Captivation Want Nothing But You by Adolf Dunne
Stay Awake, Rachel It was hard to believe that such a traumatizing event had happened only an hour
ago. And it had all started with a Maybach driving from the airport to the Sullivan Group. Victor was
returning home from the Lerestin after dealing with a defect in one of the Sullivan Group’s investment
projects.
Ivan was sitting in the passenger seat beside the driver. Every now and then he’d glance at the rearview
mirror to look at Victor. The interior of the car was dark, owing to the special film covering the windows.
Victor had his head tilted back against the headrest of the seat.
His eyes were closed, and he had one hand resting against his temple. His long, dark eyelashes nearly
brushed the ridges of his cheeks, and very nearly blended into the dark rings under his eyes. He was
exhausted. These past few days had been tough and he’d barely gotten any sleep. But even in his
fatigued state, he still looked classy and well put together. Ivan turned his gaze out the window. They
weren’t that far from the Sullivan Group now.
If Ivan was estimating correctly, they were about halfway. The driver slowed and stopped at a red traffic
light. From here, Ivan could see crowds milling about in front of them. “What are they doing?” he asked
curiously. The driver followed the line of Ivan’s stare. He gave a nod and said, “It’s the opening ceremony
for the food festival.
Usually, it’s held in the Western District, but this year it’s being held in the Eastern District.” Ivan knew the
food festival was an annual event held in Apliaria. It had been happening for as long as he could
remember. But such things didn’t interest him. He wasn’t a foodie, and usually just stayed away from the
busy crowds. As he was about to look away, he suddenly saw someone he recognized out the corner of
his eye. Ivan’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
He blinked, then looked back at the woman. Sure enough, it was Rachel; just as he’d thought. From what
he could tell, she was standing on the side of the road talking to someone on the phone. Ivan looked
back at Victor and chewed nervously on his lip. He didn’t know if he should wake him and tell him that
Rachel was standing right across the street from them.
Before he could even make a decision, Victor slowly opened his eyes. “What?” he asked in a grumbling,
sleep-fogged voice. It appeared as if the weight of Ivan’s stare had woken him. “Mr. Sullivan,” Ivan said
and then hesitated. He stared at Victor for a moment then continued, “I… I saw Miss Bennet.”
Victor stared at him almost blankly before he said, “Okay.” As he spoke, a cold look came over his face
that suggested he had no interest in what Rachel was doing. Ivan turned around awkwardly and stared
out the window again. It had been the wrong decision to say anything. Victor settled back into his seat
and turned his head so he could look out the window. He could see Rachel standing there, like just
another person on the street.
Only she stood out from the rest of the crowd. Well, to him anyway. He had to wonder who she was on
the phone to. She was smiling so gently and happily. It made her face seem soft, innocent… Different
from when she’d been with him. She’d always looked angry and aggressive. The red light flickered off
and the green light came on. The driver put the car into gear and started off along the road again. Victor
kept his cold eyes glued to the window, but his expression was relaxed and indifferent.
He closed his eyes and was about to look away. Suddenly, a car horn blared shrilly over the sounds of
traffic. Victor turned his attention back out the window, just in time to see Rachel had been swept up by
the crowds and was being pushed into on-coming traffic. The warning hoot had come from the truck that
was barreling straight towards her, Victor’s eyes widened.
Ivan raised his head and turned his attention to the scene unfolding before him. His face went pale with
horror. He whipped around in his seat to look at Victor. “Mr. Sullivan…” But Victor wasn’t there. The
backseat was empty. Ivan hadn’t even noticed that he’d got out the car. The sound of squealing brakes
brought him back to his senses. He blinked rapidly and looked out the window in time to see Victor scoop
Rachel into his arms and roll her along the ground to safely.
The truck managed to stop; right where Rachel had been standing. If Victor had been one second too
slow, the truck would have hit her. Ivan threw the car door open and hurried to them. Victor was holding
Rachel cradled in his arms, gently brushing her hair out her face, and off the bleeding patch on her
forehead.
As they’d rolled, she’d hit her head hard enough on a loose stone that she was now unconscious. “Do
you know who was driving that truck?” Victor suddenly asked, pulling himself out the memories of the
accident. “Yes. The truck driver’s name is Tripp Miller. He’s a delivery man for the frozen seafood
industry. I believe he was delivering equipment. I’ve cross-examined his bank account and his
background.
There is nothing there that suggests he has anything to do with Miss Bennet,” Ivan said, carefully
recounting all the information he’d found out. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip before he carefully
asked his next question, “Mr. Sullivan, you don’t think this was an accident, do you?”
Victor stayed silent. He narrowed his eyes as his expression darkened. He didn’t look up from Rachel’s
passive face. He kept his gaze carefully trained on her ashen features, reliving the feeling of her slowly
losing consciousness in his arms. He remembered what the wound on her forehead had looked like
before it was patched up: deep, gaping and seeping blood down her face and into her hair.
She’d been pale from both pain and shock. As they’d rolled away from the truck, Victor had heard her
mutter, “It hurts…” Her blood was striking against his white shirt. Almost accusing in a way. When he
realized she was going to faint, he had gripped her face in his hands to force her to look at him.
Panic had nearly choked him as he watched the light slowly leaving her eyes. He was so terrified that
she would never wake up again if she dropped into unconsciousness. “Rachel, stay awake. I swear, if
you don’t, I’ll send your damn maid to Crown Club immediately. Do you hear me?”
He gripped at her hand, trying to impress his will onto her. He held her tightly, hoping the pressure would
help to keep her awake. The force of his grip was so great that her delicate white skin immediately began
to go red and bruise. Rachel tried her hardest to stay awake. Her eyes kept fluttering and she looked like
she wanted to speak…
But in the end she lost to the darkness of unconsciousness.
Now, sitting in this hospital ward looking down at her prone from, Victor felt uncontrollable feelings for
her. What scared him most was the fact that they were growing “Ivan, send someone to keep an eye on
that driver,” Victor said sternly, a slight frown playing at the corners of his mouth. “Yes, sir,” Ivan replied.
As he dipped his head obediently, he glanced down at the wound on Victor’s hand. “Mr. Sullivan,” he said
worriedly, “you’re hurt.
Let me get the nurse for you.” Victor looked at the broken skin on the back of his hand and said nothing.
But he didn’t refuse either. He just fixed his cold eyes back on Rachel’s impassive face. Back at the
Sullivan family’s house, in the living room up on the second floor, Maria was busy treating herself. She
was sitting comfortably on one of the sofas while a beautician gave her a delicate manicure.
There was a knock at the door. It was the butler. He stepped into the room, followed by another man.
The other man was dressed all in black, with a cap on his head that was low enough to cover his eyes.
Maria looked up when the man entered. She pulled her hand away from the beautician and sat up
straight. “You may leave now,” she said to the beautician. The beautician took one look between Maria
and the man and immediately understood. She hurriedly packed all her tools back into her manicure kit,
stood, and walked towards the
door. But as she passed by the man, she accidently caught a peak of the man’s eyes under the brim of
his cap.
A pang of shock chased through her body, and she stopped. But only for a moment before she shook her
head and nearly ran out the room. “I thought I told you to keep an eye on her. What are you doing here?”
Maria asked as she looked lazily up at the man.
He had a deep scar that started between his eyebrows and slanted down over his right eye, intersecting
it almost perfectly through the middle. But the most eye-catching feature of all was the eye itself; it was
totally white.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda