A MAZE OF GREED

Edwin listened to Ruth's wildly beating heart and how her pupils dilated at his sight. Her lips were slightly parted as if breathing through only her nose was not enough.

He liked her reaction very much!

"Oh my God! Mr Berrycloth, you look so handsome! I am sure any woman would fall at your feet if you just look in her way. Is not that right Ruth?" Mrs Green purposefully turned to Ruth.

But Ruth was so lost in devouring the beautiful sight in front of her, that she did not realise every pair of eyes present turned to her way.

Thea elbowed her side to break her gaze at Edwin.

"Erm... sorry... what?" She fumbled after getting caught off-guard.

"Mrs Green was asking if you find Mr Berrycloth handsome or not? I mean in this attire!" She added quickly after Mr Welby cleared his throat. But she shared the same excitement as Mrs Green.

Ruth flushed at that question. She fidgeted with her fingers, and while avoiding looking at Edwin, she only nodded her head slowly.

"I am glad to know that Miss Moore!"

His deep voice made the hair on her body stand up as her blush intensified.

"So now that Mr Berrycloth's dress has been finalised, it is now Ruth's turn." Thea announced.

Ruth suddenly became nervous. She knew every person present there very well and was comfortable with them except the one, who was still looking at her.

But wearing dresses and showing them to these people made her nervous. Ruth was not used to the attention of many people.

She wished she had confidence like the blue-eyed monster. Then maybe she would have been saved from half of her embarrassing moments in life.

Thea waited outside the booth while Ruth changed inside. While the elders discussed the wedding, Rees could hear his Master's anticipation as his eyes kept darting towards the closed booth.

~"Master... pardon me but your heart is beating loudly."~

~"Then close your ears."~ Edwin replied through the mind link in irritation.

What was taking her so long?

Rees cleared his throat. ~"I would, but what about him?"~

Edwin moved his head with a frown to see who Rees was pointing at. His frown disappeared instantly when his eyes met with Mr Welby's.

The curtain was opened, and Ruth stepped out with a pastel pink dress on her body. The dress was simple, with stones studded on the waistline and with long sleeves.

While everyone discussed how beautiful she looked, her eyes betrayed to meet the cerulean blue ones.

That dress looked good on Ruth, but it did not satisfy Edwin's taste. She subtly shook her head with uncertainty, and maybe a little disappointment flashed in her hazel eyes.

"This dress looks good, Ruth." Mrs Green said, and Mr Green agreed.

Ruth bit the inside of her cheek. She stole another glance in Edwin's way to see the corners of his mouth drawn downwards.

He did not like it!

Should his opinion bother her?

"I... I do not find these sleeves comfortable." She said in a low voice.

Thea was about to protest but then saw Rees shaking his head to stop her. He quirked up his brows in Edwin's direction. Thea's face morphed in realisation, and a small smile crept her lips.

"You are right Ruth! Why do not you try the next one?"

Sighing in relief, Ruth took the next green dress, and after ten minutes, she stood again in front of them in it. The ladies made her twirl around a couple of times as they discussed how it looked.

Ruth's eyes again found Edwin's, and again they were not satisfied. Sighing, she made another excuse and cancelled that green dress.

The same cycle repeated two more times, and at the end of it, Ruth was more irritated with that man's taste than tired.

While wearing the last dress that Thea had chosen for her, she grumbled under her breath, cursing Edwin. Outside the changing booth, Edwin smiled inwardly, hearing her blabbering clearly with his werewolf power.

Ruth decided to go for this dress, irrespective of his opinion. She was tired and hungry. Besides, she did not like wasting everybody's time because of her. And Edwin decided to reject this one too, just to annoy Ruth further. He enjoyed it when she got angry.

She became a different person when she got angry, and that was interesting for him.

Inhaling a long breath, Ruth relaxed her shoulders. Opening the curtain, she stepped outside, and everyone gasped in astonishment.

Ruth turned nervous again and panicked. Was she looking that bad? But, She thought the dress was beautiful, and it really suited her. But the reactions she got from everyone said otherwise.

She was about to run inside the booth again when she heard Mrs Green.

"Ruth... you... you look..."

"Beautiful!" Mrs Welby filled in the blanks.

Thea's excited and happy shriek brought everyone back to their senses, and the ladies surrounded her, looking at the details of the dress.

The light blue coloured floor-length dress was sleeveless with a heavy stone, and embroidery work on the bust was extended a little down of the waistline. Its circular neckline was untraditionally semi-transparent. It looked like a waterfall and, Ruth with her toffee brown hair and hazel eyes looked nothing less than a goddess.

Ruth's eyes met with Edwin's and, the blush crept on her face at the intense look in his eyes. He was not smiling, neither did he nod his head in approval. The way his eyes roamed all over her form felt like it were his hands moving on her body as if they were worshipping it.

Suddenly her heart swelled with joy, for she knew he liked the dress and the best part?- It matched with the colour of his cerulean blue eyes.

*

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*

Theodora was waiting for Augustus's return. He went after telling her he would be back by the morning. But he did not. The morning turned into the afternoon, which then passed into the evening.

"My Lady, Lord Augsutus is here." A servant informed her at the late hour of the evening.

Her heart was relieved as her feet marched hurriedly towards his chamber.

Opening the door, she sighed and ran to hug him from behind.

"Oh, darling! You worried me! Where were you? You was supposed to be back in the morning. Then what-"

She paused as he loosened her hands around him. Stepping ahead and away from her, he did not turn towards her.

Frowning, Theodora studied him and his mood. It was definitely not good, but why- she wanted to know.

"What happened Augustus?"

He did not say anything.

"Augustus, I am ask-" Words died in her throat as she stepped ahead to look at him, but she had not expected to see him that way.

Although his clothes were clean and neat, his body was dirty with dried mud. His hair, face, hands everything was dirty as if he was rolling in a puddle of mud.

"Augustus! What is this? What happened?" She demanded.

Augustus's dim grey eyes met hers. "Nothing." It was his curt reply.

"I refuse to believe that it is nothing. Tell me right now! What happened to you? Where were you?" Theodora was not ready to give up.

His jaw ticked in irritation. But he tried maintaining his calm.

"I said it is nothing." His voice came a little harsher.

"Then what are these stains and... look at your hands. What are these bruises?" Theodora's mind was drawing numerous probabilities, and none of them felt comfortable to her.

She had that same strange feeling from a few weeks ago before Edwin came back in 'the great manor' from the dungeons of the old building. She did not want Augustus to go, and she requested so. But he did not listen.

He did not even tell her where he was going and why. If he would have been in a trouble, then where she could search for him?

"I want to be alone. We will talk later." Augustus finally said dismissively.

Theodora had enough of this. She did not like how he acted unaffected and used such a harsh tone at her.

He was acting strangely for the last four days. Her instincts warned her, that he was hiding something from her. All these years, she had successfully unearthed his deepest darkest secrets with his own shovel.

Then what made this time differently?

Augustus turned around to leave for the washroom. He wanted to wash both his body and mind. The memories and the consequent thoughts made him upset. And his wife bugging him with her bunch of questions worsened his mood.

He paused when Theodora held onto his hand.

"You are not going anywhere till you answer all of my questions first." She declared.

Augustus's eyes hardened in anger only to turn darker in colour. Within a blink of an eye, he had her same hand twisted in a painful way that had stopped him.

"Do not forget that I am your husband, Theodora or else I will foget that you are my wife!"

Theodora was beyond shocked. This man looking at her in anger was nothing like the husband she was living with for years, and yet he was the same animal that she had known all this time!