Chapter 107: It’s You

Scarlett’s POV

​The air felt different when I woke up. It was heavy and still. But the smell was what hit me first. It was that expensive, spicy scent that always followed Ethan. My eyes snapped open. For a second, I didn’t know where I was. Then I felt the heat of a bare chest against my cheek and the solid weight of an arm around my waist.

​I didn’t just wake up—I jerked away.

​The movement sent a sharp, stabbing pain through my head, and my stomach flipped. I scrambled backward, my hands tangling in the sheets as I tried to get away from him. I tried to stand, but my legs felt weak, like they might give out under me. I had to grab the heavy bedpost just to keep the floor from rising up to hit me.

​"What are you doing here?" I choked out. My throat felt like it had been scrubbed with sandpaper.

​The memories came back in painful, ugly flashes. The maid with the bowed head. The bitter, metallic taste of the tea. The way the world had tilted until I was staring at the floor. I remembered the screaming—the triplets. I remembered the heat of Leo’s skin and the way he begged me to breathe.

​So why was Ethan the one holding me?

He looked

I couldn’t. I stared at his bare shoulders, then looked at the rumpled pillows where Leo had been just hours before. A bitter taste, worse than the poison, filled

to a low, flat tone. He started to slide out of the

enough to make him flinch. "Please... just stay away from

head against the cold wood of the bedpost, my

for anything," I whispered, looking at my bare feet. "I know you paid for me. I know I’m just a commodity

disappearing into the stubble on his jaw. I stared at him, my mind reeling. What is wrong with him? He had clearly asked me to stay away from him... he

I turned and stumbled toward the bathroom, my hand fumbling for the handle. I didn’t even look back as

my fingers clumsy and weak. I didn’t wait for the water to get warm. I stepped under the showerhead and turned the handle all the way to the side. The freezing spray hit my skin, knocking the breath out of

against the wet tiles, listening to the water hiss. I was so lost in

felt the steam-chilled

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