The tea in Senior Mrs. Colburn's porcelain cup didn't even have a chance to cool before the door was thrown open.
There was no knock or announcement from the butler~only the desperate breathing of someone who had finally reached their breaking point.
Victoria's fork paused mid-air as she frowned at the disheveled sight of the woman in the doorway. "What are you doing here, Brianna?"
Senior Mrs. Colburn set her cup down and finally looked. Her pupils contracted when Brianna fell to floor, grabbing the older woman's ankle.
Brianna whispered. "Please,"
"Help me."
Senior Mrs. Colburn wasn't sitting regally; her hands were trembling under the table as she looked at the woman on the floor. The sight didn't just make her angry, she was terrified.
She had received the news from the hospital too.
Lucian was back from the dead and she couldn't explain how. The doctors and nurses who had been paid to ensure he never woke up had quit their jobs and fled the country.
If Brianna thought a Colburn matriarch would sacrifice herself for a failed assassin, she was truly mad!
"I want nothing to do with you again, Brianna," Senior Mrs Colburn only felt the need to distance herself from the crime.
"Leave my house. Now."
Brianna looked up with wet eyes. "You told me once that the Colburns protect their own," She gripped the fabric of the older woman's dress as if it were a life raft.
"I am asking you to prove it. Help me... and I will owe you my life."
"Your life was never in your hands the moment those devilish eyes opened, Brianna." Senior Mrs Colburn leaned down, her breath smelling of bitter tea.
"If you want my help, I'll be glad to help you pull the trigger... but only if the barrel is pointed at your own skull. At least that way, the Colburns are clean."
Brianna's eyes widened in disbelief. "You were the one who told me he had to go!"
"I told you nothing. And if you ever say otherwise, Lucian won't be the only one you have to fear. Now, get up. You're ruining my expensive silk."
"You know you killed him as much as I did!"
Senior Mrs. Colburn recoiled as if she'd been slapped. "Since there's no evidence supporting your accusations... perhaps you should consider that a madwoman's words carry no weight in the court-ro~"
The door flung open with force, cutting Senior Mrs Colburn mid sentence.
When Keenan saw Brianna on the floor, his heart weakened. He rushed to her side, dropping to his knees and wrapping a protective arm over her shaking shoulders.
"Brianna? What are you doing?"
He hadn't seen her since she'd left him standing like a fool at the Civil Affairs Bureau days ago.
Seeing her like this, he could only think of one reason for her desperation: She was here to beg for a place by his side, terrified that Lucian's return would tear them apart.
"Grandmother, what did you say to her?" Keenan demanded.
Senior Mrs Colburn just looked at her grandson with a chilling pity of her own.
"Get away from her, Keenan." Victoria snapped, stepping forward to grab her son's arm. "Don't involve yourself in something too big for you to understand."
Keenan's grip tightened on Brianna. "I'm not letting her go! She's my fiancée! I don't care if Lucian is back~she came here to be with me!"
"She didn't come here for you, you fool. She came here because she's looking for someone to hang onto while she falls. And my own son will not be her scapegoat!"
Ignoring his mother, Keenan leaned closer. "Brianna? Hey... look at me. I'm not going to abandon you. I don't care what they say."
Victoria was on the verge of losing her mind! She couldn't afford Lucian going after her only heir. She pulled him further with every ounce of strength she had left.
"You foolish child! I'm not letting you dig your own grave because of this cursed woman!"
The mother and son struggled back and forth, making Brianna's vision sway as she realized she really was alone in this. Wasting time in this house wasn't going to magically help her situation.
So she rose on her feet, her head downward as she walked away.
"Brianna," Keenan whispered after her, his mother still holding him back as he watched her leave.
"Good. Let her go. This is her problem, not ours."
Senior Mrs Colburn finally breath out the air she had been holding. "Vicky, call the shaman to come cleanse whatever badluck she brought in here."
...
Meanwhile, as Brianna walked to her car, she couldn't stop her brain from thinking of the worse possible ways Lucian was going to deal with her.
Brianna sniffed. She had been a fool to trust a Colburn.
"Auntie—I mean, baby, wait!"
When she didn't turn, Keenan caught up to her, spinning her around. His face was full of pity~the one thing Brianna hated more than death.
"I'm so sorry." He panted.
"My mother... they're just scared. People exaggerate, Brianna. They always do. My uncle is just a man. He's not a god."
Brianna looked up at him through wet, blurry eyes. He was talking about a "man," while she was facing a "Demon."
Her voice came out dead. "You don't know what power is."
"I can learn," Keenan said desperately, trying to be the hero he wasn't built to be.
"I can protect you."
Brianna looked at him. She realized that his innocence was actually a danger to her. If he tries to "help," he will only get in Lucian's way and make the "Demon" angrier.
In other to keep him breathing, she turned away from him without another word, and this time he didn't follow her.
When she entered her car, she slumped over the steering wheel, her forehead resting on the cold leather.
Her life was over.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
She pulled her phone from her pocket with shaking fingers, bringing it under her face on the steering wheel.
[St. Jude Medical Consultant: Your husband has requested your presence. Please confirm when you'll arrive.]