Chapter 4

I was trembling when I called Dominic. My voice came out hoarse as I asked, "Did you leak the photos?"

On the other end of the line, he let out a cold chuckle.

"You always liked going 'all in,' didn't you?"

His voice was laced with cruelty as he went on, "If you don't want people to see those photos, then get over there and bid on every last one of them!"

In the background, Lena's syrupy voice floated through. "Dominic, is that Alyssa? I-I should go."

Dominic's tone softened at once. "Don't be ridiculous. I stood up for you. Try leaving again, and see what happens."

I heard the sound of a kiss, and then the line went dead.

…

I rushed to the auction house, shaking as I pushed open the doors. The room was full of men.

Meanwhile, my intimate photos flashed across the massive screen.

There was a photo of my sleeping profile. Dominic had once called it cute and saved it. Another showed my back in the shower. He had said it was charming and persuaded me to pose. And there was a picture of me in my birthday suit, covered in suggestive red marks. At the time, he had said those were proof of love.

Every pair of eyes was fixed on me, their whispers slicing through me like knives.

"Just look at that body. Damn! Don Caballero is a lucky man!" someone murmured.

Another said, "I heard he used to love his wife. Why is he selling her photos now?"

"Got bored, I guess. These Dons' wives all look perfect on the outside…"

Every word hit me like a punch to the gut.

I remembered how possessive Dominic had been.

That year in Sicara, I wore a spaghetti-strap dress. When a man looked my way a little too long, Dominic dragged me to the hotel, took me by force, and made me say, "Alyssa belongs to Dominic."

But now, he was selling my intimate photos to these men, just to stand up for another woman.

I placed bids on every single photo. With every press of the bid button, a chill settled in my chest.

By the time I won the last one, all the love I'd had for Dominic was gone.

…

As I stepped out of the auction house, my phone rang.

"Done bidding? Feeling satisfied now?" Dominic's voice was thick with mockery.

I clenched the phone until my nails dug into my palm and asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll divorce you after this?"

"You can't leave, Alyssa. I won't sign the papers, so the divorce won't happen," he replied calmly, like he was trying to reason with a stubborn child.

I fell silent. Just as I expected, he had forgotten that I had the divorce agreement he had signed.

When I didn't respond, Dominic's tone softened. "Today was just a lesson."

He paused, then added, "I told you. As long as you don't go after Lena, I'll come back eventually. Your birthday is coming up. I'll throw a party to make it up to you."

I was about to say there was no need, but he had already hung up.

…

In the days that followed, I scrolled through Lena's Instagram feed.

The latest post showed Dominic holding her on a yacht, captioned, "I told him I wanted to be by the ocean, so he bought me an island."

I scrolled further down and saw another photo. Lena wrote, "He's allergic to roses, but still, he filled the garden with flowers just for me."

Another caption read, "His phone is full of my photos."

If this had been before, I would've felt utterly heartbroken to the point of suffocation. But now, there wasn't a flicker of emotion in me.

Lately, Dominic had been living with Lena, only coming home occasionally. He hadn't even noticed things disappearing from the house.

Maybe even if I vanished, he still wouldn't realize.