Dark Romance: A Cruel Obsession

Vivian was startled by Luzia, causing her to shake and drop the fried chicken back onto the plate. “What’s wrong?”

“I suddenly feel like watching a movie; let’s go upstairs to watch one.” Luzia knew her smile was awkward, but to coax Vivian upstairs, she had to persist with her awkward grin.

Fortunately, the lighting was dim enough that Vivian didn’t notice her discomfort. “To the media room?”

“Let’s go to the room.” Luzia needed to go back to take another shower. “There’s a TV and internet in the room too.”

Vivian had no objections and went upstairs first with the fried chicken.

Luzia returned to get some cola and beer, and she sneakily glanced behind the glass door. Mare took a step forward, entering the cold moonlight, and locked eyes with Luzia through the glass door.

Luzia briefly smiled at him and, urged by Vivian, quickly took the cola and beer and went upstairs.

Vivian found the remote on the bedside table, turned on the TV, and asked Luzia, who came in with cola and beer, what movie she wanted to watch.

“We can watch some of James’ 70s movies you like so much, right?” Luzia handed Vivian the cola, placed the beer on the bedside table, and turned to open the closet.

Vivian was pleased with Luzia’s choice. As she operated the TV to select the movie she wanted to watch, she looked at Luzia’s back in confusion. “Are you going to shower? Didn’t you already do that before bed?”

Luzia’s back stiffened as she entered the bathroom. She chuckled a couple of times, masking her guilt under her smile. “I felt a bit cold after a breeze earlier. I’ll go take a hot shower.”

Vivian’s memory flashed back to the kitchen; it seemed like Luzia had come in from the yard. Vivian nodded, showing her understanding. “I’ll pause for a while and wait for you.”

Vivian meant pausing the movie.

Luzia wasn’t too focused on the movie. She closed the bathroom door behind her and said, “It’s okay. You go ahead and watch.”

After taking off her dirty clothes, she turned on the shower, and the comfortably warm water poured down on Luzia’s back. The water flowed down her slender and graceful back, gathering at her feet, mixing with the white viscous mist between her legs, and was then washed away into the drain by the water flow.

Luzia propped herself against the wall with one hand, barely supporting her weakened legs, and breathed heavily. The warm water hit her body, stimulating the abused scars with a tingling sensation.

Luzia maintained her posture with one hand against the wall and turned her head to see the mirror above the washbasin, where seven or eight long and narrow scars crisscrossed her beautifully shaped naked back. Some of the scars had settled in color, nearly healed, while others were still fresh and swollen. Under her self-inflicted rinse, the edges had started to turn white.

All these scars were from Joseph’s belt lashes.

Luzia suspected Joseph was a natural abuser, perhaps suffering from some emotional disorder. Whether in rage or passion, Joseph always exhibited suffocating violence. The furniture in their new apartment was repeatedly replaced, and Joseph’s familiar belt repeatedly broke. Several times, Luzia feared she would die in bed.

But what made Luzia feel happy was, despite her body becoming so ugly, Mare’s gaze towards her had not changed much, except for a little more pity and a little deeper love.

Luzia hugged herself, imagining that the person embracing her at that moment was Mare, and she gained the courage to continue fighting the darkness.

She didn’t know if there would be a day when she would step out of the darkness and return to Mare, but at the thought of Mare, thoughts of death couldn’t catch up with her escape.

She wanted to live, to live until the day she stepped out of the darkness and returned to Mare.

…

By the time Luzia finished her shower and came out of the bathroom, it had been 40 minutes. The movie had passed the halfway point and reached the moment of the male and female lead’s joyful reunion. The handsome male lead kissed the female lead in a fiercely racing off-road vehicle, then turned back and shot the opponent’s tire, breaking through the blockade and winning a thrilling victory.

With a flushed face from the hot water, Luzia sat next to Vivian. Vivian glanced at her, didn’t say anything, and soon focused her gaze back on the movie.

Luzia’s tense shoulders relaxed, her body slumped, and she let out a sigh, releasing her pent-up tension.

Luzia couldn’t help but speculate whether Vivian knew what had happened between her and Mare, butshe was grateful that Vivian didn’t ask anything.

As soon as a person relaxes, their nerves loosen, making them susceptible to drowsiness. One moment of drowsiness leads to falling asleep, and the next time they open their eyes, it’s already morning.

The curtains were pulled open with a “whoosh,” and the brilliant sunlight poured in from the balcony, bathing the room in warmth.

The sunlight dazzled Luzia’s eyes, and she huddled under the covers, finally turning over and facing away from the balcony.

Vivian watched her bedridden behavior all the while, unable to hold back a chuckle. She stepped forward and, tapping Luzia’s buttocks over the covers, she said, “Get up quickly, Yazmin is already waiting for us.”

“It’s Aunt Yazmin,” Luzia replied, feeling drowsy, but not forgetting to correct her address. “What time is it?”

All the guest rooms in the villa had clocks, including their room.

Vivian checked the time and said, “It’s eight fifty.”

“What?” Luzia wailed. “You’ve really changed, Vivian. Weren’t you the type who wouldn’t get up until ten?”Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.

“I’ve turned over a new leaf, haven’t I,” Vivian said. Last night, she had told Luzia about her collaboration with Shelley and her current lessons in marksmanship under Emmert.

At first, Luzia was confused when she heard about it. To be honest, she didn’t think much of Vivian’s collaboration with Shelley because it sounded unreliable. As for Emmert teaching Vivian marksmanship, she thought he was just obeying Alajos’s orders and playing around with Vivian. But now, she couldn’t help but think Vivian was serious. And if Vivian was serious, then Alajos and Emmert were serious too.

Luzia was shocked. “Are you really learning marksmanship?”

“I think I’m quite serious,” Vivian said, indicating she wasn’t joking. “I even have a gun.”

“Goodness!” Luzia couldn’t fathom it. “What made you undergo such a big change?”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through,” Vivian said, sitting down and briefly recounting her psychological journey after becoming pregnant and the attack she experienced at the spa.

It had been a long time since these events had passed, and no amount of detail could change anything. Vivian didn’t want to worry Luzia, so she skipped over the part about killing someone and focused on the fake “Emilija” and the lurking danger, cautioning Luzia to be careful around strangers and learn from her experience.

However, Luzia’s focus was clearly different from Vivian’s.

“Is Mare injured?”