The CEO's Seductive Doll-Chapter 71: The Doll and Her Wound

[Warning: Slight violence is present in this Chapter. Kindly proceed with caution.]

"Love," A feminine voice cried. Her voice was slightly muffled, as if she were speaking in another room.

Evan found himself standing in front of a familiar door. It was the door leading to their old living room, the one in their old house in the poorest part of town.

The door was slightly ajar, and silver light was escaping out of it as if coaxing him to go check what was inside.

Curiosity got the best of him as he peeked through the small gaps of the door, where he saw Dolores inside.

She was standing, although her back was slightly hunched. Her hand was holding her right cheek as if she were nursing it.

"Love," Dolores repeated. "Please."

Her voice was quivering, like she was attempting to stop a sob from escaping her lips as she spoke.

It seemed like she was talking to someone, probably the person whom she was calling ’Love.’ But because of his limited sight provided by the small gap, Evan couldn’t see who it was.

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!" An angry masculine voice shouted at her. Dolores visibly winced at being shouted at. "If I knew, then I wouldn’t have thought of dating you!"

"That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you!" She reasoned it out, not even trying to hide the tears that were freely streaming down her face now. "I knew you wouldn’t—"

"You fucking liar!"

Evan gasped as Dolores was slapped across the face. The impact was so intense that she fell to the dirty floor, which was littered with cigarette butts and alcohol bottles.

"Dolores!" Evan shouted, his voice squeaky, typical of a prepubescent boy. He pushed the door open, running toward her as fast as his short legs could take him. "Are you okay?!"

Of course, she wasn’t.

Having a better view of her face, Evan could see that both her cheeks were bruised, but the left cheek’s redness was fresher than the other side.

It seemed like this was her second hit from him.

"You...!" Evan was seething as he turned to face the man.

No, he was more of a boy, probably just 17 or 18 years old, judging from his body, which looked like it was just developing to become more muscular.

But it was too late. His back had already veered around, so Evan didn’t have the chance to see his face.

"Tsk!" Her assailant clicked his tongue as he ran away from the room, slamming the door shut as he disappeared into the hallway.

"Wait...!" Evan was about to run after the boy, but Dolores grabbed his small hand.

"Evanescence!" She cried. "No, don’t follow him! He’ll hurt you, too!"

"But...!" He wanted to argue, but Dolores gave him a defeated smile.

Her eyes were red from all the crying, and her nose was clogged, dripping even, making her sound a bit nasal.

"It’s fine, Evan. It was my fault. I deserved it."

***

Evan gasped, springing up from his bed.

"What the..." He blinked, feeling disoriented by his weird dream.

The first thing he realized was that he was in his apartment bedroom and not inside his childhood home.

Just to make sure, he looked around the room and was sure this wasn’t the old and dirty living room he grew up in.

Then, the second thing he noticed was that something had trickled down his cheek.

He blinked a couple more times, and more warm droplets fell. He touched his face hesitantly and realized what it was.

Tears.

He wiped them with the back of his hand, feeling more confused than he initially did.

He steadied his breathing, which was surprisingly already labored, even though he just woke up.

"What the hell was that...?" Evan muttered before wincing because of the dryness of his lips.

It was so dehydrated, it was physically painful to move them. He wouldn’t be surprised if they were bleeding as well.

"Shit." He swore as he licked his lips, recognizing the metallic taste on his tongue. "It is."

He went out of bed and headed to the bathroom. As soon as he got in, he went to the sink and gargled. As he finished and spat, he looked up at the mirror and saw his reflection.

He looked like utter shit.

The whites of his eyes were slightly red, as if he didn’t get a wink of sleep, which was false since he had plenty last night. Truth be told, he felt more tired when he woke up compared to when he slept last night.

"I wonder why..."

He shook his head, realizing it was a futile effort to worry about this and that he should just move on and start his day. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Just as he was about to leave the bathroom, he caught something in his reflection.

A strand of silver had appeared on his head, noticeably standing out in the middle of his silky brown hair.

"Huh," Evan huffed, plucking the strand that was seemingly out of place. "It must be from the stress."

"You know," A voice spoke from behind him, startling Evan. "They say if you pluck a single strand of white hair, more of them will sprout."

"Where’d you hear that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Some Southeast Asian belief," Eternity said before motioning for him to come out of the bathroom. "Hurry, I made some food already."

Evan nodded and followed her into the hallway.

"What’s for breakfast?" He asked curiously.

The distinct scent of cinnamon welcomed him as soon as he entered the room.

"Is this what I think it is?" He tried not to sound too obvious, but his excitement was evident in his voice.

Eternity grinned, equally excited as he was, as she nodded.

"Franz buns!" She confirmed.

Franz buns were Germany’s version of cinnamon rolls—a crispy version of them, that is. By this time, Eternity had cooked enough food for Evan for her to be well aware that if there was anything Evan enjoyed as much as working overtime, it was definitely sweets.

Evan hid the childish smile that was creeping on his lips, even if he knew that Eternity was aware of how giddy he was to eat desserts for breakfast.

"Thank you for making me my favorite," Evan said, kissing Eternity on the forehead.

Eternity grinned even wider, feeling elated at being praised.

"Go wash your hands, Evan." Eternity said as she headed to the kitchen rack and took some plates.

Evan nodded and did as he was told.

His back was turned, so he didn’t see how it happened. All he knew was that he heard the high-pitched sound of glass shattering, and he spun around as quickly as he could.

There, she was already picking up the shards of the plate that were scattered all over the kitchen floor.

Evan hurriedly kneeled beside her. "Let me help you."

"No, it’s fine." She assured him as she picked up the pieces. "It’s--Ouch!"

"Eternity!" He shouted, grabbing her hand to check for her wound.

Even though Eternity had been with him for a month now, this was the first time he saw her injured. It was rather unsettling to look at her punctured skin, yet nothing was oozing out of it.

Eternity must’ve noticed his borderline expression because she pulled away from him like his touch was scalding and stood up.

"Hey--" Evan began, standing up as well.

But Eternity merely shook her head.

"It’s fine, Evan. It was my fault. I deserved it."