4

Feyre counted the money in the sacks, it was a thousand gold coins.

A thousand gold coins was a huge amount of money to her.

But for Grant?

It was probably nothing.

He had just gifted Anna a cloak worth fifty thousand gold coins on a whim last month.

Grant would never give Anna a thousand gold coins and call it enough.

Anna was worth far more than that in his eyes.

Feyre had never belonged in their world.

It was almost funny that she had once believed she meant something to Grant. She had been so naive.

...

She removed hundred gold coins and went down to the stables. She met Rick, one of the stable hands who ran errands for the estate.

"Please can you give this to Doris when you go to the market later" she handed him the sack.

"Of course" he replied.

"thanks Rick"

"You are welcome Feyre, you are such a good girl taking care of your family" Rick told her.

Feyre smiled and turned to leave, Doris was her foster mother who had taken her in after her parents abandoned her.

She went back to her room.

After taking a bath, Feyre stood in front of her trunk, naked as she looked through her clothes.

She was trying to decide what to wear for her meeting with Ryder the next day.

Suddenly, the door opened.

Grant walked in without warning.

Feyre was startled and quickly grabbed a cloth to cover herself.

“Master Phillips.”

“You quit?”

Grant frowned.

He was carrying a small bag of cheap fruit he had bought from the pack market.

He never came empty handed.

But what he brought was always something small.

Mini cakes, fruits, small jewelry.

“Yes.”

Feyre nodded.

Grant had a key to her room, so she was used to him coming and going whenever he wanted.

“Don't worry about Tonya. I've handled it.”

Grant gently pinched her cheek before pulling her onto the bed.

His voice was unusually gentle.

“Does it still hurt?”

Feyre ignored him.

She remained silent.

“I already spoke to the head servant. Your quitting has been canceled. Take a few days off and come back whenever you want.”

He said it as if he were doing her a huge favor.

To Feyre, it felt like charity.

Honestly, it had always felt that way.

Ever since Grant discovered that his sister had been the one leading the girls who stripped and humiliated Feyre in the training center, he had treated her like someone who needed his pity. Even after finding out she was his mate, it hadn't changed.

“You are going to make Anna your mate soon, right?”

Feyre took a deep breath before forcing the words out.

Grant became silent.

He didn't answer.

Feyre smiled even though her eyes stung.

“Even though you know doing so would kill me, you still want to do it. I wish you and Ms. Remington the best. Just let me go so I can die in peace”

She still had her pride, she wouldn't beg him.

Grant frowned, he looked annoyed.

“Are you picking a fight with me?” he asked.

Feyre smiled.

“No. Of course not. Why would I do such a thing? I am just stating the facts”

He pulled her into his arms as if he were calming a child.

“Stop being delusional, we are mates and I am not getting a new mate. Anna and I are just friends”

His tone was casual, as if none of this should hurt her.

Maybe he had never truly seen her as a person.

“About the attack in the forest, Anna was scared. She felt bad that we left you there. But we had to do so to lure the rogues away”

As he spoke, his hand moved along her slim waist.

He had always liked her figure, so small and delicate.

Back then, at nineteen , Feyre was still underdeveloped because of years of poor nutrition.

Grant had been the one who took her in and made sure she finally ate proper meals instead of surviving on water, plain bread, and leftovers.

“Tomorrow night, Anna is hosting her birthday dinner here, a few friends are coming. She needs some help and requested for you. I told her you would come”

He pulled the cloth away from her body and leaned closer, his breath warm against her neck.

Feyre thought he was cruel.

At his core, he and his sister were exactly the same.

Had Anna not been enough for him during all those days in Fire Moon Pack?

“I'm not going.”

Feyre pushed him away and quickly picked up the cloth from the floor.

Her stomach twisted with disgust at his touch.

Besides, she had a meeting with Ryder tomorrow night.

“If you don't show up, she'll get suspicious about us, she is already asking questions about why you were calling out my name in the forest.”

"Suspicious about what?" Feyre asked.

"About our relationship" Grant replied.

"I am your mate. You can just tell her" Feyre told him.

"It's not yet time Feyre, you know this"

Feyre didn't even bother to argue anymore. "I am not going" she insisted.

Grant's voice turned cold.

It was the first time Feyre had ever pushed him away.

“She is widowed and a little sensitive. Right now I want to be there for her, can't you just be considerate?”