Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Liam's POV
Anna Miller.
I remembered now.
Elise's cousin. The last time I'd seen her was at some party—she'd stood half a step behind Elise, wearing an ill-fitting gown, her eyes constantly drifting toward our table.
I hadn't paid attention then. Those occasions were always full of social climbers trying to claw their way up. I was used to being watched by all kinds of eyes.
But now, this girl sat on the sofa three meters across from me, in this shabby bar's private room, having just heard everything.
How much had she overheard?
I didn't know. Didn't want to know.
"You're still here," I said. My voice was still hoarse, like my throat had been stuffed with sand.
Anna didn't answer. She just sat there, hands folded on her knees. The dim light fell across her face—I couldn't make out her expression clearly.
But I knew she was watching me.
With a complicated look in her eyes. Not sympathy—that would be too cheap. Not schadenfreude—at least not on the surface. More like... assessment. As if she were weighing how much my current state was worth.
Interesting.
A Miller family daughter, coming to find me at a bar, telling me her cousin was with another man. Then sitting quietly in the corner during my most pathetic moment, listening to everything from start to finish.
She definitely had an agenda.
Who didn't?
Elise had used me to get close to the Sterling family and investigate her parents' case. Isabella used the marriage alliance to seize political capital. Edwin used my marriage to consolidate family power. Even Victor—that damned uncle—was using Elise to achieve some goal I couldn't comprehend.
Everyone was using everyone else.
So what did Anna want from me? Money? Status? A patron? Or a chance to get revenge on Elise?
I didn't care anymore.
Really. Just now, in that private room, listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, something had shattered in my mind. Shattered completely. So thoroughly that I didn't want to think about anything complicated anymore.
Right now I only wanted one thing.
Something simple.
Something primal.
Something that could make me temporarily forget the sound of Elise's voice.
I stood up. My legs felt weak—the alcohol was catching up with me. But I still walked over to Anna, looking down at her from above.
She lifted her head.
At close range, I could see her face clearly now. Eyes red and swollen, makeup almost completely smudged, lips chapped. But she didn't flinch. Didn't show fear either.
She was waiting.
Waiting for me to speak first? Or waiting for me to make the first move?
"You know what I just went through," I said.
Anna nodded.
"You heard everything."
She nodded again.
"Then you should know," I leaned down, one hand braced on the sofa back beside her, trapping her between myself and the couch, "I need a woman right now."
Anna's breathing hitched.
Then she moved.
Faster than I'd expected. Her hand reached up, hooked around my neck, and her whole body pressed forward as her lips met mine.
Aggressive. Very aggressive.
Too aggressive.
Her kiss carried a desperate, hungry quality, like someone who'd been starving for a long time finally seeing food. Her tongue probed in, stirring somewhat clumsily, her teeth accidentally grazing my lip.
I didn't like this feeling.
Too eager. Too servile. Nothing like what Elise would ever be—Elise was always passive, restrained, needing me to guide her.
That thought irritated me.
I pushed Anna back slightly.
"Not like this."
Anna froze, a flash of panic crossing her eyes. "I—I—"
"Use your mouth."
When those words left my lips, my tone was so calm it surprised even me. No hesitation. No guilt. As natural as ordering a drink.
Anna stared at me for two seconds.
Then she knelt down.
She wasn't particularly good at it.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was the feeling. That sense of being serviced, of controlling everything, of being able to use another person as a tool. It filled that enormous void inside me—even if only for an instant.
I closed my eyes, but my mind went blank.
I didn't think about Elise. Didn't think about Victor. Didn't think about anything.
Only the physiological pleasure spreading from my lower abdomen, briefly numbing all my nerves.
It was over.
I opened my eyes, pulled out several bills from my wallet, and tossed them on the sofa.
"Leave."
Anna was still kneeling on the floor. She looked up at me, the traces at the corner of her mouth not yet wiped away. The expression on that face changed in an instant—from submission to shock, from shock to anger, finally settling into a twisted smile.
"That's it?"
Her voice turned shrill.
"The Sterling family's young master tosses me a few bills and dismisses me?" Anna stood up, wiped the corner of her mouth, and let out a cold laugh. "What do you think you're doing? Hiring a prostitute?"
I didn't speak.
"You're pathetic." Anna took a step forward, tilting her face up to look at me, a nearly manic light in her eyes. "For a woman who doesn't love you, you've reduced yourself to this state. Hiding in a private room crying. Listening to her sleep with someone else while getting yourself off. Then finding a substitute to vent on—"
"Enough."
"You didn't even dare touch me." Anna's laugh grew louder, echoing in the cramped private room. "Because you're afraid, aren't you? Afraid that if you touch me, you'll never be able to forget her? Or are you just impotent?"