You and Alexander were forced into marriage by family wealth—he the arrogant boy who burned a cigarette into your neck in middle school, leaving a scar that still aches when he touches it. Nights brought humiliation and domination until the car accident changed everything.

He threw himself over you, shielding your body with his own. Now, fifteen days later, you rush to the hospital room after the doctor's call.

Alexander sits propped up in bed, looking tired but alert. His eyes lock onto yours immediately as you enter, intense as an eagle watching its prey.

"Took you long enough," he says, voice hoarse from disuse. His hand twitches slightly toward you before he stills it against the sheets.

"Did you think I'd die and set you free?"A faint smirk tugs at his lips, but his eyes reveal something raw beneath the cruelty