The Guardian of Secrets: And Her Deathly Pact Read Online Free

her eye, she watched him pour another drink, sensing that he hadn’t finished with her yet. How could this be happening to her? her head screamed. How could she have been so stupid to see love where there was none? She had never seen this side of Joseph, never like this. But only a blind fool could miss the hatred that shone from his eyes. His whole face had changed; it wasn’t handsome anymore. It was ugly and red, and his mouth was slack, with saliva running down the corner of his chin and onto his neck, where bones stood rigid as though to attention. She didn’t recognise this drunken man, and that made her even more afraid.
    Joseph turned to face her. She thought quickly and stood up. She was going to leave the room and the house. She would go to Mary Shields’s cottage in the village, and when she got back in the morning, she would tell her father that Joseph was not the man they thought he was. He’d be thrown out on his ear.
    “Let me pass,” she told him.
    “I didn’t say you could leave.”
    Celia’s heart pounded once again against her chest. It pounded so hard that she was afraid it would jump out or give up entirely. She tried to calm herself.
    “If this is how you really feel, Joseph, if it’s not the drink that’s talking, then I think it would be better if you packed your belongings and left. You’ve made your feelings clear, so I think you should go… I’ll tell my father to give you some money…”
    He laughed, but she continued.
    “Joseph, why did you marry me? If you hate me so much, why did you make me your wife? What did you hope to gain by it? If this is a sick joke, I want you to stop right now. Do you hear me? Right now!”
    Joseph laughed again, and more saliva dribbled down his chin. Celia wiped her tears, trying at the same time to slow her heartbeat by breathing deeply. Her legs shook, and she held on to a chair for support.
    “A joke, Celia? No, this is no joke, believe me,” Joseph grunted in reply. “I didn’t marry you because I liked you. I married this house, this farm, for the money… Your da’ sold you,” he slurred with a smile that was unrecognisable to her. “You were part of the deal. He wants to get rid of you just like I do, and to prove it, he’s giving me control of the farm because he wants out, wants to be with the woman he’s fucking in the village… Didn’t know about her, did you? He’s going to leave all this to me—not to you! So, you see, I won’t be packing my bag tonight or any other night. We’re going to stay married, you and me, till death us do part.”
    Celia’s fear was quickly replaced by anger. She didn’t know how it was possible, but love had turned to hatred in the blink of an eye.
    “You’re a liar!” she spat. “My father would never have said such a thing… You’re lying. You will never have this farm. In fact, when my father gets home, you won’t even have a bed to sleep in!”
    “Fuck off.”
    “I must have been mad… crazy. Stupid Celia Merrill—yes, that’s me—but if you’re thinking for one minute that my father or I will allow you to stay here after this, then you’re even more crazy and stupid than I am.”
    Joseph’s body swayed from side to side, and then he growled a loud dangerous sound from deep in his throat, leaving Celia once again paralysed with fear. She watched him move towards her, and her legs buckled under her. She grabbed on to the chair. He pounced, and she fell onto her back on the floor, with legs apart. She stared up at him, wondering again how such a handsome face could have turned so ugly.
    Joseph rested his foot nonchalantly on her breast and grinned. He squatted above her for a moment before throwing his weight on top of her. Celia sucked in her breath but was then unable to expel it. She screamed inside her head. Her body was going to break into tiny pieces under him.
    Joseph grabbed her hair, wrapping it around his fist. He laughed when strands broke off in his hand, and