جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Alina:Dusting books was possibly the most insulting duty Dimitri Volkov could have chosen for me. Not because it was difficult, no… it was because the shelves were clean already, and the wood gleamed beneath my hands, and I still had to fucking dust it.Even the books looked staged, spines aligned, leather uncreased, gilt letters catching the firelight whenever I moved. It was punishment dressed as usefulness. Or worse: entertainment.And I had glared at him seven times since I started, and not once did he bother with sparing me a glance to respond.I dragged the cloth across another row with more force than necessary and listened to the quiet scratch of Dimitri’s pen behind me.He was working. Reading, signing, making notes in the margins with that calm, brutal focus that made men obey without being shouted at.Mikhail, his damn beta, came and went. A courier left sealed documents. Dimitri spoke in short sentences and the room bent around him. And I hated just how natural command loo

Alina:I did not know which made me angrier, the fact that Dimitri had kissed me, or the fact that for one terrible second after he let go I had not known how to breathe… and even worse, the fact that I kissed him back.I left his office with my mouth still burning and my wrist aching where he had caught my hand before I could slap him. He promised not to touch me without my permission, but the fact that he was challenging me, that he was challenging that I would be begging for him just played in my mind, and I wanted so badly to break his ego… and face.My feet toward the noise and scent… the smell of freshly baked bread and the clatter of utensils told me that it was me going to the kitchen, and though I still wasn’t familiar with anything in this household, I knew that following my nose and ears never failed me.The kitchen was warmer than the rest of the mansion, and I watched as two maids chopped vegetables. A young man carried a basket of folded cloths through the back door. At

Alina:I worked in the kitchen until late last night. And I knew that if I said it so many times, it would not justify how grateful I was for it.But my gratefulness did not last long as Anya woke me before the sun had fully risen.Thankfully, I slept without hearing his voice in my dreams. That should have comforted me, but it did not. It only made the place feel more like a trap, learning my name.“You are going to get up and you're going to get ready. Now.” Anya said from the doorway.“I really am curious, do you ever knock like a civilized person? You know, I could actually be changing.” I said, sitting up, resting my back against the headboard.“Given the fact that you are asleep on your bed, I would beg to differ. Plus you have nothing that I have not seen before.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Now get up and get ready. We have a long day ahead of us.”My back ached as I got up, my muscles felt sore, but I was more than happy knowing that I did so much without having to look at D

Alina:By dinner time, the soreness in my arms and legs felt like my body had been borrowed and was suddenly replaced by someone else's because it was impossible that this was the body of the same woman who had woken up this morning.But now I finally sat alone in the kitchen's long table with a bowl of stew and a slice of bread. And for once I was not rushing. Anya had gone deeper into the mansion, a few maids were standing by the sink, cleaning the dishes, and now the silence felt like mercy landing on my shoulders.But that silence was short lived as Nikita sat down with an awkward smile and a bowl of soup. She set it down on the table as if she were testing whether or not I would bite.“May I?” she asked.I shrugged. “It isn’t my chair. Nor is it my house to control.”For a moment, the two of us ate without talking. She picked at her bread like she was rehearsing how to begin. And I could tell that she had been trying to speak since she sat down.“How are you?” she asked finally.

Alina:I should have gone to bed. My entire body ached from work and my hands were still sore from scrubbing dishes until they shone. And all I wanted was a quiet corner where I could forget that Dimitri Volkov existed. Instead, I stayed in the kitchen.Because I hated how things had gone tonight. Dinner had been long cleared away. A few servants were putting away the last parts while others prepared the bread dough for the morning. I dried another plate and placed it on the shelf. Despite this not being my job at all, I still did it because I needed to clear my mind."You're overthinking." Nikita said, leaning against the counter, watching me with a small smile.“I'm not overthinking. I'm not even thinking at all.” I said, looking away from her.“You are a bad liar, I will admit that.” She said, and I rolled my eyes.“You have known me a day and now you're calling me a liar as if you've known me for a long time.” I said, raising an amused eyebrow.“Well, it would prove that the two o