Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
He has a guest house? It was dark last night, so I couldn’t have seen it even if I’d tried.
Now that he mentions it and has specifically told me not to go there, my attention is piqued. Curiosity is morbid, like a hungry animal demanding a piece of meat. It would’ve been better if he didn’t warn me in the first place.
“You’re not to leave the house.”
“I’m not your prisoner, Adrian.”
He raises a brow. “You are what I say you are. Titles hold little to no value and it’s up to you how you use them. If you prefer to call yourself a princess over a prisoner, by all means, do. The fact remains that you’re not allowed to step a foot outside unless escorted and with my permission.”
Did he just say escorted? “What exactly did you say you do again?”
“I didn’t say what I do.”
“Well, you should, because I’m not fully grasping these insane measures.”
He narrows his eyes on me and Ogla stares at me hard, as if I’m a petulant child whose hands she wants to smack.
“What?” I say to them both, then take a sip from my coffee. “I’m asking a genuine question. If you don’t want me to know, fine, but if you’re somehow a spy and I act against etiquette, you can only blame yourself.”
Adrian calmly places his cup of coffee on the table. “Leave, Ogla.”
I stiffen at his deceptive quietness. Maybe what I said was also considered talking back. I wasn’t snarky, though. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t.
Ogla glares at me, and even with her attitude, I’m ready to beg her to stay. I don’t want to be left alone with Adrian right now.
The door closes behind her with a finality that echoes in my chest.
The air shifts, thickening with unspoken words and tension that can be cut with a knife.
I remain completely motionless, my fingers wrapped around the cup of coffee, but I don’t dare to take a sip.
Adrian's frame becomes larger than life. He’s still sitting, yet I can almost feel his shadow looming over me like doom. “What did I say about talking back to me?”
“I didn’t mean to,” I blurt. “I was only asking.”
He stands and my spine jerks upright as he looms over me. I keep staring at the unfinished toast I left on the table, hoping that I will somehow become it or the cup of coffee or any of the utensils, just so I can escape his scrutiny.
Adrian slides both his fingers under my chin and lifts it up. I want to look away, and not solely because of the general discomfort his eyes give me. Now, they’re more concentrated, harsher, as if he’s been collecting all his disapproval with me from the moment we met until now.
“You do not disrespect me in front of the staff. You do not disrespect me. Period.”
“Okay.”
“I said to lose that fucking word.”
“Fine. All right.”
“Is that sarcasm?”
“No?”
“Why was that a question?”
“I don’t know.” All I’m certain about right now is that I want him to let me go.
The more his skin is on mine, the harder I think about the nightmare. The way his body violated mine and how I didn’t fight.
The frustration is so deep that I want to make up for it now, in real life, but even I know that if I attempt to hurt him, I’ll pay the price.
His fingers travel from my chin to my neck, eliciting shivers and goosebumps. I expect him to choke me or something, but he grips me by the shoulder, his gray eyes darkening just like in the nightmare. “Bend over.”
“W-why?”
“I said if you talk back, you’ll be punished.”
My lips part at that word. Punished. A war explodes in my chest and my thighs shake as I try to bargain, “But I didn’t mean it.”
“I don’t care. You defy me, you’re punished. It’s as simple as that.”
“I won’t do it again. I promise.”
“Unless you know your punishment, you’ll continue to do it.”
“Just give me a chance.”
“I have been lenient since last night, Lia, but you keep defying me and pushing against me.”
“No, I don’t.”
“There, a mere example. You don’t seem to understand the reality of the situation, and I’m happy to engrave it deep in your bones.”
His tone, though quiet, chills me to the deepest corner of my soul. “Adrian…please…”
“Every minute you waste of my time will be extracted from your flesh.” He grabs me by the shoulder, forcing me to stand up. I release the cup of coffee with a pained sound.
My legs shake as he pushes the chair away, its creaking sound on the floor mimicking the scratching sound on the walls of my heart.
Instead of waiting for me to do as he’s commanded, Adrian flips the tablecloth that holds all the plates and moves it away with one merciless tug. Dishes clank together and the cups of coffee spill on the material and drip on the ground.