Chapter 67 I Will Bite You Until You Listen

'Damn!

It slipped out.'

Carla knew that she had accidentally spat out the truth so she stood up all of a sudden, ready to make an escape. But Terence grabbed her before she had the chance to. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back to him. He locked Carla in his embrace and she couldn't move a muscle.

"Carla? Did I hear you right? Do you realize the price you will have to pay for lying to my face?"

Terence breathed heavily onto her neck. Carla felt extremely embarrassed and was raging inside. 'What do you mean by lying to your face? I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you the truth because I didn't know where to begin...'

Terence knew that Carla was trying to come up with some way to get away from him again. He loosened his grip just enough to lift her chin up to him. Without giving her any time to respond, he brought his mouth down on hers and kissed her hard on the lips.

He was angry with her that she had lied to him and wanted to punish her. Carla tried to pull away but that just made Terence tighten his grip around her waist even more. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth, exploring every corner greedily. Carla let out a small moan. Terence circled his tongue around hers, teasing and licking her lips with his. Carla's heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest. He pulled her waist even closer to him. Carla's head was spinning and she felt breathless. She parted her lips slightly and Terence nibbled them with his lips and then thrusted his tongue in her mouth again while he kissed her passionately.

Terence was lost in the passion of the kiss. He held her head back over his arm, kissing her deeply, but wanting more. Carla wanted to fight back but was overcome by a feeling of helplessness. A warm surge enveloped her. She moaned, as her body took over and writhed in pleasure pushing herself against him.

Just as quickly as the kiss came, it had ended as Terence finally felt satisfied. He released her from his embrace.

Carla sat on his lap for a moment bewildered. Her legs were shaky and she felt hot and out of breath. When she slowly opened her eyes and saw Terence's face, she blushed and lowered her head. She was rendered speechless. A heavy silence lingered between them.

Carla felt deeply ashamed and aggrieved. Tears welled in her eyes and streamed down her flushed cheeks. She slowly looked up at Terence through wet eyelashes and when Carla saw his angry face, she straightened her body, defensively. 'How dare he give me that look after what he just did!' she thought furiously.

Suddenly, she reached across and pinched Terence's arm as hard as she could. "Terence, you're such an asshole! Can't you remember anything you did from last night? You forced me to—

You! You... I don't want to continue this conversation anymore. I don't want to talk to you anymore! It's best that you just go back to your JA City as soon as possible!"

She made her hand into a fist and tried to punch him in the shoulder but Terence swiftly sidestepped and pulled her into his lap again.

Terence held her for a moment until she calmed down. He looked down at her and seeing her reddened eyes and distressed face, he realized that she wasn't making it all up. He narrowed his eyes and questioned, "Carla, are you telling me that we didn't make love last night? Instead, I forced you to do something else. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

'If that's the case, everything will make sense now. What on earth did I force her to do though?' Terence wondered, his curiosity piqued.

Carla looked away, not able to look him in the eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier this morning?" Terence's expression had softened and was replaced with a teasing smile. He gently lifted her head up in his hands and probed further, "Carla just relax. Tell me exactly what happened last night, will you? And don't leave any details out."

Carla couldn't believe this man. He was actually flirting with her in such a nasty way! She was still reeling in shock from that brutal kiss and shot him a fierce look, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. At the thought of what he made her do, a lump rose in her throat.

How could she possibly describe in detail, about how she had to endure the humiliation of being forced to jerk

himself inside his heart, 'No matter what has happened, Carla never left me once. Even if mom and dad had gone, I was never alone.

I will never be alone because I have Carla and Terence.'

Sean was emotionally and physically exhausted, so he quickly fell asleep inside Carla's arms.

Carla slowly laid him down on the bed and gently covered him with the soft blanket. Though she had been lied down for a long while, she couldn't sleep. The only sound that she heard in the suite was the steady rhythm of Sean's breathing. She tilted her head and looked outside of the window, lost in her thoughts.

It had become late in the evening and Carla was still having trouble sleeping.

She got out of bed and walked slowly to the desk.

On the hand-carved wooden desk, a black box was placed on top of it.

Under the shimmering light of the table lamp, the box seemed to glow in the dark. The cover of the box was made of glass and metal and normally, one would be able to see the contents through the glass. However, it was now covered in soot from the fire. If looked closely, the pink flower pattern could still be made out faintly under the light.

The box was from her mother's generation. After Marian was married, the box had stayed with her and was very well preserved. If it wasn't for the fire, the beautiful pattern on the outside of the box wouldn't have been burned and gone for good.

Even so, the robust material of the box had protected the contents that were saved inside of it. This was the only thing that had survived the fire.

Knowing that the box was so precious to her mother, Carla never tried to open it, not even once.

The box was hidden in her closet after their mother had passed away because she was afraid that Sean might constantly be reminded of her. He always cried when he thought of his mother.

Who would have thought that everything else was destroyed in the fire and yet this little box that was hidden away had survived? Carla had all but forgotten about it, until she found it again.

Carla took a piece of cloth and began to wipe the soot and ash residue from the box.

She recalled that her mother used to put all her important things inside. Every time she tried to touch it when she was a little girl, Marian would always refuse her and hide it in her room.

Carla ran her fair fingertip across the cover of the box. The color contrast of her finger and the box was so extreme that the shades could have represented the past and the present.

Carla's heart was shattered when she felt the coldness of the box beneath her fingertips. Tears ran down from her cheek and she finally lost it. 'Mom, I miss you so much! I hope you are at peace, ' she cried inside her heart.

Click—

The sound of a crisp metal voice was heard in the silence of the night. The box had suddenly been opened by Carla.