LOGINTristan's POVI waited patiently to hear her answer, and I didn't know how much her reply would weigh on me. Perhaps I already knew that I would selfishly use whatever answer she gave to justify my obsession with her.Maybe I had never truly intended to let her go. She had never completely shattered my illusions, and I wouldn't mind holding on to this obsession, even if all it had to offer were empty promises.“About that… I…” Anastasia stuttered, glancing at her brother before shifting her gaze back to me, as though she had already realized there was no escaping the question.Whatever choice she made would have an impact on the two of us.But her hesitation was enough for me to grasp at something. If she was this conflicted, didn't that mean she still cared about me? Wasn't that a sign that my feelings weren't entirely one-sided?Then again, it wouldn't be right to keep her anxious over something she clearly struggled to answer.“That's enough. I don't need to know about it,” I breat
Tristan's POVHell?So being married to me has been hell for her all these while?Anastasia's words couldn't stop ringing in my head as I drove away from Lancaster estate. I couldn't help feeling a pang of pain as I remembered how sad she had looked while recounting what our marriage had been like.I thought she would be happy after getting what she had always wanted, which was to be married to me. But who could have imagined that I had only given her an elaborate cage, one she later desperately tried to escape from?And inviting her back to the mansion was just like asking her to return to that cage. No wonder she snapped. This only proved that I was still no different from the jerk she had tried to escape from years ago.“How could you keep hurting her over and over again?” I mumbled, hitting my hand against the steering wheel in anger.Maybe I was actually suffocating her. I had never listened to her, not even once. How could I claim to love her when I couldn't even give her what s
Anastasia's POVThe phone in my hands suddenly felt frozen the moment those words left my mouth. My mind went completely blank, as though the information I had just processed was too much for my brain to handle.But could I be overthinking things?What if the picture had nothing to do with Tristan's safety? What if this was just someone playing a prank on me?“What are you saying? Are you sure about that?” Alexander, my brother, asked as he took the phone from me.I watched him study the message for a while, while my son stood by the side, looking confused about why his mother was suddenly losing her mind.Maybe I was just being paranoid after all.“This...” my brother mouthed as he handed the phone back to me. “We can't say that this cryptic message means anything. Maybe someone is trying to mess with you. It could even be that psychopath ex-husband of yours...”He trailed off when he realised my son was still standing nearby. Obviously, we didn't want him picking up on anything that
Anastasia's POVMy words fell on Tristan's deaf ears as he continued driving, and I didn't know what came over me when I suddenly reached for the steering wheel and tried to turn it. The car swerved dangerously across the road, making my heart leap into my throat.“Anastasia Brooke, have you lost your mind!” Tristan screamed as he snatched my hand away from the steering wheel, barely managing to regain control of the car.“Yes, I have lost my fucking mind! And if you don't stop this car, don't blame me for being ruthless,” I warned, glaring at him furiously.But he didn't respond.“Are you really not going to stop this car?”“I don't plan on stopping until...” he began, but I interrupted him by repeatedly hitting his arm.“You crazy psycho! Take me home or drop me off this instant!” I roared, continuing to hit him until he struggled to keep the car steady.“Are you trying to get us killed!” he rasped, finally bringing the car to a halt after narrowly avoiding a collision with another
Anastasia's POVThe temperature in the car dropped after Ethan's words. I had expected him to laugh off his ambiguous statement as a joke, but his expression remained stoic, as though he had just said the most natural thing in the world.That was when I realised that if I didn't correct him now, things might eventually turn into something I couldn't control.Why would I let someone refer to me as his prisoner?“Prisoner? That's not right. Why would you...” I stuttered, but he cut me off before I could finish.“That's not important right now. You need to go get dressed for our date,” he said dismissively before stepping out of the car and leading me into the boutique.The stylist dressed me for the dinner date in the complete opposite of everything I wanted. It was almost as though I were a doll on display, with absolutely no say in what she could or couldn't put on me. She kept bringing out different dresses and accessories, expecting me to try them on without asking for my opinion.T
Anastasia's POVI watched the two men exchange hard glares, and I could swear the only thing keeping them from going at each other's throats was the fact that they were outside and had reputations to protect.But none of this would have happened if that man hadn't shown up and started spewing nonsense.“What are you saying, Mr. Hale? We have no such plans,” I said through clenched teeth as I snatched my hand from his, flashing an awkward smile at Tristan.His gaze was equally hard on me, as though he had just caught me having an affair. But we had no such relationship between us, so he had no reason to police who I met or how I chose to live my life.“Do you hear that? She knows nothing about such a plan,” Tristan remarked before turning to me. “And you... come here.” He gestured towards himself.To my surprise, I found my legs moving on their own, but before I could take another step, Ethan dragged me back.“Have you really forgotten? Then I should remind you. That day at the amuseme







