Chapter 17 a Lie Covered Another

He truly has a pair of good eyes. Susan thought, but how creepy it was!

Susan sighed in her heart and said:

"It got dirty, so I changed it."

"How?" Shadow demanded the details.

Why the Hell Would he care?

But Susan knew she had to answer, or Shadow would find the answer himself.

"On the street, it got wet by accident. It's disgusting that someone threw wet clothe at the crowd," Susan told a lie.

Technically, a half-lie.

Some cloth did get wet, but it was not her dress but the Duke's cloak. She already got confirmed from Daniel.

Susan learned how to lie from Ella. Ella grew up on Frame Street and was a master at it. For a lie to be credible, it should be a mixture of 30% facts and 70% made up to sound as if it were true.

This tip will usually work for most people, but not Shadow. Shadow was not a person who easily believed anything.

"Show me the dress," the Shadow said.

"Really?" Susan couldn't help but cry out in low:

"Why, it's just a dress, got dirty. I changed it. What's the big deal?".

When Shadow saw Susan was not moving, he went straight to Susan's storage chest and found the dress on the top.

Within seconds, he saw the torn button of the dress. He pointed to the damage and asked in a cold voice, "What's this?"

"I ran into a beggar and got torn, but I got away," Susan explained at random.

The room temperature seemed to drop suddenly, and the oil lamp's flame jumped a few times, almost extinguished by the sudden cold wind.

Susan felt cold. She folded her arms, hugged herself, and looked out the window, wondering if the window wasn't closed properly.

Then, Shadow dropped her dress and walked toward Susan. Susan almost thought she had done something wrong, and this guy was going to beat her.

Shadow grabbed Susan's arm and pulled up her sleeve without a second thought.

"What are you doing?"

Susan tried to pull her arm back but found Shadow's hand like iron pliers.

"Don't move." Shadow's voice was icy but contained something else Susan could not tell. She saw him hold her arm to the oil lamp flame to check, carefully and gently. After a while, Susan finally realized he was trying to find the marks of scratches or bruises.

"I am fine." Susan felt a little guilty. It looked as if Shadow had misunderstood her lie. He seemed to think she had suffered something other than just having her dress torn by the beggar.

That was technically true, and she did suffer something from the Duke. But the Duke wouldn't leave some marks on her body. Even if he did, it was not on the arm.

Thinking about what happened in that secret room, Susan felt shame. Her body was covered by a hot wave and then cold again.

Gods, stop thinking about the Duke.

"I am fine," Susan said louder.

Shadow ignored her. After finishing checking her arm, he pulled her shoulders toward him, turned her back around, and tried to open her collar to check.

Susan grabbed her collar cry: stop, stop, stop!

Susan's face turned red with rage:

"What are you doing! "

It's sexual harassment!

"I am enough! Why does everyone in this damn world think he has the right to open my dress and check my body? What's wrong with you! "

"Everyone?" Shadow didn't miss the key part.

She was too angry, and the words just slipped out of her mouth.

"Just you!" Susan fixed it quickly.

Shadow let go of Susan and stared at her, asking:

"Did the beggar touch you? Your dress was torn, did he touch you anywhere else?"

Susan stared at him incredibly:" what do you mean anywhere else?" she finally understood," Are you asking if I was raped?"

Shadow's silence was tantamount to saying yes.

What the...

Susan took a deep breath and tried her best to use a calm voice:" I wasn't. I ran away immediately."

"Really?" Shadow asked, standing before her, looking down at her.

Gods help me. Why does the thing go in a weird direction?

Susan found she had to cover a lie with another one. And she was very sure if Shadow kept asking for the details, he would find out the truth in the end.

And she realized this was her fault. She lied first, and then she should finish it. Shadow must stop asking for the details.

Susan's heart was beating fast. She tried to keep the angry feelings and said petulantly :

"Or what? You'd be happy if I were raped? Am I that useless to you? Stupid enough to get raped for a walk? "

It's ridiculous, Susan thought, she spoke like a stupid little girl. But she had to.

Shadow was silent again. Susan thought he must be thinking about how much of her words were true.

Please stop asking and let it go. Susan praied in her mind.

Then, Gods answered Susan's prayer. Shadow stopped asking.

Susan released a tiny breath, then suddenly realized somehow she was already in an awkward position.