Chapter 252: The cold one
Killian scoffed at her question, a dry, humourless laugh escaping his throat.
"Are you seriously asking me that question, Eloise?" Killian said, his tone turning bone-chillingly cold. "After everything I have done for you?"
An icy, suffocating pressure suddenly filled the vast office as Killian took a slow, imposing step towards her. His dark aura flared softly, a terrifying weight that made the air feel thin. Eloise had never seen him look at her like this before. In all the years she had known him, she had never once been afraid of Killian Ravencourt, until this exact second.
"What more could you possibly want, Eloise?" Killian drawled, his deep voice carrying a lethal, controlled edge as he stepped directly into her personal space, towering over her small frame.
Eloise backed up until her knees hit the edge of the velvet sofa.
"I convinced my own brothers to reject their fated mate," Killian spat out softly, his dark eyes locking onto hers with terrifying intensity. "Fully aware that doing so might permanently jeopardise our rights to the royal succession. I turned a completely blind eye to every single petty, malicious threat you hurled at Yuki."
"The cold room incident," Killian listed off with chilling precision, his voice a steady, relentless drumbeat. "The vicious smear campaign on the university campus forum. The wolfsbane contamination of the medicine a day before the spring festival. I even heard about the framing attempt at your birthday gala."
Eloise went completely pale, her lips parting in horror.
He knew. He knew everything. Her heart started racing. Killian sensed her panic, and his gaze remained even, although a part of him might have hoped she would deny the irrevocable truth, but she couldn’t.
"Did you honestly believe you could hide any of it from me?" Killian mocked, his eyes narrowing into deadly slits. "I handle corporate espionage and political schemers far more dangerous than you on a daily basis. I covered up every single one of your pathetic little crimes because I cared about maintaining stability, and because I quite frankly could not afford to let my brothers be destroyed when they realised just how far you would go simply because you were insecure about Yuki’s existence," he explained.
His brothers saw her not just as the girl next door, but as a precious angel, and he couldn’t take that illusion from them.
His eyes turned as cold as ice. "And I have a strong feeling those aren’t the only times you used our trust against us. I still find the drugging incident at your birthday party extraordinarily convenient, Eloise. Although I don’t have definitive proof... yet."
Killian was still speaking, but Eloise completely broke down, tears streaming down her pale cheeks as her entire body trembled violently.
"Do you... do you really see me that way?" she sobbed, clutching her hands to her chest. Even her attempt to deny it was pathetic.
Killian didn’t even blink, his expression remaining as rigid as carved marble. "Save your tears, Eloise. They might work on Kaden or Kieran, but they have zero effect on me."
He stepped forward, reaching out and grabbing her chin between his long fingers, forcing her to look straight into his cold, unforgiving eyes.
"I have always known about your deepest insecurities, Eloise," he whispered ruthlessly. "I even knew your little suicide attempt last month was perfectly timed to keep us tied to your side, even the time you faked a fever just to keep us away while you locked Yuki in the cold room." His voice turned several decibels lower.
Eloise gulped, her throat completely dry. "And despite all of that, I covered every single trace of it for you. I never cared whether you were a saint or a villain, Eloise. But hear me clearly now, because I am only going to say this once. I have a bottom line."
He tightened his grip on her chin just enough to drive the point home, his voice dropping into a dangerous, lethal register. "Never question my devotion to this family again, and never, ever attempt to harm my brothers."
"The day your petty schemes hurt them, you might see a part of me you don’t want to know." Her brain froze as the blood continued to spill over. Never in a million years did she imagine he could be this ruthless. "If I didn’t care about keeping you in our lives, I wouldn’t have wasted a single second of my time on you."
Eloise went completely stone-cold, her breath hitching as his terrifying words echoed through the silent room.
"Is that really how you see me, Killian?" she asked in a trembling, fragile voice, tears spilling over her lashes as her bottom lip quivered. "Or is she... is she also starting to affect you?"
Killian scoffed softly at her question. He released his firm grip on her chin, his long thumb reaching out to gently wipe away the stray tear clinging to the corner of her eye. In a terrifying split second, the lethal, freezing edge in his eyes melted away, replaced by an expression so smooth and tender that it felt as if the entire interrogation had been nothing more than a twisted illusion.
"Be a good girl, Eloise," he said calmly, his deep voice dropping into a low, soothing purr. "As long as you don’t cross the line, you will always have a place in my heart."
Eloise’s chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow hitches, her pulse hammering wildly against her ribs. She felt completely cornered, trapped in the crushing weight of his presence. Whenever her father had spoken in hushed tones about how cold and ruthless the eldest Ravencourt could be, she had never truly understood it, until now.
A sudden surge of panic and helpless desperation erupted inside her. With a choked cry, Eloise burst out, violently shoving his chest to push him away. She scrambled backwards towards her purse sitting on the sofa, her trembling hands wildly searching inside until her fingers latched around a small, silver-embossed dagger.
She whipped the blade out and pressed the sharp edge directly against the side of her delicate neck, drawing a thin bead of crimson blood that trickled down her skin.
"Why are you pushing me like this?!" she demanded, her bloodshot eyes staring at him through a blurred screen of fresh tears. Her voice cracked, hysterical and raw as she pressed the blade harder against her throat. "What do I have to do?! What can I possibly do for you to believe me?!"
At the sudden flash of steel and the sight of her blood, Killian’s hand moved on pure, wired instinct, a knee-jerk reaction cultivated over two decades of protecting her whenever she was in perceived danger. He reached forward to disarm her, his fingers extending to snatch the blade.
Then, abruptly, he froze halfway.
He stared at his own outstretched hand for a fraction of a second before slowly, deliberately retracting his arm. He brought his hand back to his side, resting it casually in his trouser pocket. A low, quiet chuckle escaped his throat, expanding into a smooth, dark laugh that vibrated off the soundproofed walls.
Eloise blinked through her tears, thoroughly puzzled and horrified by his reaction. "Why... why are you laughing?!" she shrieked, her hand shaking so violently the blade scraped against her collarbone.
Killian didn’t answer right away. He turned his back on her, strolling casually towards his desk as if she weren’t standing in the middle of his office holding a lethal weapon to her neck. He picked up an unopened glass bottle of spring water from the tray, unscrewed the cap with a flick of his wrist, and took a slow, deliberate sip.
Setting the bottle back down on the glass table, he turned around, a sharp, terrifying smile curling the corners of his lips as his deep blue eyes locked onto hers with absolute indifference.
"Go ahead," Killian urged, his deep voice smooth, quiet, and completely devoid of fear. "Let me see your sincerity."