Bab 22: CHAPTER 22: CAN’T OPEN THE PANDORA BOX
Given a chance to ask what he wanted to know, Logan, who had been curious about many things regarding Briar, found this a perfect chance for him to do so.
Since Briar was different from the women he was used to, he needed to use a different approach. Only that way would he be able to penetrate her heart and make her his.
Since she was the first person who made him crazy to the extent of drawing such a contract, she might as well take responsibility.
Rather than the body, he wanted her body, soul, mind, and heart. Everything must belong to him wholeheartedly.
"I want to know more about your family. How you grew up, how many you are and all that. Can you share that with me?" he asked curiously.
In his mind, doing that might be the first step of conquering her.
Badum. Badum. Badum.
When Briar heard that question, her heart started pounding like crazy as her mind speedily concocted an answer.
That string of questions was deadly. If she made a single mistake, she might end up touching that Pandora's Box and she was sorry that she couldn't open it or touch it.
If she does, then everything. All of this would be gone. There was too much at stake.
As she opened her mouth to respond, she sincerely apologized inwardly towards Logan for lying to him about some of the things she was going to be answering that night. It was for everyone's benefit.
"I was born in a small village called Silos Spring, and a few hours from Ascot City." without any disdain for the place she grew up in, Briar started revealing her information to Logan for the first time.
He was capable of fishing for such information if he wanted. Since he could find it on his own, why hide it? But for what she could hide, then hide it to the very end.
"My parents gave birth to the five of us and I am the second-born child. My brother, Benjamin, is the eldest and the one who had surgery last weekend. It can be said that among my siblings, I am closer to him." Briar spoke with a genuine smile as she talked about her brother and Logan could see that the siblings were very close.
After all, it was because of this brother that Briar agreed to sign the contract. And not because of his fame or wealth. Being reminded of that, he was curious about how special this brother was for her to do that.
"Our village, just like other villages surrounding it, is patriarchal. Boys are highly favored, as a result, girls suffer a lot," with a wry smile on her face she revealed.
"It wasn't easy for me to grow up in that place, but thankfully I had a brother who protected me despite everything. And in my parents' eyes, I at least still held some value, so I was treated more nicely than others," she continued with a smile on her face.
She wasn't lying. Her parents were vampires who favor their sons and money. In her parents' view, she held so much value. She could be married off when she turns thirteen or fifteen, depending on when they feel like it.
When she turned twelve and dropped out of school, instead of waiting for her fate, she decided to work. Thanks to that decision, her parents' decision to marry her off early was pushed further. How could they let a person who could bring money to the family go to another family?
If it was another family, despite that, they would force her to another family. So, she was quite fortunate. If it hadn't happened like that, she might have lost the chance to meet Selena when she was fifteen years old a decade ago.
Who knows how many kids she would be having right now?
Maybe she would be long dead. Some so many girls perished and never missed.
Logan, listening to that story, knew pretty well that the way she was explaining it was a bit too exaggerated. She was hiding something and whatever she was hiding. His eyes narrowed as a thought emerged in his mind.
Briar, unaware that she had been caught a bit early and that Logan's interest in investigating deeper about her background had been piqued, continued to paint her family in a better picture. There was no way she wanted to be seen as someone who complained about her family.
No matter what, they still raised her, though they weren't the perfect parents the deities could have given her.
"I dropped out of school when I was twelve and started working. In villages like ours, there is no point in furthering the girl's education, so I just followed along. Thankfully, my parents were reluctant to marry me off, so I was able to work in the nearby town until Lady Selena found me."
Hearing his first wife's name appearing in the conversation, he became even more curious. When Selena brought Briar back home, she didn't explain the details of how she ended up bringing an underaged girl to become the nanny. Since she didn't want to talk about it and she had the guardianship of the girl, he didn't pressure her.
But Briar was different. She might satisfy the curiosity he had nearly forgotten about if it wasn't raised.
Talking about Selena, Briar's excitement couldn't be hidden as she revealed how her first meeting with Selena went.
She was selling in town, a bit distracted by some events which had been bothering her for a while now. Because of that distraction, she ended up getting hit by a car.
And that car happened to be owned by Selena, who apparently had traveled all the way to their place in search of a spiritualist.
The car accident became the bridge for Selena to meet with Mammy Adonai. And Mammy Adonai finding a chance for Briar to leave the village unscathed and protect her from the rising winds, which might have affected her badly at that time, whispered a few words in Selena's ears.
And the next thing that she knew was that Selena came to her house and offered her parents a lot of money. On the same day, she was sold to Selena.
Her parents gave Selena her guardianship, though, at that time, it merely looked as if Selena would be looking after her while in the city since her parents were still in the village. But only she, Selena and her family knew that she was sold on that day.
And talking about it, she didn't mind sharing that piece of news with Logan. As for Logan's dark face upon hearing the truth, she merely pretended as if she didn't see it.
Who made it seem like Selena was the perfect person in the world? If she wanted to let Logan have her in his heart, shatter that kind and perfect image from his heart. He should at least be aware that his deceased wife was more sinister than her.
Unfortunately, she still lost to her in the end.
"I was really grateful when that happened, at least if I followed Lady Selena, I can escape from my fate of being married off to some widow when I was young!" with a faint chuckle escaping her lips, she continued with her narration, "it's every child's dream back home to live in the city. It doesn't matter what kind of job we do as long as we can earn money for ourselves and our families.
So, I was pretty grateful not just to Lady Selena but to Mammy Adonai for teaching me about medicine. If I didn't know about it, then Lady Selena might have picked someone else!"
Listening to that, Logan finally found the major reason why Briar was brought back. Ever since Briar joined the family, there have been many medicinal meals on the table. It was a bit difficult to eat them in the beginning, but over time, they all got used to it.
After testing and finding no harm in them, as long as they could remain healthy, why not use them?
Besides, ever since they started eating the medicine, their health improved greatly. Until now, even after Selena's death, they still continued to take them.
At least Selena did something good there.
"Do you hate them for selling you? Or Selena for buying you?" he couldn't help but ask this question.
Most people tend to harbor hatred towards people like that, but Briar shocked him.
He looked at her with a bright smile and clear eyes devoid of any evil intent as she responded, "I never hated them!"
Of course, she hated them like crazy.
How could she not?
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone