Free Web NovelChapter 132: Chapter 132: Storage
The morning sun pours through the gaps in the curtains, cutting bright lines across the floor.
I wake up slowly to find myself wrapped tightly against Bael’s chest.
We are lying in the exact way we used to sleep before everything fell apart—my head resting right over his heartbeat, his heavy arm wrapped completely around my waist to keep me against him. He must have moved us like this in the middle of the night, after I finished the biscuits and his fever finally went down.
I lift my head a little, trying not to make a sound, thinking he is still asleep.
He isn’t.
My heart jumps.
Bael is already wide awake. His gray eyes are clear, completely clear, no fever-dark, no rut-glaze, just gray and steady and looking directly at me from the pillow.
"Morning," he says. His voice is low and rough with sleep, but it sounds completely normal. Sane. Steady.
I try to get up instantly, my face heating up as memories of last night flash through my mind. But before I can even swing a leg out, Bael’s arm tightens like an iron bar around my waist.
He drags me right back down against his bare chest, his fingers hooking under my chin to pull me into a deep, short kiss. It is firm, heavy, and full of lingering weight.
He pulls back just an inch, his thumb rubbing slowly over my lower lip.
"Running away already?" he murmurs, watching the flush on my cheeks. "Hmm? Runze?"
Heat crawls up my neck. I force myself upward, using all my strength to slide out of his grip, completely refusing to let him pin me down or touch me again now that his head is clear.
I stand up on the floor. My legs are shaking, my lower body feeling totally unstable and raw, but I keep my voice cold and flat as I look down at the carpet.
"I can see you’re feeling better."
I look around the bed and pick up my clothes from last night. The shirt is a wrinkled mess, and the buttons have mostly been torn completely away from his frantic hands.
I let out a quiet, bitter breath, turn away from him, and walk straight over to my normal wardrobe on the other side of the bedroom. I pull out a fresh, clean shirt and throw it on to cover the red marks on my skin.
Behind me, the mattress creaks heavily.
Bael is out of bed. He realizes I am actually leaving.
"Where are you going?" he asks from somewhere behind me.
I don’t even look back at him as I button my cuffs. "Where else? I’m going back to my room."
A heavy, awkward silence drops over the bedroom. It lasts for a full, tense second.
Then Bael speaks, his voice dominant and completely final. "You’re not going back there."
I freeze, my hand dropping from my buttons.
"I’m turning that room into a storage room as of today," Bael continues, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "No one is allowed to use it anymore."
The words hit me like a physical punch to the stomach. What the fuck?
A wave of pure disbelief and hot, ugly anger floods my chest, making my vision go slightly blurry. I snap around, glaring right at his broad, naked frame. The sight of him standing there so casually, completely unbothered by the fact that he just used my body all night, makes my skin crawl with humiliation.
"What? Are you serious?" My voice cracks slightly, thick with the rage I’ve been suffocating for weeks. "Do you really think you can just do whatever you please? You think you can just lock a door and decide where I belong?" freёwebnovel.com
Bael just stands there, his expression hard and unyielding, but the sheer arrogance radiating off him makes something inside me completely snap. I don’t give him a chance to speak.
"Alright, go ahead. Turn it into storage," I say, my voice rising, shaking with a bitter, mocking laugh that feels raw in my throat. "There are still plenty of rooms in this house. And if you turn every single one of them into storage, I will still never come back to sleep in this bed. I’d rather sleep on the hard floor of the study than be in here with you!"
Furious, my chest heaving, I turn on my heel. My lower body aches miserably with every step, a brutal reminder of last night, and it only makes me want to get away from him faster.
I try to march right past him to leave the room. Bael doesn’t move to grab me, he just stands there, looking genuinely shocked, his eyes wide as if he can’t compute that I’m actually walking out on his command.
But halfway out the door, the sheer, crushing unfairness of it all boils over in my gut. My steps stutter. It hurts too much to just walk away quietly.
I stop dead in my tracks, my fists clenched so tightly my nails cut into my palms, and spin right back around to face him.
"You know what?" I choke out, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. "I’ve changed my mind. I am not letting you touch that room, and I sure as hell won’t leave it."
Bael blinks, completely caught off guard by the sudden, fierce U-turn.
"What? Do you really think you can just do whatever you want to me and expect me to always keep quiet?" I step right back into his space, the overwhelming anger entirely taking over until I’m trembling from head to toe. "This is my life, Bael! Mine! Why do you think you have the right to just push me around and steer me in whatever direction suits you?!"
"I..." Bael starts. The hard Alpha mask slips for a fraction of a second, his face shifting. He actually looks subtly confused, his brow furrowing as if he genuinely feels wronged by my outburst.
Seeing that look makes a vicious, hateful knot tighten in my throat.
"You what?" I cut him off, spitting the words out before he can even form a sentence. "You didn’t think I would always listen to you forever, did you? You thought because I’m an Omega, because I’m pregnant, I’d just take whatever crumbs you throw at me? I dare you to touch my room. Touch it, and I’ll show you I have about the same right as you in this household!"
I am almost huffing now, my whole body shaking from how angry I am. I turn around again, determined to finally walk out, but Bael moves instantly. He reaches out and grabs my hand with both of his, his grip tight but careful.
"I’m sorry!" Bael says loudly.
I freeze.
"I... I just wanted you back in our room," Bael mutters, his eyes searching mine. He looks slightly, subtly desperate... a look I have never, ever seen on his face before. "I... didn’t mean it like that."
The sheer desperation in his voice surprises me. I stand there, my chest still heaving from anger, completely stunned that Bael just apologized. He looks so undone right now that I have to quickly look away toward the wall before my brain can even start to process it.
Silence stretches between us. Bael doesn’t let go. He is still holding my hand tightly in both of his.
"Runze," Bael says quietly.
When I don’t look back, he lifts one of his hands from where he’s holding mine and brings his palm up to my jaw. His touch is surprisingly gentle as he turns my head, forcing me to look directly into his clear gray eyes.
"Runze... I’m sorry," he says again, his voice dropping to a rough, honest whisper. "About that day too. Me coming home with someone else’s scent... I’m sorry. For telling you it wasn’t your concern... I’m sorry."
A cold shock ripples straight through me.
He is actually apologizing. Bael is apologizing about everything, face-to-face, completely sober.
For one stupid second, my chest hurts so badly I can barely breathe.
Then the anger comes roaring back to the surface, hotter and more pissed off than before.
What kind of game is he playing now? He uses me to get through his rut, breaks my body down until I can barely stand on my own feet, and then offers a neat little apology the next morning just to force me back into submission. Just to get his compliant Omega back in his bed.
It feels completely sickening.
I don’t cry. The tears burn at the back of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. It would be too pathetic.
Instead, something inside me breaks completely.
With a surge of pure rage, I bring my hands up and violently slap his hand away from my face.
*Smack.*
Bael’s hands drop to his sides, his eyes widening in genuine shock.
"Why are you apologizing?" I snap, my voice shaking with a fury I haven’t been able to let out for a month. I step right into his space, glaring straight into his shocked face. "Did you forget what I told you? I already told you it doesn’t matter anymore! I don’t care, Bael! I don’t care if you spend every night at Xue Lian’s apartment! I do NOT care!"
The shout echoes loudly against the walls.
Bael stands there, completely frozen, his mouth slightly open as my words sink in. He looks totally paralyzed, his usual Alpha authority completely failing him.
I don’t wait for him to recover. I turn around, grab the doorknob, and yank it open. I step out into the hallway, slam the heavy wooden door shut behind me with a loud crash, and walk away down the hall without looking back.
