Chapter 10
In the early morning light, a cool touch brushed across his chest–like a featherlight kiss, just warm enough to linger.
Still half–asleep, Declan instinctively pulled the person in his arms closer, fingers curling around hers. His voice was low and rough
with affection.
“sloane… don’t tease…”
But the moment he spoke, his body stiffened.
That hand..
Sloane had once worked as a home. nurse and caretaker. Life had never been easy for her, and her hands bore the marks of it–calluses thin but persistent, as though time itself had etched them there. Even after he’d showered her with affection and paid someone to develop a custom hand cream just for her, the calluses never truly faded.
He used to trace those rough fingertips on quiet nights, feeling nothing but tenderness.
But the hand he was holding now was too soft. Too smooth.
Like glass cracking under pressure, his mind suddenly split wide open with a flood of memories. His eyes flew open as he shot upright in bed.
The room was a mess–clothes scattered everywhere. On the disheveled sheets, Vivienne lay completely nude, wrapped in the blanket with a coy smile on her face.
“You’re up? So early. Stay a bit longer with me?”
Declan‘ face lost all color. “What… what happened between us?“!
“What do you mean, what happened?” Vivienne pouted, her voice all sugar and sleep. “You barged in like a man on fire, pushed me up against the door, couldn’t wait even a second. Look at me–I’m covered in marks. Everything aches.”
Her tone was playful, laced with the sweetness of victory.
But realization slammed into him like a freight train. He closed his eyes, jaw tight. “You drugged me… last night, didn’t you?” He asked, but he already knew
Of course she had, She’d ordered the drinks for him. She’d added something.
It wasn’t the first time.
Vivienne had chased him for ten years. She’d written him her first love letter in high school. After college, she bought a private island overseas just to confess again. That night, she’d drugged him and dragged him to her bedroom.
He’d been so furious he smashed a glass and slashed his hand just to stay awake. He ended up in the hospital getting his stomach pumped.
Back then, all he felt for this relentless heiress was disgust.
If it hadn’t been for what happened in the UK last year–if she hadn’t fallen into a coma saving him–he never would’ve given her the time of day.
He owed her deeply. So he let her throw tantrums, Indulged her every whim, even risked everything to protect her.
But none of that meant he loved her.
No one knew that after that night abroad, after the stomach pumping, he’d chartered a flight back to the Hawthorne estate.
Weakened and dizzy, he’d stumbled around the garden… and crashed right into a girl in the corner path. He’d fainted on the spot.
When he woke up, a pair of teary red eyes were staring down at him by the bedside.
Chapter 10
It was the first time he met Sloane. The moment she saw him wake, she grabbed a towel to wipe his forehead–so nervous her fingers
were trembling.
Something about that moment–those eyes–just landed in his heart. And for the first time, something in his drifting heart found
solid ground.
“You worried about me that much?” he teased, his voice still weak. “Knocking me out means you have to take responsibility, you know.”
She burst into tears on the spot. “Worried? My ass! If you didn’t wake up, I was gonna lose my job!”
So damn cute.
That was the thought that hit him that day.
Now, as those memories surged back in vivid waves, Declan felt a stab of guilt so deep it nearly took his breath away.
This—this chaos, this betrayal of their marriage–it crushed him with shame.
His expression turned to ice. He swung his legs off the bed and stood, his voice cold, clipped, professional. “I’m going to pretend last night didn’t happen.”
“Vivienne, I’m grateful to you. I am. I’ll protect you, even spoil you, if I have to. But don’t mistake that for love.”
“I’ve never once considered divorcing Sloane. Never even thought about betraying her. Don’t ever pull a stunt like this again. It’s disgusting. And it makes people hate you.
Chapter 10
