บททั้งหมดของ What Daddy Left Behind: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

~ Thea’s POVI couldn't imagine what crime I had committed other than driving a car that cost more than the tuition fees of everyone in the hallway combined.It couldn’t be because of that, was it?The student aide opened the heavy oak door for me, offering a sympathetic wince before scurrying away.I stepped inside, my back straight, my chin high, posture drilled into me by boarding school."Miss Mercer," Dean Oxi said, standing up from his desk. He was sweating again, dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief that looked like it had seen better days. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I... well, we have a situation.""Am I in trouble, Dean?" I asked, my voice cool."No, no! Not at all. It’s a... personal matter."He gestured to the leather guest chairs facing his desk.I had been so focused on the Dean that I hadn't noticed the figure slumped in the chair closest to the window.She turned around."Thea."It was Aunt Carol.This woman looked like she had shattered.Her blonde hair was

~ Thea's POVI didn't wait for Dean Oxi to dismiss me. Once the call with Stellan ended, once the money was promised and the air in the room had turned thick with my aunt’s relieved, pathetic sobbing, I turned on my heel and walked out."Thea! Thea, wait!"Aunt Carol scrambled after me, her heels clacking unevenly on the hallway linoleum. She caught up to me just as I pushed through the heavy double doors into the bright afternoon sun."Thea, please," she panted, reaching for my arm but stopping short of touching me, likely remembering Stellan’s voice on the phone. "I... I don't know how to thank you. You saved us. You really saved the family."I stopped, adjusting my sunglasses. I looked at her. She was a mess of smeared mascara and desperation. She didn't have a car waiting. She had probably taken a cab she couldn't afford or a bus."I'll drive you home," I said, my voice devoid of emotion."Oh," she blinked, surprised. "That... that would be lovely. Thank you, dear."We walked to

~ Stellan’s POV"Yes," I said, my voice smooth, detached. "You can."The woman, Elena? Elara?, smiled, a curve of crimson lips that was meant to be enticing. But didn’t even move me one bit.She poured the wine, her movements deliberate, leaning forward so the neckline of her dress gaped, offering a view I had seen a thousand times on a thousand different women.I drank the wine. It was excellent. I felt nothing.We talked a few times and I let her think she has got me wrapped around her fingers.I wanted to know if she was going to get me excited for her.She led me out of the private room at Per Se. I let her hand linger on my bicep as we walked to the elevator. I let her whisper suggestions in my ear that would have, six months ago, resulted in a very pleasant, very forgettable night in a hotel suite.We got into the back of my town car, not the Bentley, but the corporate Mercedes I used for board dinners."To the Pierre," she told the driver, assuming.I didn't correct her. She

~ Stellan’s POV"Tell me his name," I commanded, my thumb pressing mercilessly against the bundle of nerves I had located inside her.Thea threw her head back, her mouth opening in a silent scream of pleasure and panic. Her eyes were glazed, unfocused, trapped in the web of sensation I was spinning beneath the white tablecloth.I had her. She was on the edge, ready to shatter, ready to give me everything, to make a mess of herself."Guys?"My hand froze. Thea’s eyes snapped open, wide and terrified.Maya was standing up, oblivious to the fact that her best friend was being pleasured three feet away from her. She was checking her phone, a dopey, lovesick grin plastered on her face."I have to bounce," she announced, grabbing her bag. "Liam just texted. He’s done with practice and wants to meet up at the library. Apparently, he 'misses my face.' Ugh, he's so obsessed. I love it."I slowly, agonizingly, withdrew my hand from under Thea’s skirt.The loss of contact made Thea whimper, a

~ Stellan's POVThe silence in the private dining room was absolute, save for the rhythmic, shallow breathing of the girl slumped against the ruined tablecloth.I stood over her, my chest still heaving slightly, adjusting my cufflinks with hands that felt strangely steady now. The sex had driven the rage out of me, for hearing about Arthur.I was ready to destroy him wherever he was.I reached out, brushing a damp strand of hair from her forehead. She was out cold. Passed out from the sheer sensory overload, the exhaustion of the day, and the intensity of the climax I had forced out of her.She looked wrecked. And she had never looked more beautiful.I couldn't stop looking at her. My eyes traced the swollen curve of her lips, red and bitten. I followed the line of her throat, where a dark bruise was already beginning to bloom, my mark. I looked at her hands, limp and open, the hands that had clawed at my back just minutes ago.I grabbed a clean napkin, dipping it into the water glass