Chapter 4

Kalen stood before her, his face a mask of disappointment. "Why, Aileen? Why would you do something so vile? I thought you were better than this."

His voice was soft, laced with a feigned sadness that made her stomach turn.

"I' m going to have to punish you," he said, his tone shifting, becoming hard and cold. "You need to learn that there are consequences for your actions."

He nodded to the guards. "Whip her."

The first lash was a line of fire across her back. Aileen bit her lip to keep from screaming, the coppery taste of blood filling her mouth.

The blows fell, one after another, a brutal, relentless rhythm of pain. Her skin split, her muscles screamed, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out.

Through a haze of agony, she heard him speak again. "I still love you, Aileen," he said, his voice a distant murmur. "I' m doing this for your own good."

She managed a weak, hoarse whisper. "I didn' t do it."

He left without another word, leaving her to the guards and the whip.

She hung from the chains, her body a symphony of pain. She remembered a time when he had seen a small scratch on her arm and had flown into a rage, threatening to destroy the person responsible. He had held her then, his touch gentle, his eyes full of a fierce, protective love.

Now, he was the one inflicting the pain, a cold, cruel stranger wearing the face of the man she had loved.

The realization was a bitter pill, a final, painful awakening. Tears of rage and despair streamed down her face. She would never trust him again. She would never love him again. She would only escape.

She must have passed out. When she woke, he was there, sitting on a stool beside her. The guards were gone.

She tried to move, and a groan escaped her lips. Every inch of her body felt like it was on fire.

"I' m sorry," he said, his voice soft again. The cycle of abuse, she thought. The violence, then the regret. "I know this is hard. Once Izabella has the baby, things will get back to normal. I promise."

Summoning all her strength, Aileen pushed herself up. She reached into the pocket of her torn dress and pulled out a folded document.

"I' ll believe you," she said, her voice a raw whisper. "If you sign this."

She unfolded the papers. It was a trust agreement, granting her a significant portion of his liquid assets. A golden cage.

"I need to know you still trust me, Kalen," she said. "That I still have a place in your life."

He took the papers without even looking at them. His eyes were fixed on her, full of a desperate, possessive need. He signed his name with a flourish.

"Anything," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I' ll give you anything you want."

He watched her, a flicker of unease in his eyes. Her calmness, her placid acceptance, it unnerved him.

He reached out, pulling her into a gentle embrace, careful of her wounds. "You' re my little bird," he murmured, stroking her hair. "My beautiful, broken bird."

She let him hold her, her body passive, her mind a million miles away. She was already gone.

She had lied. The document he had signed wasn' t a trust. It was an irrevocable divorce settlement, and a transfer of assets that would give her the freedom she craved.

The days that followed were a blur of humiliation. He paraded Izabella in front of her, their laughter and moans echoing through the mansion. He took her to Aileen' s favorite restaurants, to the opera, flaunting their happiness. Aileen closed her eyes, shut her ears, and waited.

One afternoon, she drove to the cemetery where her parents were buried. She needed to say goodbye. As she stood before their gravestones, a cold rain began to fall, plastering her thin dress to her bruised body.

She heard footsteps behind her. It was Izabella.

"Paying your respects?" Izabella asked, a cruel smile on her face. "Or just wishing you were here with them?"

Aileen ignored her, her heart aching with a grief that was too deep for words.

"Kalen loves me, you know," Izabella continued, her voice a spiteful hiss. "He told me he' s only with you out of pity. You' re just a pathetic charity case."

"He told me he' s just playing with you," Aileen said, her voice flat. "That you' re just a temporary distraction."

Izabella' s face contorted with rage. She lunged at Aileen, shoving her hard. Aileen stumbled, her feet slipping on the wet grass. She fell backward, her head hitting the sharp corner of a tombstone with a sickening crack.

The world went black.