Chapter 10 The morning After
The next morning came, and Heaven hadn’t caught a single breath of sleep.
Her eyes burned from crying, but her heart was numb. She had chosen to stay locked up inside her room to avoid them crossing paths.
As if her brother-in-law hadn’t seen her body.
As if she hadn’t let him take what should never have been his.
Was this infidelity?
Her gaze fell on the black card lying on the nightstand, a silent payment for her virginity.
She wasn’t a schemer. She wasn't a whore.She wasn’t trying to climb the Richard family ladder, but he would never believe that. She wouldn’t blame him either, he had heard what her mother told her, and she had opened her legs for him without stopping him.
To him, she was nothing more than a mistake, a moment of weakness to be bought off.
A tear slid down her cheek. She wanted to pretend last night never happened, but the ache between her thighs reminded her of the line she could never uncross.
A knock came at the door.
“Young madam, your presence is needed in the dining,” a maid announced.
Heaven cleared her throat, forcing steadiness into her voice.
“Okay.”
\~~~~~~~
Heaven got dressed and went towards the dining area.
She moved slowly, each step careful, forcing her walk to seem normal.
Her pulse raced when she heard the maids greet.
“Second Master,” the maids greeted.
Heaven froze.
Maverick.
He brushed past her like she was invisible, his shoulder barely missing hers, his scent a cruel reminder of the night before.
At the dining table, the family was complete. General Richard had returned. Mrs. Richard sat rigid and regal, and across her Maverick, his expression cold and unreadable.
The house that had been silent for weeks, now felt alive again, though the air was heavy with unspoken things.
Heaven greeted them politely and took her seat.
No one spoke at first. The clinking of cutlery sounded too loud.
She forced herself to eat, though her stomach twisted with shame and guilt, just beside her sat the sin she wanted to forget.
“When did you get back from base?” Mrs. Richard finally asked her son.
“Last night,” he answered curtly.
General Richard’s deep voice broke the tense quiet.
“How are you adjusting to your new position?”
“Quite well, sir,” Maverick replied formal, distant. Were they not father and son? Heaven wondered.
It was her first breakfast with the family since she came here, and the air felt thick, almost suffocating.
Then, General Richard’s gaze shifted to her.
“Heaven.”
She was startled. “Y-yes, sir?” She answered unsure of how to address him.
“Unfortunate things happened after you joined this family,” he said, his tone softening. “But there’s a way we welcome new members.”
A maid stepped forward, holding a silver tray. On it lay a red packet.
“That’s for you.”
Heaven bowed slightly. “Thank you, sir.”
“Is there anything you need?” he asked.
Her heart hesitated. She had been trapped inside these walls for a month mourning. She longed for air, for anything that felt alive.
“I… I would like to visit my parents,” she said quietly.
The General nodded.
“Granted. The driver will take you.”
But Mrs. Richard’s spoon clattered softly against her plate. Her head lifted, eyes sharp.
“Sylvester, she’s in mourning. She can’t go out yet.”
“She’s completed her one-week isolation,” the General replied calmly. “She’s free to go out.”
The matriarch’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing more. Heaven felt her stare cold and disapproving baring into her skin.
She knew she had just stepped onto dangerous ground.
Maverick’s chair scraped back suddenly. He stood, his face unreadable.
He nodded at his parents with practiced composure and walked away without a glance at Heaven.
The moment he left, the silence grew heavier than before.
\~~~~~~~~~
Maverick drove straight to the base, the wind in his face doing little to clear his mind. Guilt and heat pulsed in him like fever. When he came out from the bathroom she had left, only the faint stain on the bed.
Maverick’s head was a mess. He couldn’t stay to the end of the breakfast.
The night before replayed in flashes, his loss of control. He spent the rest of the night in the cold shower trying to calm himself.
He had to figure out how that damn drink got spiked and ended up in Boyle’s fridge.
The morning sun was already brutal, the platoon boys were running drills, their shirtless bodies slick with sweat, as their feet matched in unison.
When they spotted their captain, they straightened sharply.
“Sir!”
“At ease,” Maverick said, his voice sharp and cold.
The soldiers eased up, but their eyes tracked him, wary of their new captain. His icy stare and cold demeanor kept them on edge. They were still getting used to him taking over from Boyle.
“Private John, to my office,” he said, moving past the soldiers.
In his office, Maverick stood by the window, staring out at the base but seeing nothing. His mind kept pulling back to Heaven, her flushed face, the haunting sound of her soft moans fueling his fire, her legs wrapped around his waist, her trembling figure beneath him and the way she clung to him, the peace and satisfaction he felt inside her.
"Fuck!" He hissed.
His jaw locked tight as he fought the heat surging again, his cock hardened despite his anger. He cursed under his breath, trying to shove the images away.
The door creaked open. “Captain you sent for me?” Private John said, standing stiffly, still sweating.
Maverick didn’t face him right away. Finally he turned, just slightly, hiding his bulge.
“Find out who spiked that drink.” He nodded at the bottle on his table, its sweet smell mocking him.
John glanced at it, his face went red. He shifted, like he was holding back a laugh but too scared to let it slip. Maverick’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you still standing there?”
John cleared his throat, his cheeks flushed.
“Sir, the madam brought it to the base for Captain Boyle. She gave some to the platoon boys too.”
Maverick’s brows furrowed. “My mother?”
“Yes sir”
Maverick’s fist clenched, his knuckles white as he tried to stay calm.
His mother.
It made sense.
She had always been obsessed with fixing Boyle’s impotence, a quiet shame she couldn’t let go. This sounded exactly like something she could do, desperate to cure her son.
John blushed on what had happened the day they took it. It was very effective. And it seemed like their new captain had taken quite a lot of it.
He noticed his captain’s struggle.
“Only a sip is supposed to be taken at once…. but it seemed quite a lot was taken,” he pointed out, scratching his head.
That explained the fire that had burned through him up to this moment and also his loss of control last night with Heaven.
He thought back to the red stain on the bed, and how she looked. It spiked him up the more, he still wanted her.
Maybe not her a release would do.
“You can go,”