CHAPTER 56

CHAPTER 56
Mila

The water was too hot, but I stayed under it anyway, hoping the sting would burn away the humiliation clinging to my skin.

I braced my palms against the tiled wall, my head bowed as steam curled around me, thick, suffocating, unforgiving.

My skin burned, a slow, steady ache, but I welcomed it. I deserved it. It felt like punishment for losing control, for letting myself unravel so easily.

But how was I supposed to control myself when the pleasure had been more intense than anything I had ever known?

My body was still… aware. Too aware.
No matter how hard I tried to focus on the rush of water or the rhythm of my breathing, my mind betrayed me. Images surfaced uninvited, moments I refused to name, sensations I refused to claim.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my jaw tightening.
Get it together, Mila.
The water kept pouring, relentless, until my skin felt raw. Only then did I turn it off. The sudden silence rang in my ears, loud and disorienting.

I wrapped a towel tightly around myself, clutching it like an anchor, as though holding it close enough could keep me from falling apart completely.

The mirror caught my attention before I could look away.

I barely recognized the girl staring back at me.
My cheeks were flushed, eyes brighter...too bright, lips swollen and parted slightly, as if I was still trying to catch my breath.

I looked exposed. Stripped bare in a way no towel could hide.
Worst of all, I felt vulnerable.

“Pull yourself together,” I whispered to my reflection.
I dressed quickly..long sleeves, soft fabric, nothing revealing. Armor. By the time I stepped back into the bedroom, it was empty.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

Lance was gone.
Of course he was.
The bed was perfectly made, every wrinkle smoothed out, every trace erased. It was almost insulting how easily he could wipe things away. Like the morning had never existed. Like I hadn’t existed in it.

My chest tightened painfully.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my hands clasped tightly in my lap, forcing myself to breathe slowly. I had told myself I didn’t care. That his coldness didn’t matter. That this marriage was nothing more than a formality...a transaction I could endure.

But transactions didn’t leave your heart racing hours later.
They didn’t make your thoughts spiral or your skin feel too tight, like it no longer fit you properly.

You’re weak, a voice whispered in my head. And he knows it.
I hated how true that felt.
A soft knock sounded at the door, and my body tensed instantly.

“Come in,” I said, schooling my voice into something steady.

Lance stepped inside moments later, fully dressed. His suit was immaculate, every button fastened, his watch secured neatly at his wrist..like he hadn’t lost control for even a second. Like nothing had touched him.
Untouched. Untangled.

“Breakfast is served downstairs,” he said calmly. “We have an engagement later this afternoon.”

My gaze flickered to him...and betrayed me immediately. It dipped, lingering where it shouldn’t have.

I snapped my eyes back to his face.
What the hell is wrong with me?

“I don’t remember agreeing to any engagement,” I said, my voice sharper than I intended.

“You don’t need to,” he replied coldly. “You do whatever I say.”

The words landed heavily in my chest. I exhaled slowly, forcing myself not to react.
He studied me then..really looked at me.

His gaze swept over my face with quiet scrutiny, calculating and uncomfortably perceptive.

“Wipe that look off your face,” he said coolly. “Try to think with your head and not those holes between your legs.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. Shame crawled up my spine, sharp and unforgiving. My fingers curled into the fabric of my sleeves.
So he had noticed.

“Don’t worry,” he continued flatly. “I won’t deprive you of that one thing. I need an heir, after all.”
The reminder struck hard.
That was why I was here.

A wife in name. A body by obligation. A means to an end.
A breeder who followed orders.
Of course.
I let out a small, humorless laugh. “You say that like it means nothing.”

His expression didn’t change. “It means what it needs to.”
I hated how calm he was. How unaffected. As if the imbalance between us wasn’t painfully obvious.

“Does it ever bother you?” I asked quietly.

“What?”

“That you can touch me like I’m something you own,” I said, my heart pounding, “and then turn around and act like I don’t exist?”

Something flickered in his eyes..something sharp and fleeting. Gone before I could grasp it.
“This is what this marriage is,” he said. “Stop confusing yourself, Mila.”

“Sure,” I replied.
Silence stretched between us, heavy and uncomfortable.

“Be downstairs in ten minutes.”
With that, he turned and left.
Just like that.

The door clicked shut behind him, the sound echoing far louder than it should have. I sat there long after he was gone, staring at the empty space he’d occupied, my chest tight with something dangerously close to hurt.
I moved to the window and stared out at the beach below.

The ocean stretched endlessly, calm and cruelly beautiful.
I pressed my forehead against the glass.
I had let him see me shaken. Vulnerable. Wanting...even when I hadn’t said it out loud. And he had used it with terrifying ease.
Never again.

If this was the game he wanted to play, then I needed to learn the rules. I needed to stop reacting. Stop giving him pieces of me he hadn’t earned.

I straightened, lifted my chin, and walked out of the room.
Downstairs, I took my time...deliberate, unhurried. When I reached the staircase, I saw him at the bottom, already turning as if to come up

“I said ten minutes, Mila,” he said coldly, his gaze sweeping over me.
Good.
He was pissed.
Mission accomplished.

I didn’t respond. I walked past him and headed toward the dining room.
He stopped me with a sharp movement.

“You aren’t having breakfast anymore,” he said. “You wasted that time doing whatever you were doing upstairs.”

The words hit harder than I expected.
He had drained me...body and mind, only to act like I didn’t exist afterward. And now he was going to starve me.