THIRST ➴ Illumi x Reader

ONE ♞ 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the theatre, oh dearest husband?" I slid my large faux fur jacket on, and patted my frilly silk shirt for inexistent dust.

Tahei didn't even grace me with a look from his swamped table. His office was too cluttered for someone who did nothing all day. There were piles of papers and contracts over every conceivable surface, books scattered around, and several open notebooks with expensive pens carefully tucked between the pages. What was he even doing? Passing paper sheets from a pile to the other was such a horrible way to try to appear busy... "No, dear. Go on, have fun."

I held back a scoff and marched to the large oak door, my hand met the cool material of the silver knob and I turned back, taking in the sight of my husband. I never did love him. He was far too old for me, his skin was droopy, he refused to wear glasses for his bad sight, so he spent most of his time squinting. His hair was nearing white and swooped about in a futile attempt to cover his bald spots. My balding husband was awfully rich though, that was his attractive side. Not that he knew how to manage his wealth. No... Heaven forbid that! 

The doorknob spun under my tight grip, and I was out of his office seconds later. The mental fortitude to hold myself back from slamming the door shut was surprising, considering things weren't going well. His lack of drive or ambition wasn't his major offence. The list was far too long to even consider at this point. 

I nodded politely to Marie, who stood by the door holding a large golden tray with Tahei's medication. Her sullen face tensed while her eyes left my perfectly curated disappointed face to meet the floor. The old bat never did like me, but she knew... She knew, and she either feared it or despised it.  "Have a good night, Marie." 

"How kind of you, Mrs. Vedridian." She bowed, and her wrinkly knuckles turned white as they clenched around the tray's silver handles. "Enjoy your evening."

I granted her a small smile when she straightened her back. I considered knocking and opening the door for her, but too much sympathy would raise suspicion. The scene was set anyway, it was just a pain to have no one trustworthy in this damned estate. 

My shoes clicked down the marble floored hall as I turned from corridor to corridor until I found myself opening the good oak door that led to the large garage. It was a pain that all the doors were similar to a fault, all oak, all with silver doorknobs, the floor was always of a whitish marble and the corridors made no sense and interconnected at random. 

I had to thank Tahei's damned ancestor, Palin Vedridian. Who would guess that money made people look over their shoulders at every step? Led them to suspect and doubt anyone else? Palin was a special case of deluded rich man. The one that built a maze of an estate with secret passageways known only to himself, and decided that the best way to pass this secret knowledge was through carefully crafted riddles carved into the stone floors and walls. His quirkiness had become my strength, and acquiring it had distracted me from my primary plan. I was only reaping what I had sowed... 

The lights reflected over the shiny car hoods, I searched for my black lambo along the long line of parked cars. My hand slid over the hood of a bright green car, Tahei had an identity crisis once every few months, and he solved them by buying sports cars he never really drove. A bad use of resources, but who am I to say anything? His wife? No, all I had to do was look beautiful by his side, be a great hostess and mediator whenever we had to host high society parties. 

A sigh left my lips once I spotted my car, I quickened my pace and slid into the driver's seat while tossing my handbag to the seat beside me. The door closed behind me and I leaned against the cold seat while grabbing the key, promptly placed on the dashboard. I never used this car, it was too ostentatious, gaudy even. I had learnt quickly from the snake-like wives of my Tahei's friends, I was thrown into the fire and I had adapted and learnt.