Punishing You.

Half an hour ago。 “How long has it been?” The blonde male with brown eyes and similar appearance asked Amara as he led her towards a seating area. Holding a chair open, he added. “Three years?” “Four.” Amara corrected as she sat down, whispering a small ‘Thank you’ towards his gesture. She waited till he had settled down in front of her before asking. “How’s life in Italy been treating you, Lorenzo?” “Wonderful actually. I wouldn’t have left if not for the fact that Grandfather wants me to assist you a little since you’ve come to your senses.” Amara chuckled at his words. Lorenzo, her older brother, always had his ways with words, just like their grandfather. But even at that, she was glad he was here. “I’m really glad you’re here, Lorenzo.” She admitted, earning a smile from her older brother. But the smile quickly faded and he said. “Can I ask a question, Amara?” She nodded. “Why…why did you keep your identity hidden from Tobias for so long?” “Is that…is that really the first thing you want to discuss in years?” Amara chuckled lightly, hoping that she could ward off the concern evident in Lorenzo’s eyes. But it didn’t waver and he looked determined in getting an answer. Sighing, she lowered her head. “Because I was stupid. I thought I could get Tobias to love me for ‘me’ and not my identity. I thought,” She paused, taking a second to think her next words through before saying it. “I thought we could build a family like what mom and dad had.” “And now?” Lorenzo’s vague question had her glancing at him. “Don’t you want to reveal your identity to him? You can save your marriage if you do so. You can have him begging-“ “No,” She interrupted, gently shaking her head. “I don’t want that. This marriage, his heart, I don’t want any of it. And I sure as hell don’t want him loving my title rather than me as a person.” Lorenzo signed and his expression became soft. “You’re really giving up, huh?” Amara smiled, genuine and childlike, one that could only ever be shown to those she truly cared about. “It’s not giving up, it’s called moving on.” Nodding, Lorenzo mused. “If you say so. That aside,” Unlocking the screen of his phone, he went to his gallery, found a picture and handed it over to Amara. “Guess who’s engaged now?” Amara gasped loudly upon seeing the beautiful woman standing beside Lorenzo in the photo. “Shut up,” She exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement. “You and Maria are engaged? When? Why didn’t I hear about this sooner?” “Two years ago. Grandfather didn’t allow us to spread the news, something about wanting to keep it low profile until the right moment. But I managed to sneak the picture out, just for you.” “Congratulations, Lorenzo.” Amara smiled, handing his phone back to him. “Thanks, Sis. But, that isn’t the only thing you’ve missed.” Saying this, Lorenzo began to recount all the events and incidents that had happened in their family for the past six years. Amara, who had been separated from them for just as long, due to her marriage with Tobias and the accident she had encountered with her parents that claimed their life and her memories, which she only just recovered a few years back, intently listened. At some point, after listening to half of the story Lorenzo had to tell, Amara couldn’t help but feel stupid. She had missed and done so many things- given up on her family, a chance to further her education and even freedom, all for a man who had threatened her for a divorce. Damn. If she had known things were going to turn out like this, she would have listened to her grandfather when he told her to divorce Tobias and return home, but she didn’t. For Tobias’s sake, she went against her grandfather and chose to stay, and look at her now. She felt like a fool, a very, very, stupid and angry fool. “Hey,” Lorenzo’s concerned voice brought her back from her thoughts and she lifted her head, meeting his worried gaze. She tried to smile to ease his worry away and all the negativity she was feeling along with it, but the latter failed to go away and she sighed. “It’s nothing, really.” “No, it isn’t.” Lorenzo disagreed when he saw how her eyes had glossed over, reaching out and placing his hand on top of hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Tell me, what’s wrong?” Amara hesitated, but after a few seconds, she admitted. “I was a fool. I should have listened to Grandfather and divorced Tobias. Then, everything wouldn’t have been a total disaster.” Lorenzo’s eyes softened. “Amara,” He whispered and got up. Seconds later, he had pulled her up and into a warm hug and caressed her hair. “It’s never too late to change the mistakes you made. And this isn’t one of them. You’re still young, you’re a genius, and most importantly, you’re a Crawford. So stop worrying about what might have been and focus on what can be.” Amara felt tears gather at the corners of her eyes as she heard her brother’s encouraging words and she nodded her head, agreeing to them. “Thank you Lorenzo.” She said and was about to hug him back when she was suddenly ripped away from her brother. She was spun around and came face to face with a fuming Tobias. “What the-,” She barely finished her words when her wrist was grabbed and she was pulled closer to a furious Tobias. “We are leaving, now.” His tone was cold, so cold that it made her blood freeze in her veins and she had to use all her will power not to flinch. She was about to pull her hand out of his grasp, but Lorenzo had her pulled her back and out of his hold. “Who the hell do you think you are, grabbing her like that.” He hissed and stood before her, shielding her from Tobias who did not look pleased by this. He stepped forward and Lorenzo had to admit how tall he was. “Her husband. It would do you well to remember that the next time you want to meet up and get physical with my wife, publicly.” Saying this, he reached forward and grabbed Amara’s hand once again. Lorenzo was about to react, but the look his sister gave him told him not to and he remained still, watching as the two headed towards the exit. As they made their way out, Amara turned back to give Lorenzo an apologetic look, mouthing the word ‘Sorry.’ Before deciding to face the situation she was in. “Let me go, Tobias.” She ordered, attempting to free her hand. “You have no right to grab me like that, especially not after all you’ve done.” “Oh, and you think your actions are any better, hmm?” He scoffed. “Slandering Celestine, posting those photos on the internet, ignoring my calls, are you asking for me to fucking punish you or what?” “You can’t punish me, you lost the right to do as soon as you demanded a divorce. Now let me go.” “So that you can go back to that man.” He chuckled. “Not a chance.” His words irritated Amara and snapped. “What the hell is your problem Tobias.” “You! Everything you’re doing nowadays is my problem and if you think I can punish you for it, you’re solely mistaking and I’m going to prove that to you.” Only after he had said this, did Amara realize that they were in front of a black Rolls Royce. Before she could question what his plan was, the door was pushed open and she was shoved inside. “Get out.” His instruction was towards Dean and the driver who were in the car, and the both of them wasted no time in hurrying out. “What are you doing?” Amara asked as sat up and saw Tobias sit on the seat beside her and slam the door close. “You said I couldn’t punish you, right?” Hearing this propelled Amara to quickly shift back and try and open the door behind her. Her eyes widened when realizing that it was locked. But she was given no time to think when she was roughly pulled into his arms and her body pressed against his. “What are you doing?” She questioned, still trying her best to put up a fight. “Proving a point.” Before she could process what he meant by this, his lips came crashing down on hers, hard, possessive and demanding. Her mind instantly became muffled by the feeling and her eyes went wide. In a second she bit his lower lip and shoved him away and before he could react, delivered a hard slap to his cheek. Wiping her lips, she glared at him. “Strike one Tobias, do it again and let’s see where that gets you.”