Chapter 26 DIZZINESS (Demilia’s POV)
My body was betraying me again, more than before.
The dizziness had returned in cruel waves...sharp, sudden, and deep, like someone was twisting something inside me. I pressed a hand to my stomach, trying to steady my breathing.
I wasn’t supposed to feel worse. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything at all...not fear, not pain, not the raw panic strangling my lungs.
The medicine Ethan gave me last night had eased the worst of it. But now… now the ache was creeping back, slow and vicious, as if whatever illness had threatened me before was trying to claw its way to the surface again.
I swung my legs off the bed and stood slowly, afraid I would collapse if I moved too fast.
Lena had left earlier to get information about the medicine Ethan “claimed” his chef added. She promised she would return soon. I held onto that promise like a lifeline.
I needed her by my side to keep sane, because something was wrong, with me, with Ethan.
With everything inside this mansion.
I stepped into the hallway quietly, hoping to find some water or maybe get a breath of fresh air. My palms felt clammy. My legs weak. The air too heavy.
But I froze the moment I reached the corner.
Three were strange voices,very low, urgent. Muffled...but not enough.
That was Ethan, and someone else.
“…her levels are unstable,” a man murmured. My heart jumped painfully.
That was a Doctor.
I moved closer slowly, pressing myself against the marble wall, barely daring to breathe. Their voices grew clearer. I leaned in just enough to hear words slipping through the crack of his office door.
“I told you yesterday,” the doctor said. “Her body is rejecting...”
“Keep your voice down,” Ethan snapped. The ice in his tone made me flinch.
Rejecting? Rejecting what exactly? Who? Me? The treatment? Something inside me?
I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth to keep from gasping.
My heartbeat thudded so loudly I was scared they would hear it through the door.
“It’s worsening again,” the doctor said quietly. “This morning’s scan shows increased tissue inflammation. And she fainted yesterday. That means we’re running out of time.”
My vision blurred just by hearing that. Time? Time for what exactly?
Ethan cursed under his breath...a cold, vicious sound I’d heard only when he was pushed past his limits.
“Do everything you can,” he growled.
“I already am, but she must rest. She must avoid stress. Any rise in her heart rate could trigger the next episode.” My breathing quickened, beating more than ever.
Heart rate? Episodes? Illness?
Oh God.
Was I dying?
Before I could stop myself, a soft gasp escaped me. I slapped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late. The voices went silent, turning to to my side.
Then....
“Someone’s outside,” Ethan said darkly. Footsteps started approaching immediately.
I panicked, backing away fast, but my legs wobbled. I turned to escape down the hall, but the dizziness hit me like lightning. My hand slipped on the wall.
I stumbled... And he caught me before I could land on the ground.
Strong arms wrapped around me before I hit the floor. His scent...dark, clean, infuriatingly familiar...filled my lungs. His chest was steady beneath my cheek, too steady for someone who’d just been yelling. “Demilia…” he whispered.
Every muscle in my body locked. I didn’t look up, as I couldn’t.
Not after what I’d heard. Not after hearing him talk about me like a patient he owned… or someone dying. He tightened his hold, pulling me upright gently but firmly.
“Were you spying on me?” he whispered, his breath brushing my ear.
“No,” I lied quickly. “I was...I was trying to get water.”
“Liar,” he murmured, voice dangerously soft.
I swallowed hard, not ready for any argument.
His hand slid from my waist to my arm, steadying me. The warmth of his touch spread slowly, almost soothingly...but I wasn’t fooled.
This new gentleness of his… It was wrong. Wrong because it wasn’t gentle at all.
It was control dressed in softness. He cupped my jaw lightly, forcing my face up until I met his eyes.
And oh God…
The look in them terrified me.
The Intensity, the ossession, the fear, worry wrapped in dominance.
That was a brewing storm. He studied my face, then my pupils, then my lips, then... very subtly...
my stomach. My breath caught at the way he looked at me.
He knew.
He knew something.
“What… what are you hiding from me?” I whispered, voice trembling.
Ethan’s jaw tightened, more like I had no right to ask him. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
I almost laughed. Bitterly. “Really? Because I heard...” His eyes sharpened instantly. “What exactly did you hear?”
Panic rushed through me.
“I...nothing, just voices. I wasn’t listening...”
He stepped closer. I moved back instinctively, but my back hit the wall. He lowered his head, his voice a quiet razor blade against my throat.
“Demilia. Look at me.” I forced myself to.
“What did you hear outside my office?” My throat closed that minute, unable to bring out a sound.
“I said...nothing. Just… ordinary conversation.”
He didn’t blink, not once did he blink. Then he sighed deeply, surprisingly soft.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured. “No, I’m not.”
“You are.”
His eyes softened for a fraction of a second..so fast I almost doubted it. He brushed his thumb across my cheekbone. My breath hitching in the process.
“This is why you shouldn’t wander around,” he murmured. “You’re weak.”
Weak? The word stung so badly. “Don’t call me that,” I snapped.
He paused. Then..unexpectedly... “Fine,” he said quietly. “You’re… unwell.”
I swallowed. “So you admit something’s wrong with me?”
His expression changed instantly, very dangerously.
“I admit,” he said slowly, “that you refuse to take care of yourself.”
That wasn’t an answer, but rather a deflection. A beautiful lie wrapped in a velvet tone.
I jerked away from him. “Don’t twist this on me.” His eyes flickered...hurt? Anger? Something deeper? I couldn’t tell. “Demilia,” he said softly. “Come eat.”
“I don’t want to.”
“It wasn’t a question.”
He reached for my wrist.
I yanked it away. “Stop ordering me around!”
That did it.