Please Divorce Me, Alpha! {BL}

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Lorenzo met my eyes, and thankfully, there was no pity there. I despised pity; it made me feel small. Instead, what I saw was something colder, harder.

His face remained unchanged, but I could sense a shift in the atmosphere. Suddenly, every bruise I had ever concealed beneath my clothing felt exposed.

Every time I’d been grabbed too roughly, every shove I’d endured, every moment I’d been told to stop being dramatic when I was hurting, I had learned to normalize pain because living with normal was easier.

Lorenzo continued to watch me. He placed the antiseptic bottle down deliberately. "You should rest."

"That’s it?"

"For now."

"You won’t even give me one of your boring, chilling speeches?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Want one?"

"Not really."

"Then rest."

As he stood, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to stop him, though I didn’t know why. Maybe I wanted him to ask me something, anything. But I stayed silent.

The door clicked shut behind him. I stared at it.

"That was bizarre," I murmured, before looking down at my wrapped wrist. "Everything about this marriage is bizarre."

A while later, Leon showed up with a tray. The moment he entered, his eyes landed on my face, and his expression fell. "Oh."

"What?" I frowned.

"Your face."

"Yes, Leon. Still attached."

He set the tray down next to me. "I meant the bruise."

"Oh."

"Does it hurt?"

"Only when I breathe."

Leon looked horrified, and I couldn’t help but grin. "I’m joking."

"Sir."

"I’m fine."

"You keep saying that."

"Because I am."

He stared at me, and I stared back. Then he sighed. "You have blood on your sleeve."

Leon shook his head, though I could see the worry etched in his eyes. He poured me some water and handed it over, and I drank it slow.

"Are you sure you’re alright, sir?" he asked again.

I lowered the glass. "Yes."

He hesitated for a moment. Then he said softly, "I heard what happened."

I felt my smile fade. "Everyone probably did."

"The guards were talking."

"Of course they were."

Leon took a seat across from me.

"I was scared." His honesty caught me off guard, and I turned to look at him. He rubbed his palms on his trousers nervously. "I know you joke about everything, but you could’ve died."

I looked away. "I know."

My voice came out quieter than I expected. Leon didn’t press, he just nodded.

"Eat something, please."

I looked at the tray. There was soup, bread, fruit, and tea. "You guys really want to feed me to death, huh?"

"You’re already injured. We can’t have you starving, too."

"I wasn’t starving."

Leon smiled, and I smiled back. For a moment, things felt almost normal.

And then he left. I ate most of the food, but exhaustion soon pulled me under.

I don’t recall falling asleep. I only remember the knife. It was coming down again. The same cold pavement against my back, the taste of blood flooding my mouth.

The masked man held me down, and I tried to move. I couldn’t. I tried to scream, but nothing came out.

The knife gleamed in the light. Then it struck. This time, Lorenzo didn’t arrive. There were no gunshots, no footsteps, no one yanking the attacker away and the blade plunged into me, and pain surged through my chest.

I looked down to see blood soaking my clothes. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Oddly enough, I wasn’t thinking of my father, or Blair, or the money, or the future I’d imagined.

My mind was on Lorenzo. That thought hurt more than the knife itself.

I jolted awake, gasping, I sat up so fast that the world spun around me. For a few seconds, I had no clue where I was.

My heart thudded against my ribs, my shirt damp with sweat. The room was dark and empty.

I pressed my hand to my chest. Nothing. No knife, no blood. I was alive. I drew in shaky breaths, muttering,

"O...okay." My voice sounded weak in the stillness. "Okay."

I swung my legs over the bed, knowing I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t sleep after that. If Lorenzo thought I’d quietly lie in his bedroom while he kept secrets from me, he didn’t know me at all.

I stood, legs wobbling but steady enough. I opened the door, the hallway was utterly silent.

I checked Lorenzo’s study first, it was empty. Of course. I moved further into the estate. Every shadow seemed darker, every distant sound made me jump. I despised that feeling.

I hated that the nightmare had followed me out of sleep, whispering that the knife had felt real.

I rounded a corner, and then I heard it...a scream. It sliced through the hallway so suddenly, I lost my breath. My body tensed as another bloodcurdling scream followed.

I took off running, no time to think, just pure instinct. Down the corridor, past two startled guards, down the stairs, toward the sound.

For fear that the attackers had returned to finish what they started.

The scream pierced the air again as I reached a heavy door at the end of the lower hallway. There was something about the room that made every instinct scream at me to hesitate.

Then I heard a muffled groan when I pushed the door open and I froze.

The first thing that struck me was blood, on Lorenzo’s hands, across his forearms, spattered against his dark shirt.

The second thing was the man strapped to the chair in front of him...the attacker, barely recognizable through his injuries.

The room reeked of metal and antiseptic, with instruments laid out nearby, disturbingly arranged. Lorenzo stood beside the captive, wearing that same calm expression he had while bandaging my wrist.

Except now, nothing was gentle about him...he looked entirely at home in the darkness

Completely terrifying.

The man in the chair let out a broken noise, and Lorenzo turned his head slowly.

His eyes met mine, with no surprise there, just a hint of displeasure, not because I caught him torturing someone, but because I was out of bed.

My heart raced still from the nightmare. I stared at the blood on my husband’s hands.

Lorenzo wiped his bloody, gloved fingers on a white cloth, never breaking eye contact with me.

Then, in that same calm tone he used to tell me to eat, sleep, or stop moving, he said...

"Alex...dear. What are you doing awake, hm?"

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