Chapter 2

My heart gave a jolt, and I suddenly felt on the verge of breaking down.

I could not understand how I had inadvertently brought such trouble upon myself.

Wrapping the blanket tightly around myself, I withdrew to the inner side of the bed and spoke with clear resistance.

“I agreed only to the marriage, nothing further. We shall sleep under separate blankets tonight.”

For some reason, Zachary hesitated for a moment while looking at me intently before saying, “If that’s what you wish, I won’t refuse it.”

Yet he thought, “I had planned to proceed gradually and spend the first night in the study. It would not do to reveal my intentions so soon. But since she has proposed to sleep under separate blankets, I cannot leave and keep calling myself a man.”

His inner remark left me filled with regret.

“Well, if that does not suit you, we can also sleep in separate rooms,” I added.

Sadly, Zachary’s eyes were already closed, and he appeared to be asleep. However, his thoughts still reached me.

“Do not even think of it. I am already lying down and will not move. She smells far too enticing. If I could just kiss her…”

I was greatly alarmed as he kept on thinking about me.

“Perhaps I should commission a small riding crop tomorrow for private use. I have heard the latest muslin gowns are quite sheer, leaving little to the imagination. I will have them purchased and find a way to see her in them.”

I jolted in shock and sprang upright from the bed. “Impossible!”

“What is impossible?” Zachary asked, looking taken aback.

I stared at his innocent expression. Unable to explain that I could hear his thoughts, I lifted the blanket and rose from the bed.

“I shall sleep in the adjoining room.”

To my surprise, Zachary seized my wrist at once.

“No. You will sleep here.”

He thought, “You’re already within my grasp, prey of mine, I will not let you escape.”

My mind went blank. I felt as though I was being coerced, and for a moment, I had the illusion that I had walked straight into danger of my own making.

“Release me. I will not sleep with you. Keep to your dreams!”

I shoved him away with all my strength and fled the room in haste. I wrapped myself tightly in my blanket in the adjoining room, and even in my sleep, I was tormented by nightmares of Zachary taking advantage of me.

The next morning, I awoke in a groggy haze. My chest felt unusually heavy, as if breathing could become a struggle the very next moment. It was only upon opening my eyes that I discovered that Zachary had somehow followed me to the adjoining room and was lying beside me.

One of his hands had slipped beneath my collar, fully enclosing my chest.

Realization struck me at last.

I yanked his hand away at once and cried out in distress.

“Zachary, you scoundrel! What have you done to me while I was asleep?”

Zachary showed some displeasure at being roused until he met my furious glare. Only then did he seem to realize what had happened.

“I never agreed to sleep separately last night.”

His gaze drifted, almost unconsciously, to my chest.

He thought, “They were softer and far more pleasing to the touch than I had imagined. I want to touch them again.”

I flew into a rage. “Have you no shame, Zachary?”

“Such a fierce woman,” he dared think. “What a pity she escaped last night. Otherwise, I would have already bedded her. Tonight, once the riding crop I commissioned arrives, I shall certainly…”

Zachary’s mind was filled with indecent thoughts.

My heart trembled. I could not begin to imagine what unspeakable acts he intended to do once he obtained that riding crop.

Fear and alarm soon overwhelmed all other considerations.

Thus, during the family’s breakfast, I begged Alfred to grant me a divorce with tears streaming down my face.

“General Pendleton, I wish to dissolve my marriage with Zachary. We are ill-suited as husband and wife. I beg you to permit it!”