Jacob allowed the silence to stretch long after Jennie's footsteps and the remaining staffs disappeared beyond the corridors .Within the estate, life resumed itself with obedient precision distant silverware, muted footsteps, doors opening and closing carefully as though the mansion itself understood the importance of pretending nothing unpleasant had occurred here tonight.
Sophia remained exactly where she had been kneeling ,head bowed yet her back stood straight , such a beautiful sight now, unfortunately for her.
I swirled the whiskey lazily between my fingers, watching amber light curl through the crystal glass while the scent of smoke and oak lingered pleasantly in the air. Across the room, Mr. Reg stood near the windows in his usual composed silence, neither intrusive nor bothered .
Sophia's breathing had finally steadied. The tears were gone too quickly,quite a disappointment .Crying was honest,Silent pride required more effort to dismantle.
I took another slow sip before speaking at last.
"How long," he murmured, his voice smooth as dark silk through the room, "do you intend to stain my floor with your miserable self ?"
Sophia's fingers curled faintly against the marble.
"Until dismissed, Young Master."
The answer came softly, carefully stripped of emotions . Jacob tilted the whiskey glass slightly, studying the liquid instead of her.
"At least humiliation hasn't destroyed your manners."
Mr. Reg remained expressionless, though his eyes shifted briefly toward Sophia before returning forward again.She swallowed carefully, forcing her voice steady despite the rawness still scraping through it.
"If my conduct displeased you, I accept responsibility."
A soft laugh escaped my mouth .
"Do you?"
His gaze lifted to her at last.
"Because moments ago you looked very interested in placing responsibility elsewhere."
Sophia stiffened.
The memory clearly struck exactly where i intended.
Jennie.
Her apology.
Her interference.
Her pity.
Something ugly flickered briefly behind Sophia's lowered eyes before disappearing again.Jacob noticed it immediately.
"Ah," he murmured softly. "There it is."
Sophia's jaw tightened,she said nothing,quite smart .
I leaned back deeper into the chair, studying her properly now. Her shoulders remained perfectly straight despite everything. Even kneeling in disgrace, Sophia still clung desperately to elegance, as though dignity might somehow survive if she held her spine rigid enough.
How exhausting pride could be.
"You looked at Jennie strangely before she left," I said .
"I meant no disrespect."
"No," Jacob agreed softly. "You meant worse, resentment."
Sophia's jaw tightened almost immediately ,Jacob's eyes darkened with quiet amusement.
"She pitied you," he continued. "And you hated her for witnessing what you became."
Sophia lowered her head further, but not before he caught the flash of wounded fury crossing her face. It flickered there only briefly before discipline buried it again beneath obedience.
Too late.
I had already seen it.
"You know," Jacob said lightly, "I almost admire the arrogance of it."
Her breathing slowed carefully.
"To be reduced to tears on the floor and still somehow find the energy to resent another woman for showing mercy." A soft laugh escaped him.
"Remarkable."
Mr. Reg shifted subtly near the windows.
I ignored it.Jacob rose from the chair with unhurried grace, whiskey still balanced loosely between elegant fingers as he crossed the room toward Sophia. Sunshine from the window caught silver along his cufflinks, softened the sharp lines of his face into something almost gentle.
That was the cruel part.
Cruel men who looked cruel rarely frightened anyone for long.
But softness
Softness invited hope.
He stopped directly before her.
Sophia did not look up.
"Tell me," Jacob murmured, "which wounded you more?"
His voice lowered intimately.
"My punishment… or Jennie seeing it?"
Sophia remained silent.
Jacob crouched slowly before her, close enough now to see the uneven rhythm beneath her breathing, the faint redness still staining her throat, the humiliating remnants of tears she'd failed to compose away entirely.
"You may answer."
A long pause followed.
Then finally, barely above a whisper:
"Her pity."
Jacob's smile deepened.
Of course.
Of course it had.
Cruelty could be endured. Hatred could be survived. Even fear eventually hardened into instinct.
But pity?
Pity hollowed people out from the inside.
He tilted his head slightly, studying her ruined composure with open fascination.
"And yet," he said softly, "you blame the wrong person."
Sophia's fingers trembled once against her lap.
"If she had remained silent," Jacob continued, "you would've left this room with your pride intact. Bruised perhaps. Frightened certainly. But intact
His thumb brushed idly along the side of the crystal glass.
"Instead she threw herself between us like some desperate little savior."
The faintest crack appeared in Sophia's composure then.
Not grief this time.
Something uglier.
Jacob saw it immediately and smiled.
"There you are."
Sophia finally lifted her eyes to him.
Even humiliated, she still looked beautiful when she hated someone.
"She embarrassed me," she whispered.
"No," Jacob corrected gently. "I embarrassed you."
The distinction landed like a blade sliding neatly between ribs.Sophia's face paled.Jacob watched the understanding settle inside her with almost affectionate patience.
"I don't resent Miss Jennie."
"Lying immediately after punishment?" Jacob mused lightly. "Bold choice."
A faint flush of humiliation crawled beneath Sophia's skin.Mr. Reg finally spoke then, his calm voice cutting gently through the tension.
"Young Master," he said carefully, "the lesson has already been understood."
Jacob's fingers tapped once against the glass.
"Has it?"
The question lingered.
Sophia kept her head lowered but her shoulders had grown rigid again, pride fighting desperately against the weight pressing down on it.
Jacob rose smoothly from the chair.Sophia's breathing faltered immediately as his footsteps crossed the marble toward her.He stopped directly in front of where she knelt.From above, his shadow fell neatly across her bowed form.
"You know your greatest flaw?" he asked quietly.
Sophia remained silent.
"Pride without leverage."
His voice stayed calm and cold.
"You confuse endurance with importance. The estate continues functioning whether you cry, kneel, hate me, or worship me. You survive because I permit it.
Each word slid carefully into place.
Measured.
Controlled.
Merciless.
Sophia's hands clenched tighter against her skirts.Jacob crouched slowly before her then, bringing himself level enough to force her to feel the full weight of his attention.
"And yet," he continued softly, "despite understanding your position perfectly, you still looked at Jennie like you wanted to blame her for your humiliation."
Sophia's composure cracked slightly at that.Because he was right and they both knew it.
"She pitied me," Sophia whispered at last, shame and bitterness tangling together beneath the words.Jacob's expression sharpened faintly with amusement.
"Yes."
Sophia finally lifted her eyes then,red-rimmed and exhausted yet still burning .
"I would've preferred cruelty."
For the first time since Jennie left, genuine interest flickered across Jacob's face.Mr. Reg's posture shifted subtly near the windows, as though sensing the danger in the honesty Sophia had just offered.
But Jacob only smiled slowly.
"That," he said softly, "is the first intelligent thing you've said all afternoon."
Then, very calmly, he flicked the whiskey glass from his hand.Crystal glass shattered violently against the marble forming shards that were sharper than daggers .Sophia flinched instinctively.
Too late.
Several razor shards burst upward across her body with vicious speed. One sliced deep into her shoulder. Another buried itself along the soft flesh beneath her ribs. A third carved sharply across her thigh through the fabric of her dress.
A broken gasp escaped her lips, blood bloomed beautifully dark red against her grey uniform .Sophia stared downward in stunned disbelief, one trembling hand flying toward the shard lodged near her shoulder while blood slipped slowly between her fingers.
Mr. Reg inhaled sharply.
"Young Master"
"She said she preferred cruelty," Jacob interrupted mildly.
His gaze never left Sophia.
"So I corrected my mistake."
Sophia's breathing fractured unevenly now, her body trembling harder as blood stained the marble beneath her knees in delicate crimson ribbons. Tears welled again despite the violent effort she made to suppress them.Jacob reached forward then.
Not to help.
Never that.
His fingers closed carefully around the shard protruding from her shoulder before tearing it free in one smooth motion,Sophia cried out softly.The sound echoed beautifully through the room.
Jacob examined the bloodied crystal between his fingers before letting it fall carelessly beside her.
"You see," he murmured, brushing his stained thumb lightly beneath her chin until she was forced to look at him again, "this is why I find pride so tedious."
His voice remained gentle.
"People like you always confuse surviving me with resisting me."
Jacob watched the hatred tremble behind Sophia's eyes and found it almost disappointingly predictable.Pain always stripped people down eventually. Pride first. Then composure. Then the desperate illusion that suffering somehow made them noble.Blood slid slowly through Sophia's fingers where she pressed trembling hands against the wound in her shoulder. Crimson spread across the pale grey fabric gathered around her knees, staining the marble beneath her in thin elegant rivers.
Still she tried not to cry.
Still she tried to look at him with dignity.
How exhausting.
Jacob sighed softly before crouching fully in front of her once more, the movement graceful enough to resemble tenderness if one ignored the blood between them.
"You're still glaring at me," he murmured.
Sophia swallowed unevenly. "Should I thank you instead?"
Mr. Reg shifted immediately near the windows. "Sophia"
But Jacob only smile slowly
"There," he said softly. "That arrogance again."
His hand rose almost lazily before closing around the broken stem of the shattered whiskey glass lying beside her knee. Sharp crystal glimmered dark red beneath the rays of the sun.
Sophia saw it too late,Jacob's wrist flicked lightly. The shard buried itself cleanly into the side of her throat.The sound she made barely qualified as a gasp.Sophia jerked violently, both hands flying instinctively toward her neck as blood spilled instantly between her fingers in horrifying warmth. Her eyes widened not dramatically, not theatrically, but with the raw animal shock of a body suddenly realizing it had been opened.
Mr. Reg stepped forward sharply. "Young Master!"
Jacob remained perfectly calm as Sophia collapsed sideways against the marble, choking softly as blood spread beneath her cheek in thick dark ribbons. The crystal had gone deep enough to matter. Not fatal perhaps but terrifyingly close.
Exactly close enough ,Jacob rose slowly to his feet and approached her without hurry, polished shoes stopping inches from the spreading pool beneath her throat.Sophia looked up at him through wet strands of hair, trembling violently now. One hand clawed weakly at the shard lodged in her neck but fear stopped her from pulling it free.
Good.
At least survival instinct still existed beneath all that pride.Jacob crouched beside her once more and brushed her bloody damp hair away from her face with unbearable gentleness .
"You misunderstand something fundamental about tonight," he said quietly.
Sophia's breathing hitched weakly .
"I spared you."
Her eyes flickered,Jacob smiled faintly at the confusion inside them.
"Yes," he continued softly. "This entire pathetic spectacle ended far kinder than it should have."
His fingers slipped beneath her jaw, forcing her gaze fully onto him while blood continued dripping steadily across the marble.
"Do you know why?"
Sophia couldn't answer. Blood stained her lips every time she tried.
"Jennie."
The single name settled into the room like poison.
Jacob watched the hatred flare weakly through Sophia's pain and laughed under his breath.
"There she is again," he murmured almost affectionately. "The little savior ruining everything."
Sophia's body trembled harder.
"If Jennie hadn't intervened earlier," Jacob continued, voice smooth as silk, "your corpse would already be cooling beneath this floor instead of bleeding on top of it."
Mr. Reg's expression tightened faintly, though he wisely remained silent.Jacob leaned closer then, his mouth near Sophia's ear, his tone lowering into something intimate enough to become monstrous.
"So listen carefully."
His fingers curled lightly around the shard protruding from her throat ,not removing it, only reminding her how easily he could.
"The next time you bare your resentment at the wrong person…" His smile deepened faintly. "I'll have your head served beside my dinner."
Sophia went still beneath him.
Not calm.
Not composed.
Simply overtaken by the horrifying realization that he meant every word.
Jacob admired that expression for a moment longer before finally straightening again.
" Start healing quickly ," he said lightly, already turning away. "If she dies before I get back from town, put her body in the garden as manure Reg"