240: The Replacement

The Replacement

There was nothing but silence. Two pairs of eyes stared at each other - one filled with confusion and anger, the other brimmed with indifference. All the while, Henry Hirogori watched on the side with an unreadable gaze.2

"Untie her."

The worker that entered the room with him nodded his head and walked toward the girl tied in the chair. When Mimi felt the tight rope on her hands loosen, she felt nothing. The darkness in her mind grew bigger; it was pushing at the edges of her skull, clouding her vision.

"Let's leave them alone for a while." There was a hint of amusement in her father's voice, but she didn't care anymore.

The door closed and there was silence in the gray little room. The ceiling light flickered, the air felt stiff.

"Little one..." Mimi could hear a deep, but soft voice call out to her. He was watching her, brows knitted.

The darkness in her heart blossomed. She hated that name. She always did.

Mimi didn't look up. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair, her entire body rigid. Finally, she lifted her gaze to stare at Shen Jue. For a second, neither said a thing. Mimi looked from Shen Jue to the floor and back again. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came.

Her throat still hurt.

"You lied to me..." She said, and Shen Jue looked at her, surprised. "You said you loved her and yet you..."

"Little one, what are you talking about?" He looked confused. It took him a while to understand her words when suddenly, his expression changed.

"Did your father tell you I killed her?" There was an unpleasant edge to his voice.

Mimi went silent, but her stare was enough to answer his question. He glanced at her and then looked away. For just a moment, he looked tired. Then as she expected, a smile bloomed on his bruised face. But he still looked incredibly handsome.

"Do you believe him?" And the mask changed again – now he bore a wide-eyed innocence. "Did you not say you believed me before? I told you...I loved your sister very much."

"Did you?" Mimi laughed coldly. "Or just like my father when she fell in love with someone else, she was no longer a prize to you?"

The thought hurt her. Shen Jue was still smiling, but there's no longer any conviction there, and she didn't know whether she was imagining it, but he looked a little paler to her now.

He sighed and stood up from the cold ground. His eyes locked with hers as he took a step toward her. Mimi felt her breath still. Shen Jue took another step toward her, but she didn't move. He stopped – he was very close to her now.

"Have I ever told you ever since I was a child I never liked to share things?"

He ran his fingers down the side of her face. It felt cold. But she didn't push him away.

"I loved your sister. I really did. But in the end, everything is replaceable."

Mimi's heart raised in her throat when she heard those words. For a moment, she swore she saw a familiar, obsessive gaze in his eyes. One he only gave her sister. Without warning, Mimi jumped to her feet, pushing the chair back – it clattered on the ground.

"Shen Jue...I'm not Emily." She said, her voice so small it was almost inaudible.

Shen Jue lowered his head and tried to smile at her, but failed. For the first time, Shen Jue failed to smile.

"I know."

He put a hand on her shoulder, then ran his fingers under her throat, applying just the slightest pressure. She flinched and tried to back away, but he held her neck firmly in place.

"Don't be afraid." His voice was soft.

But Mimi didn't bother listening to his words and tried to push him away.

"Then is that it? You killed her because she fell in love with someone else? Then you replaced your obsession with me? Is that it?!" Her voice was trembling at this point. Not of fear or grief, but rage.

Shen Jue stared at her calmly, his hand stroking the side of her neck. He looked at her with a frown, as if he was pouting.

"I told you before; I didn't kill her." His fingers played with the short strands of her hair. "But do you want to hear the truth?"

Mimi looked at him with a cold and painful stare. He smiled and leaned forward to whisper into her ear.

"When that car drove past the crosswalk, your sister..." The dazzling smile disappeared and now his lip twisted into a sneer.

Just then, a loud alarm went off, followed by flashing lights. The fingers held against the side of her neck apply pressure and before Mimi knew it, everything went black.

The last thoughts she had were of the phone call her sister said to her before her death.

'I'm sorry, Mimi. I can't do this anymore.'

Neither could she big sister...neither could she.

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