The Villainess Gets Her Way Chapter 16

The Villainess Gets Her Way Chapter 16

Charles wasn’t going to kill Sebastian. But he wasn’t going to let him off easy either.

Beating him black and blue wasn’t enough.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room.

I said, “Let go. I have things to do.”

Charles stopped. Turned. Looked at me like I was the one who’d lost my mind.

“I’ve been gone for two months. I’m in better shape than ever. Don’t you want a taste?”

“Sebastian can’t compete with me.”

He tugged at his collar, showing off some new scars. White against his tanned skin.

He knew what I liked.

There was a scar on his chest. Right over his pec. I used to kiss it all the time.

He used to be embarrassed about it. Thought it was ugly.

Then he realized I loved it. So he stopped trying to hide them.

I kept my face neutral. “I’m a little curious. Just a look.”

We walked out the door.

And ran straight into Lucian.

Today was the day for terrible timing.

Lucian’s face went slack when he saw Charles.

Before he could say a word, Charles pulled out his gun and shot the pin off Lucian’s tie.

The pin hit the floor and spun. Lucian’s collar flew open.

The bullet had grazed his neck. A thin line of blood appeared. A few strands of hair drifted down.

I looked at the pin on the floor.

I’d given that to Lucian.

Charles noticed.

He holstered the gun. His face was blank.

“I don’t know what kind of upbringing you had, Lucian, but somewhere along the way, you forgot the

difference between right and wrong.”

“All that education, all that status, and you throw it away to do something this low.”

“Don’t stand there pretending you’re better than you are.”

Lucian’s face didn’t change. But the pin was broken on the floor.

And his hatred for Charles had just eclipsed his guilt.

Lucian said, quietly, “Everything I’ve ever done was to stand beside the Miss. No matter what title I had to

take.”

“Who are you to lecture me? I’m the Miss’s personal attendant. She gave me that pin. And you just shot it off

in front of everyone. Is that how little you respect her?”

Charles knew exactly what he was doing. Trying to turn me against him.

He smiled, cold. “Fine. Let’s see who she sides with. You or me.”

I said, “It was your fault.”

Charles: “”

His face went through about five different expressions in three seconds.

He turned his head, stiff as a board.

“You meant him, right?”

I said, “Stop being dramatic.”

I didn’t like it when people assumed they knew what I was going to do.

I was the villainess.

Being contrary was my whole personality.

Lucian’s eyes softened. He looked at me, surprised and grateful.

Charles was about to lose his mind.

Forget punishing Lucian. He needed to get me alone. Now.

He covered my eyes with his hand and steered me away.

“Stop looking at him. What’s so special about him anyway? I’ll take my clothes off later and you can look all

you want.”

He said it loud enough for the whole hallway to hear.

Lucian stood there, alone.

After a long moment, he bent down and picked up the broken pin.

When he stood up, Sebastian was stumbling out of the study, covered in fresh bruises.

“Where’d they go?”

Lucian said, “Gone.”

Sebastian didn’t chase after them. He just looked at Lucian and smiled.

“My brother’s back. Your time’s up.”

“Leave now, while you still can. If my brother has to kick you out, you won’t be in one piece.”

“You were just a placeholder anyway. A cheap substitute.”

Lucian said, calmly, “Do you think I look like Charles?”

Sebastian scoffed. “Not even close. You’re not fit to lick his boots.”

Lucian nodded. “So if I don’t look like him, and the Miss still chose me, that means she chose me for me. Not because I remind her of anyone else.”

“You keep calling me a substitute. But between the two of us, who actually looks like Charles?”

“Who’s the real substitute?”

Sebastian’s brain short–circuited. “That’s bullshit!”

Lucian said, “You have the same face. Same personality. Same background. If she wanted someone to fill Charles’s shoes, who would she pick?”

“At least I don’t have to worry about becoming irrelevant the moment Charles comes back.”

He jingled the broken pin in his palm.

“Unlike you.”

Lucian looked Sebastian in the eye and threw his words right back at him.

“Cheap substitute.”

Sebastian’s face was purple.

But he couldn’t say a word.

Because he had nothing to show for himself.

Because he still slept on the floor.