Someone Who Cares

"Don't you dare call me a witch!" Victoria snapped, her voice shaking with anger.

She may have been tied to a chair, but her mouth was not bound. She would not let this man, this person she had once loved, call her that name.

"I am not a witch," she said, her voice quivering. "How can you say that? You were my lover. My everything. You knew me, A-Z, why are you only realizing now that I am a witch? After…"

Sebastian leaned closer, his grip on her jaw tightening. "Victoria," he snarled, "I will make your life a living hell if you don't undo this spell you've cast on me."

Without thinking, Victoria spat in his face. The glob of saliva landed on his cheek and he recoiled in disgust.

For a moment, he was stunned into silence. Then he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand and his expression twisted into a mask of fury. "You filthy wench!" he spat. "You will regret what you've done!"

Victoria's heart was racing, and her body trembled with fear. She didn't know what to do. Was this really happening? Was this the man she had once loved? She had never seen him like this before. It was as if he were possessed by some kind of madness.

Sebastian had stepped away from her, and his bodyguard, Hank, stepped forward. He stood over Victoria, his eyes dark and full of malice.

"How dare you speak to my boss like that?" he said, his voice low and threatening. He reached down and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back.

Victoria's eyes widened in fear and she gritted her teeth, suppressing her yell. She would not give this man the satisfaction of hearing her plead.

"Boss," Hank said to Sebastian, "shall I deal with her?"

"Let her go!" Sebastian growled. Then, with a sudden movement, he punched Hank in the face. When he grabbed Victoria's hair, he - Sebastian felt the pain of it instead.

Hank stumbled back, falling to the ground. Sebastian stood over him, his body trembling with rage. He seemed to be in a state of utter madness.

Victoria's heart was pounding so hard she thought it might burst. She didn't know what to do. She was frozen, rooted to the spot.

Sebastian turned to look at her, his eyes filled with fury. "You have no idea what you've done," he said, his voice shaking with anger. "I have half a mind to kill you where you sit."

Victoria couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They spilled down her cheeks, and she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Please, let me go," she begged. "I've done nothing to you. I would never do anything to hurt you. We've been together for so long. I thought you knew me better than this."

Sebastian's expression did not change, but something in his eyes seemed to soften. For a moment, Victoria thought she had gotten through to him. But then he turned to his bodyguards. "Let her go," he said.

Victoria fled from the room, her sobs echoing behind her. "We are enemies now Sebastian. Never cross my path and I won't cross yours too. I would keep my feelings at bay," She muttered to herself as she walked on.

She stumbled through the hallways, barely able to see through her tears. She rushed down the stairs and out of the mansion, not stopping until she reached the edge of the property.

Then, she collapsed against a tree, weeping uncontrollably. She had no idea where she would go, definitely not home. Her family can't see her like this. Still, she knew that she had to get away from that horrible place, and the man who had betrayed her.

Meanwhile, Sebastian stood rooted at the same spot, staring at the chair Victoria was tied up to. His emotions were foggy and he just wanted to bask in them. He wanted to be alone, so he sent his guards away.

His phone's ringing broke the silence, and Sebastian snatched it up with a scowl. He thought it was his secretary, but was surprised to see it was actually a call from Connor McCall, his very good friend and best buddy.

Reluctantly, he answered the call. "Hello?" he said, trying to hide the anger in his voice.

"Seb, I'm glad I caught you," Connor said. "I've been trying to reach you for hours. Are you alright?"

Sebastian wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't want to talk about what had happened with Victoria, but he also didn't want to lie to his friend. "I'm fine," he said, not entirely convincingly.

"Just a bit busy." Connor wasn't buying it. "You don't sound fine," he said. "I know something's up. Are you sure you're alright?"

Sebastian hesitated, then decided to come clean. "I just had a confrontation with Vicky," he said, sighing heavily. "It didn't go well."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then Connor spoke, his tone serious. "What happened?"

Replying wearily, Sebastian said. "I don't know, man. I ended things with her, you know? But she's up to something new. She's playing a new game and it's driving me crazy."

Connor, on the other side of the call, exhaled heavily. "Sebastian, right from the moment you told me you broke things off with that girl, I knew things weren't going to go well." he said calmly.

Sebastian listened intently to his friend's words. Connor continued. "When you first told me that you had found a girl you could love, and when you told me about you and Victoria entering a relationship, you were so happy, man. I thought you couldn't be happier in this world."

Sebastian mused over his friend's words and then breathed loudly.

"But then things went south, didn't they? I remember that night when you called me and told me you'd broken up with her. You sounded so heartbroken that morning. It was as if all your hope had been shattered." Connor spoke.

" You wanted to propose to her didn't you? That very night of your party. You planned this a month ago, didn't you? Well, it's obvious that didn't happen."

Sebastian fell silent, lost in thought. Victoria's lavender scent that still lingered wasn't doing any good too.

Sebastian found his voice and said, in an angry tone, "But you knew what she did to me, didn't you? I wouldn't just break up with someone I cherished so much. You knew how badly she hurt me."

There was a pause, and then Connor replied immediately, "I know, I know. I know everything. You told me everything. But... but I think she's an amazing girl. I don't think it's her fault. She might not have known."

"Are you siding with her?" Sebastian said, even more enraged. "I was badly hurt, Con!"

"Of course I'm not siding with her," Connor said, his tone placating. "I just think there's more to the story than you're telling me. Anyways, I'd be coming back to town soon."

Connor changed the topic, talking about his return as he realized that the topic of Sebastian's breakup was emotionally charged and might lead to an argument.

They continued chatting for a few more minutes about themselves and laughing at their jokes before the call came to an end.

As Sebastian walked out of the room and into the Mansion's courtyard, he ran into Hank and Chester.

"Chester," Sebastian called out, "I need to pass on a message to Presley. I want him to keep a close eye on Victoria - her whereabouts, who she's with, what she's doing, and even what she's wearing. I want to know everything related to her from now on."

Sebastian muttered under his breath, "I'm going to destroy her." His words were full of anger and resentment.

.

.

.

Victoria was a mess of tangled emotions. She was angry, devastated, and heartbroken all at once. She felt betrayed by the man she had trusted, and she couldn't imagine ever forgiving him.

But as she sat there, alone in the moonlight, a small voice in the back of her mind whispered, "You know there is more to the story. You need to hear him out."

Victoria shook her head, trying to silence the voice. But it was persistent, and it wouldn't go away.

Suddenly, "Hey, Victoria. Are you okay?" Rowan's voice rang worriedly from behind her and she turned her head slowly to meet his worried eyes. She had called him over to take her away from there.

"What are you doing here by this time of the day? Didn't you go straight home from work?"

Victoria could hear the worry and gloom laced in his tone. 'Finally, someone who cares so much about me,' she thought.

Without thinking twice, she got up and ran to him, diving into a hug when she was close. His warmth was her satisfaction and his cologne though wasn't the familiar one she loved to inhale from Sebastian's body but was soothing, somewhat.