Chapter 12
Zach was standing there, his suit perfect, and his expression icy.
He walked over with confident steps and took my hand.
“Today’s our anniversary. I’ve been waiting to take you home,” he said calmly.
“Chloe, the company didn’t hire you to stir up drama. This is your last warning,” he said. His icy presence swept across Ethan and Chloe like a blade.
Chloe hesitated, then grabbed the document from her desk and retreated to her office.
“Fine, I’ll handle this document,” she said.
“Anniversary? Are you two actually married?” Ethan asked, disbelief in his voice.
Zach took my wrist and wrapped his other arm firmly around my waist, as if staking his claim.
“Legally married,” he said flatly.
With that, Zach turned and led me away.
“No way!” Ethan completely lost his composure and shouted after us,
“Zach Whitmore! Your standards are sky-high! How could you possibly be into her?!”
In the backseat of the Rolls-Royce, Zach gripped my neck with one hand.
“Summer, now you can finally see that I’m the one who truly loves you.”
We locked eyes for a long moment. I forced myself to stay calm.
“I’ll go back with you,” I said quietly.
“Good girl.” Zach smiled, clearly satisfied.
“As for Ethan,” he leaned in, his voice turning icy, “I won’t let him off easy.”
Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder, his jaw clenched tight with rage.
“How dare you let that man touch your shoulder! You need to be punished!
“Take everything off. Do it yourself!”
I did not move.
He yanked at my clothes, his hands rough.
I fought back.
He finally smiled. “There, that’s the way I like it.”
With those words, he gripped my neck and kissed me hard-a punishing kiss, fierce and possessive, stealing the breath from my lungs.
Zach’s desire was as intense as ever.
On those nights, he would take me over and over again with such force it felt like he was tearing me apart, until I could no longer even stand straight.
This time, we had been apart for a week.
1/2
He raised the partition between the front and back seats…
He was rough. His hand tightened around my throat, making my breathing shallow and broken, my mind going blank.
“Zach… I can’t… Please…”
Only when he saw me begging did he finally look satisfied.
“Good girl. This is exactly how I trained you to act.
“I always know what you’re thinking.
“You might say no, but I can tell you mean yes.”
After we got home, he took me to his Red Room, and I did not get to sleep until it was almost morning.
The next day, everyone in town was talking about how Zach and I were going to get married,
“I’ll make sure we have a big, beautiful wedding, Summer. You’ll see that I’m the only one who can make you happy,” he told
I did not say anything back. I just looked down at the marks he had left on me.
When my family heard the news, they called to congratulate me. “We’re so proud of you, our dear daughter, for marrying the best and richest man around.
“Now that you’re part of the Whitmore family, you’ll have lots of resources. Your stepdad and Ethan’s company will need your help too.”
I just nodded and said I would do what I could.
A few days later, Ethan and Chloe got into big trouble for messing with Whitmore Capital’s important papers and stealing secrets. The police came for Ethan, and Chloe disappeared.
