All Chapters of The Billionaire's Sinful Affair (Book 2): Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

All the air vanished from Emmeline’s lungs in a single, devastating rush.Total silence fell over the pavilion.Teacups paused halfway to mouths as every eye locked onto the human.Emmeline forced a slow, steadying breath past the tightness in her throat. Of course. She should have expected this coordinated strike. These bored, cold-blooded vipers would never pass up a chance to tear her apart for their own amusement."I was." Emmeline kept her voice entirely flat, forcing her jaw to unhinge just enough to speak. "Briefly.""Briefly." Lysandra’s eyes gleamed with the thrill of twisting the knife. "Yeah, I heard it ended pretty badly. Your husband was a surgeon, right? Super successful. Well-respected."She let the end of that sentence hang."He was." Emmeline met her gaze directly. "He was also violent. Abusive. A monster who hid behind a respectable job."A few aristocrats gasped softly while Elainna's hand flew to her mouth in a perfectly choreographed display of shock.Lysandra’s s

Emmeline couldn't remember falling asleep.She couldn't remember the transition from lying awake, staring at the canopy, to opening her eyes to the pale morning light filtering through the glass.Her body felt fundamentally wrong. Her mouth tasted of old copper, and a dull, relentless throb pulsed behind her eyes.When she tried to push herself up, her arms trembled so violently she collapsed back onto the mattress.It wasn't just exhaustion. The air in the room felt heavy, pressing down on her lungs.Without Zavian here to anchor her, the ambient magic of this realm felt toxic, slowly leaching the life out of her cells.She forced herself upright on the second try.Black spots danced at the edges of her vision, exploding like tiny dark stars.Emmeline gripped the edge of the mattress, waiting for the room to stop spinning.Her hands looked skinny on the dark sheets. The skin across her knuckles was stretched tight, the blue veins underneath mapping out a circulatory system that felt

Emmeline kept her gaze pinned to the cobblestones, tracking the hem of Elainna's dress.The pale blue silk swayed with each step, pristine and untouched by the grime of the street.Emmeline focused on it, using the rhythm as an anchor to keep herself upright.Nyx stayed so close their shoulders brushed.The house loomed ahead, its door hanging open.The smell hit Emmeline before they crossed the threshold. Heavy copper and sour sweat that coated the back of her throat, making her swallow hard.Her stomach rolled."Please." The father led them down the hallway. "She's been in labor for hours. The midwife doesn't know what to do. Help her.""I'll do everything I can." Elainna pushed her pale blue sleeves up to her elbows, exposing smooth, unmarked forearms and glanced back over her shoulder.The corners of her mouth tightened as her gaze locked onto Emmeline.The look lasted only a second, but it was enough."Come." Elainna gestured to the open doorway. "You should understand what your

Eva stood by the tall window in her bedroom, her spine locked in the exact rigid posture she'd maintained for three thousand human years.Time hadn't carved lines into her skin or dimmed the sharp clarity of her gaze.Her hair fell in perfect, undisturbed waves over her shoulders. To any observer, she looked exactly as she had centuries ago: untouchable, eternal, unshakable."Put her in bed," Eva said, turning her attention to Nyx. "Ensure she eats when she wakes. She is no use to anyone if she starves to death."Nyx bowed her head. "Yes, Grand Anassa."Events of that day replayed in Eva’s mind.That had been seven days ago.For a full week, Eva had maintained her absolute, terrifying composure.But every evening, Nyx delivered reports on Emmeline.The human refuses to leave the room. She will not speak.The food trays are returned untouched. Her starvation and backlash are accelerating.She has stopped crying. Her tears have completely dried up. She simply stares at the balcony doors

A blast of raw, primordial force tore through the entryway, reducing the thick wood to jagged shrapnel and ripping the heavy velvet curtains from their holds.The impact shattered the glass of the balcony doors outward into the night, allowing air to rush into the room, carrying the sharp scent of danger.Cassius's head snapped toward the ruined threshold, and his tight fingers loosened around Emmeline's throat just enough for gravity to take over.Emmeline collapsed onto the blood-stained mattress. Her throat pulled in ragged, wheezing breaths as if she were swallowing broken glass with every inhale.Through the settling dust and the haze of pulverized marble, a figure stepped into her view.His skin was deathly pale, the veins beneath his jaw pulsing with a dark, suppressed rage that leached the warmth from the air. His hands had elongated into wickedly curved claws, and the natural deep blue of his irises had been entirely swallowed by black pools.Cassius released a low, guttural