Chapter 4

Jamie POV:

The sounds from the car were a physical assault. They weren't just sounds; they were memories, stolen and perverted, now used as instruments of torture against me.

I turned away, my body shaking, and stumbled towards the guardrail, my knuckles white as I gripped the cold metal. Tears streamed down my face, hot and silent, whipped away by the biting wind on the high mountain pass.

I remembered our first time. His reverence, his gentle hands, the way he' d whispered my name like a prayer. He had treated my body like a sacred temple. Now, he was defiling that memory, turning our sacred moments into a cheap, sordid spectacle with my carbon copy, right in front of me.

I wanted to run, to flee, but there was nowhere to go. I was trapped on this desolate stretch of highway, a piece of trash discarded on the side of the road. I just stood there, a statue of misery, as the sky bled from orange to purple.

An eternity later, the rocking stopped. The passenger window slid down, and Kiley' s face appeared. She looked flushed, her lipstick smeared, her eyes glittering with a smug, cat-like satisfaction.

"You can get back in now," she said, her tone the one a queen might use to address a beggar.

I moved like a robot, my limbs numb, my mind a hollow cavern of pain. I opened the back door and slid in. The air inside was thick, cloying with the smell of sex and Kiley's triumphant perfume. It made me want to gag.

"Elijah," Kiley whined, stretching languidly. "What if I get pregnant? You were so rough."

My blood turned to ice.

Elijah chuckled, a low, pleased sound. "Then we'll have it," he said, his voice laced with a deep, possessive satisfaction. "I'd love to have a child with you, Kiley."

The world went silent. All I could hear was a roaring in my ears.

A child.

A child.

"I want a little girl," he had whispered to me one night, his hand resting on my flat stomach. "One with your eyes and my stubbornness. We' ll spoil her rotten."

"And if it' s a boy?" I' d asked, tracing the line of his jaw.

"Then he' ll be a genius, just like his father," he' d laughed, pulling me closer. "And handsome, just like his mother."

That beautiful, hopeful future we had painted together now felt like a story from another lifetime. The gentle caress of his words had become a blunt instrument, and he was using it to bludgeon my heart to a pulp.

"Then you'll have to try harder," Kiley purred, her voice dropping to a seductive whisper.

The rest of the drive home was a blur of torment. Kiley and Elijah were relentless, their whispers and laughter a constant, grinding assault on my sanity. When we finally reached the mansion, they disappeared into his bedroom, and the sounds began again, louder this time, echoing through the cavernous, empty house.

I locked myself in my own room, on the opposite side of the sprawling estate. But it didn't matter. The sounds seemed to seep through the walls, a poison in the air.

I curled up on the cold floor of my bathroom, my arms wrapped around my stomach as a wave of nausea and pain crashed over me. I barely made it to the toilet before I was retching, coughing up the bitter bile and the mouthful of blood that followed.

The door to my room was a barrier between two worlds. Outside, a world of carnal celebration, of hedonistic joy, of the potential for new life. Inside, a world of decay, of silent suffering, of the certainty of death.

It went on for days. The house became a stage for their debauchery. I became a prisoner in my own room, my only companions the relentless pain in my gut and the sounds of their ecstasy.

One afternoon, the house fell silent. The quiet was so abrupt, so unusual, it was unnerving. I crept out of my room, my body weak and trembling.

In the vast, open-plan kitchen, Kiley was attempting to cook. Flour dusted her nose, and the stovetop was a disaster zone. Elijah was sitting at the massive marble island, reading a newspaper, a rare portrait of domestic tranquility.

"Oh, look who's here," Kiley said, spotting me. Her tone was condescending. "Want some lunch? Though I doubt you'll like it."

"No, thank you," I said softly, turning to leave.

"Jamie." Elijah' s voice stopped me. It was low and commanding. He folded his newspaper. "Come here."

I had no choice. I walked over, my feet silent on the cold stone floor.

On the table was a plate of what looked like scrambled eggs, but they were burnt on the edges and runny in the middle. A piece of toast was blackened beyond recognition.

Elijah picked up his fork and took a bite of the eggs without a change in expression.

"Is it good, darling?" Kiley asked, her voice hopeful and eager for praise.

He put down his fork and reached out, stroking her cheek with a tenderness that made my own cheeks burn with shame. "It's the best I've ever had," he said softly.

My heart constricted so violently it felt like it had stopped.

I remembered the first meal I ever cooked for him. I had been so nervous, my hands shaking as I served him a simple pasta dish. He had taken one bite, his eyes closing in exaggerated bliss. "Jamie," he' d said, his voice full of wonder. "Anything you make is the most delicious thing in the world."

Now, that same look of adoration, that same gentle praise, was being given for a plate of burnt garbage. It wasn't about the food. It was about twisting the knife.

"Why aren't you eating?" Kiley asked, her eyes sharp and malicious. "Don't you like my cooking?"

I knew it was a test. I forced myself to pick up a fork and take a tiny bite. The taste of burnt eggs and salt was acrid in my mouth, and a wave of nausea rose in my throat. I swallowed hard, the effort making my eyes water.

"I... I have to use the restroom," I mumbled, pushing my chair back.

I ran, but I didn't make it. I barely reached the sink in the powder room before I was coughing violently, spitting a stream of bright red blood onto the pristine white porcelain.

Frantically, I turned on the tap, trying to wash the evidence away. But it was too late.

"What is wrong with you?" Kiley shrieked from the doorway. "You can't stand to see him praise me, can you? You have to ruin everything!" Tears welled in her eyes, a performance of practiced victimhood.

Elijah was there a second later. He saw Kiley's tears, he saw my frantic attempts to clean the sink, and his face hardened into a familiar mask of rage.

He strode over, wrapping a protective arm around Kiley's shaking shoulders, comforting her with low murmurs.

Then his icy gaze fell upon me.

"You're so desperate for attention, you'd even pretend to be sick," he said, his voice dripping with disgust. He looked at me as if I were the most pathetic creature on earth. "Since you're so determined to spoil everyone's appetite, you won't be eating at all."

He turned to the two hulking bodyguards who had appeared silently in the doorway.

"Break her jaw."