Annelise's POVHave you forgotten so soon what's at stake here?" I still didn't reply to him. It was my father; he had called me almost immediately after Anastasia left.The only mistake I made was picking up his call; I should have known what he was calling for.“You also seem to have forgotten what's at stake with me. You think I don't know how much you're generating just by being an in-law of a Harrington?”He was quiet for a while. "And you think I would prioritize your mother's health over that?”I gulped, my mouth dry. I'm really tired of going back and forth with him every time.“It's up to you to choose if you want the benefit you're getting from this or making your daughter happy by making me sad instead."I'm playing a very risky game here, and I'm aware of that, but if I continue being that weak girl to him, he'd just keep trampling upon me.“Is this what marriage does to you? You think because you're married to a rich billionaire husband, which is even courtesy of me, you

Annelise's POVWe both walked around the room, Ethan just kept dragging me around. He would nod at most greetings from people; some even tried to talk to him, but the stoic expression on his face made them rethink their decisions.“Where exactly are we going?" I asked him when it looked like we'd only be walking for the majority of the night.“You'll see."Just then, he stopped walking, and I automatically did too.He stopped by the bar section of the hall. I frowned at that; different servers had been taking drinks around that we could have just taken one from them. Why the stress?“Tequila," he said to the person there.The guy behind the counter was practically shaking; he must have recognized Ethan immediately.Even the drink he was pouring was about to spill off if not for that he was doing it slowly.The guy handed over the drink to Ethan and turned to look at me.“What would you like to have, ma'am?" He asked me.“Just juice, I don't drink alcohol," I replied.I felt someone lo

Annelise's POV“So, how are you coping with the marriage?" He asked me.I looked at him as though he was speaking gibberish; he isn't in the right position to ask me that question. What does he expect me to reply to him with?“How it's meant to be; a contract marriage," I replied in a really formal tone."Oh please. I expect you to have been making some moves by now. You know, the only way to secure a marriage is to get pregnant, give him a child.”I looked at him with disgust on my face; I almost couldn't believe that he would say something like that.“I'm not a wh*re," I said with gritted teeth."So you mean it's only wh*res that give birth without being in love with their partner? I hope you do know that your mother was pregnant with you since the first night we met, way before we got married.”Anger surged through me; my teeth were hurting from gritting them too tight and for so long. I seemed to have never felt so angry that way before.Before I could say anything though, the doo

Annelise's POV“What is it this time?" I asked with so much anger.I was woken up from sleep this morning after turning on the bed endlessly and couldn't sleep because of the pain from last night, and I've been cranky since then. I needed to get something at the store, and I came alone, though with a scarf and some masks so no one would recognize me.I was surprised when I heard someone call my name, which turned out to be Anastasia.She's not even here alone, but with her best friend.“That's not the right way to greet your sister," she said.The anger from this morning bubbled up again. I had thought I would just get the necessities and go back home without any problem.“What do you want?" I asked again.“Hello, am I invisible?" It was none other than my former best friend, Cassie.I only spared her a glance before turning to Anastasia.“What are you doing here, I repeat," I said.“Well, father said you were injured. I just thought I would come check up on you like a typical sister

Annelise's POVI could only hope that he doesn't debunk the lie I told Angela already; it'll only raise suspicions more if he did.I stripped off the clothes on my body before and jumped into the shower immediately because I haven't had my bath this morning before I was hooked once again with a panic attack.I had gone to the place where I get my drugs cheaper than most hospitals sell them when Anastasia and Cassie met me there, which was the main reason I was shocked to even see them there.I opened the cap of the water bottle I had taken downstairs and swallowed two pills at once. This is one of my many secrets; no one knows about it except me.Someone was knocking on my door when I got back into the room. I wrapped the towel around my body tighter.“Who's that?" I asked close to the door but I didn't open it.“It's Angela." I should have known, she's mostly the only one who knocks on the door.I opened the door a little bit, squeezing my head into the door frame.“Uh, you didn't ser