip on her neck. I still wanted her alive, after all. Lucia greedily sucked air into her lungs. When some color returned to her face, I squeezed again, tighter this time, reveling in the way her eyes widened in panic.