My Stepsister Ran From the Wedding, So My Stepmother Sold Me to the Man Who Hates Her Mother novel · Chapter 15 of 24

Chapter 15: The Empty Room

Marcello's POV

She was gone before the light came up.

I had not heard her leave the pantry.

I had slept on the kitchen bench, sitting up, with the belt coiled in my fist.

When I woke the lantern had burned out.

The brass key to the pantry lay on the flour sack with a note under it in her square hand.

Thank you for the night. Eat something.

I took it for a dismissal until I read it a second time.

Then I did not know what I took it for.

I walked down to the end of the east wing.

I had not opened the door of her room since she walked out of my gate with her sea-bag.

It was a plain room with a narrow bed, and she had made the bed.

The sundresses lay folded on the quilt in a neat stack.

On the sill, where the morning light would reach it, she had left a cold chisel.

It was the small one with the worn ash handle, the one she kept in her back pocket.

She had not forgotten it.

I stood with it in my hand for a long time.

The driver found me there at seven.

"Sir," he said from the door. "She walked to the Scalise house at five."

"And?" I said.

"She's gone on to the dock fair. I've got a man on her."

"Leave her," I said.

The driver blinked. "Sir?"

"Call him off. If she wants to be followed she'll tell me."

← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend