Chapter5Like Mother, Like Daughter

Leonard Eastwood had just stepped inside the estate when a servant hurried forward to take his coat.

“Welcome back, sir.”

“Mm.”

Leonard loosened his tie irritably. The unfamiliar scent lingering in the house put him in a foul mood.

He frowned.

“Where is she?”

“Just as you instructed,” the servant replied. “She’s been kept in her room.”

A dangerous glint flickered in Leonard’s eyes.

Upstairs, Tanya Reed had her ear pressed tightly against the door, listening to every sound outside.

Footsteps.Coming closer.

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

She raised her voice immediately.

“I don’t care who you are—let me out! You have no right to detain me. No amount of power gives you the right to take away my freedom. Do you hear me? Let me—”

The door was yanked open before she could finish.

Thrown off balance, Tanya stumbled forward—and collided straight into someone’s chest.

“Ow—!”

Her nose struck solid muscle, pain blooming instantly. Before she could even react, a hand seized her arm and dragged her roughly back into the room.

The lights were off.

She couldn’t see his face.

The next second, she was shoved onto the bed.

Panic exploded in her chest.

As she felt his grip tighten, hands tugging at her dress, she struggled desperately and struck his shoulder.

“Let go of me!” she cried. “You bastard!”

“Let go of you?”

A cold, mocking voice answered.

“Or take what’s already mine?”

Leonard gripped her wrist without a shred of gentleness.

“Don’t play innocent,” he sneered. “You’re no different from your mother. Hypocritical. Shameless. Rotten to the core.”

His eyes darkened, something ugly flashing there.

“I’ve seen women like her,” he went on coldly. “The tears. The soft voice. The act.”

He leaned closer, his breath harsh against her skin.

“Is that what she taught you? How to lure a man in? How to push him away just enough so he chases harder?”

His fingers tightened around her wrist.

“Playing hard to get. Pretending to resist. Acting pure while calculating every move.”

“Born from that kind of woman—what else could you be?”

“Don’t you dare insult my family!” Tanya snapped, fury flashing through her fear.

Her mother—graceful, kind, respected by everyone.

How could this man twist her into something so vile?

He was unbearable.

Yet even as rage burned, something about him felt… wrong.

Familiar.

The voice.

The presence.

Before she could grasp the thought, the wedding dress was torn away with brutal force, drawing a startled gasp from her lips.

Leonard’s movements were fueled by years of buried hatred. His eyes were shut tight, every action harsh, punishing—less about desire, more about vengeance.

Tanya’s body ached everywhere.

She turned her head away, biting hard into her finger to keep from crying out, soft, broken sounds escaping her throat despite herself.

Leonard froze.

He looked down at her—really looked.

At her trembling lashes.

At the tears caught in her eyes.

He let out a cold, humorless laugh.

“Is this another trick your mother taught you?” he sneered. “Playing fragile? Looking helpless? Using tears to stir a man’s need to protect—so he ends up obsessed with your body?”

“Bastard!”

Fueled by fury, Tanya bit down hard on the back of his hand.

Her mother had been nothing like what he described. Nothing.

She had endured humiliation in silence. She had never once used weakness as a weapon.

How dare he twist her into something so vile?

Nothing.

How dare he humiliate her like this?

Leonard sucked in a sharp breath, pain flaring.

And suddenly—A memory surfaced.

The woman in the hotel.

The way she had bitten him.

The same defiance.

The same sting.

Leonard stared at Tanya in the darkness.

Her eyes glistened, fragile and furious all at once.

Nathan’s words echoed faintly in his mind—

She’s well-educated. Clean. Nothing like what you imagine.

Clean?

His grip loosened—just for a second.

And then what he saw ignited something darker.

Across the pale skin at the center of her chest, faint but unmistakable, were kiss marks.

They were fresh. Recent.

No older than a few days.

His jaw tightened.

In an instant, an image forced itself into his mind—a faceless man bending over her, touching her, claiming her.

The thought struck like a blade.

Heat surged through him, violent and irrational.

Possessiveness.Jealousy.

They overran his reason before he could stop them.

“You knew you were going to marry me, and you were still fooling around with another man?” he spat.

“Just like your mother,” he added coldly. “Careless. Cheap. Always needing a man’s hands on you.”