Chapter 29

                                    

                                          

Rhythm helped Zara with dinner, chopping onions and taking spices out of the pantry. She seemed happy, she wasn't trying to take over. But now dinner is done. She ate it alone and Zara   won't let her help clean up.
After what happened a few days back, Rhythm learned she has stay away from Humza and completely ignored him. It's the only way for her to keep her sanity. 
Humza is cruel. That's what he is. Intensely cruel and calculating and cold. Just cold. And she understood that clearly. So, she obeyed. She obeyed everything he said because she had a plan. 
Obey until you find his weakness and use it against him. 
She obeyed which meant, she shouldn't be punished. So she shouldn't be terrified of a stupid room. 
Rage, fear, and arousal danced in and out like figurines in a swiss clock. The hands go around in order and when the hammer struck, it escapes o'clock.
Step one: act obedient.
The hallway is empty. No Anthony to escort her downstairs. No suit to take a fat lip with a smile. Maybe he's starting to trust me?
She thought.
The first thing she noticed as she walked through the house is the lack of family photos. There's no collection of young Humza. No shots of men in rolled-up sleeves sharing cigars outside.
His history is mysteriously absent. 
Humza waited for her at the head of a dining table. The king gazing across his gilded kingdom. A small but fleeting smile crossed his lips. She swears it does. Like he wasn't expecting her to show up on time.
Good, let him think I'm being compliant. 
She thought.
It'll be easier to get rid of the men camping in front of her bedroom door and leave her a better chance to escape. Still not a word to say to her that isn't a fucking command, Humza pulled out the chair to his immediate right. Fat chance she will sit at his right hand. She went to the other side of the table.
Quicker than mercury spilt on a lab table, he is at her side to pull that chair out.
"You think this is charming?"
"I think you must be hungry, and these chairs are heavy."
She utterly loathes him.
"They're fucking ugly is what they are." She sat down.
In the tacky mirror over the sideboard, his mouth twisted in annoyance. Good. She hoped he stayed irritated. She hoped he decided he doesn't want to be around her ever again and then let her go because she was not worth the time or effort.
She also hoped he rot and turned hideously ugly so she don't have to stare at him anymore and questioned the stirring happening between her legs against her expressed self-commands for it to stop.
If she can't even control her virginal sex drive, how could she possibly hope to ever control this situation enough to escape?
This is precisely why She told her lizard brain to settle down.
Humza went back to the head of the table where he can sit on his throne. Does he want to be stubborn? Fine. She can be, too. 
Zara walked towards them and began serving them. 
Humza picked up his fork. It's a signal that he's ready for her to start eating.
"I understand this may be difficult for you," he said as he put down his fork. "You are young and adjusting to this lifestyle, being an obedient wife to me."