Chapter 111
No.1
Elisa stood frozen in the doorway of the master suite. The heavy scent of cedarwood body wash and expensive amber whiskey hit her lungs, making her chest physically tighten.
August stood a few feet away, water dripping from his dark hair onto his bare, heavily muscled chest.The white towel slung low on his hips was the only thing separating them. He raised his crystal glass,the ice clinking sharply in the quiet room, his lips curved into a dark, victorious smile.
Elisa did not speak. She spun around. Her hand clamped around the heavy brass door handle. She yanked it downward with all her body weight,desperate to escape the suffocating air of the room.
The handle did not budge. A faint red light glowed on the lock's panel. The suite's security protocol had been activated remotely.
A low, dark chuckle vibrated from the center of the room. August leaned his bare shoulder against the bathroom doorframe. He took a slow sip of his whiskey, his eyes tracking her panicked movements
like a predator watching a trapped animal hit the glass of its cage.
Elisa squeezed her eyes shut. She forced a deep,freezing breath into her lungs. The panic receded,replaced by a wall of solid ice.
She turned around. Her black eyes locked onto the half-naked man, completely devoid of any human warmth.
She walked past him, her boots sinking into the thick carpet. She stopped at the velvet sofa at the foot of the king-size bed. August's heavy cashmere overcoat was draped across the cushions.
No.2
Elisa grabbed the expensive fabric. Without a single ounce of hesitation, she hurled the coat onto the floor, clearing a small, physical space that belonged entirely to her.
The amusement vanished from August's face. His jaw muscles flexed violently.
He set his whiskey glass down on the nightstand with a sharp crack. He closed the distance between them in three long strides. His large, damp hand clamped around her slender wrist like an ion vice.
"Do not test my patience in this room, Elisa,"August warned, his voice dropping to a dangerous,
gravelly frequency.
Elisa looked down at his hand, then up to his eyes.She violently ripped her wrist out of his grip.
"If you touch me again," Elisa stated1, her voice a flat, dead monotone, "I will pick up that floor lamp and smash the floor-to-ceiling window. I will let the freezing wind blow in, and I will scream until every single JHU doctor in this chalet comes running to see the billionaire CEO trying to force himself on his estranged wife."
August's pupils contracted. He stared at her,searching for a bluff. He found none. She was completely unhinged, willing to trigger a massive,humiliating public scandal just to keep him away.
His extreme obsession with his public image won.August let out a harsh, breathy scoff.
No.3
"You flatter yourself," he sneered. He turned his back on her and walked toward the massive bed,sliding beneath the heavy down comforter.
Midnight crept into the Aspen valley. The wind howled against the reinforced glass.
Elisa did not take off her clothes. She curled into a tight ball on the narrow velvet sofa, pulling her wool trench coat over her body. She kept her eyes fixed
on the dark ceiling, maintaining a shallow, hyper-vigilant state of sleep.
Hours passed. The first piercing rays of morning sunlight sliced through the glass walls, hitting the carpet.
Elisa groaned softly. The old, deep ache in her lower back flared up from sleeping on the stiff cushions. She shifted her weight, rolling onto her side.
Instantly, a heavy, radiating heat pressed against her spine.
A thick, muscular arm wrapped violently around her waist, yanking her backward. Her back slammed flush against a broad, bare chest.
August had left the bed. In the freezing, high-altitude temperature of the room, his unconscious body had sought out the nearest source of body heat.
No.4
He buried his face into the curve of her neck. His stubble scratched against her sensitive skin.
Elisa's entire body went rigid. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She pulled her elbow back,preparing to drive it directly into his ribs.
Before she could strike, a rough, sleep-heavy
whisper brushed against her ear.
"Allena..." August mumbled, his voice thick with blind, unconscious affection.
The name acted like a live electrical wire snapping against her bare skin.
A violent, uncontrollable wave of nausea exploded in Elisa's stomach. The bile rose so fastit burned the back of her throat. The sheer, physical disgust of being held by him while he dreamed of the woman who destroyed her family was unbearable.
Elisa let out a choked gasp. She shoved her elbows backward with explosive force, breaking his grip.
She scrambled off the sofa, her legs shaking.She sprinted across the room and slammed the bathroom door open.
No.5
She dropped to her knees in front of the cold marble toilet. She gripped the porcelain edges, her knuckles turning white, and violently dry-heaved.Hot tears of pure physiological rejection spilled from the corners of her eyes.
The loud, echoing sounds of her gagging shattered the quiet morning.
August jolted awake. He sat up on the sofa, his brow furrowed in deep confusion. He stood up and
strode quickly to the open bathroom door.
He looked down at Elisa. She was pale, shaking,and coughing over the bowl.
A sudden, terrifying thought struck August's brain like a physical blow. The memory of the socialite's rumor at the club flashed behind his eyes. She is trying to secretly get pregnant.
August's pupils dilated. The color drained from his face.
He stepped into the bathroom. He grabbed Elisa by the shoulder, his fingers digging painfully into her collarbone.
"Are you pregnant?" August demanded. His voice cracked,laced with a raw, suffocating panic.
No.6
Elisa shoved his hand away. She stood up on shaking legs and turned to the sink. She turned the silver faucet on full blast, splashing freezing water onto her pale face to force the nausea down.
She grabbed a towel and pressed it to her mouth.She slowly lifted her head.
She looked at August's reflection in the mirror.His face was twisted in absolute terror at the thought of her carrying his child.
A cold, hollow laugh scraped its way out of Elisa's throat.
She turned around. She leaned back against the marble counter, crossing her arms over her chest.She looked him dead in the eye, weaponizing her words.
"You watched me swallow a pill every single morning for seven years like I was a thief," Elisa said, her voice dripping with venomous mockery."Your sperm never even had a chance to survive in my body,August."
August's jaw locked. The blunt, crude humiliation of her words hit him hard. His fingers twitched,wanting to grab her again.
Elisa didn't stop. She tilted her head, her black eyes burning with absolute hatred.
"And even if every other man on this planet died,"Elisa whispered, "I would rather sterilize myself than allow your tainted genetics to continue for another generation."
No.7
The words hit the exact center of his fragile,massive ego. It was a direct, lethal strike to his pride.
August physically recoiled. He dropped his hand as
if her skin had suddenly turned to burning acid.
The panic in his eyes vanished, instantly replaced by a cold, murderous arrogance.
"You better remember exactly what you just said,"August hissed.
He turned on his heel and marched out of the bathroom, heading straight for the walk-in closet to dress.
Elisa stood alone in the bathroom. She gripped the edges of the marble sink so hard her fingernails dug into the stone. Her chest heaved.
Only she knew the truth. Only she knew how terrifyingly close his panicked guess had come to the five-year-old secret currently hiding in New York.