Chapter 1

During the day, I was Owen Grant's maid. But at night, I was his mistress.

After it was over, he dragged me off the bed, not caring about my pain. "You don't need to come here anymore."

I fell to the ground, terrified. "Did I do something wrong? Don't send me away, please."

Owen, who had been whispering sweet words to me, now looked down with indifference. "Wendy has agreed to marry me.

"She's afraid of pain. You're only for me to get ready. Now that I'm done, you should leave.

"You've always been obedient. You know what to do."

*****

I was still in shock from the devastating news that Owen was getting married.

Owen shot me an impatient look, his brows furrowed. "What are you standing there for? Go."

With my head bowed in fear, I hurried to gather up my torn clothes. "Yes, Mr. Grant."

After that, I slowly stood up and gingerly slipped back into my ruined clothes.

As I was about to drag my aching legs out the door, Owen called out, "Wait."

I turned around immediately, a flicker of hope rising in my chest.

But before I could see his face, a jacket was thrown over my head. "Your clothes are a mess. Wear this.

"And don't forget to take the pill."

His words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head, dousing any hope I had left.

I walked out, my legs aching and stiff. And I quietly closed the door behind me.

After all these years, I never should have had any hopes for our relationship.

*****

After slowly getting dressed, I fought back tears and went back to my room. I rummaged through the cabinet, grabbed the pill, and popped it in my mouth without thinking.

I should've learned to live with it by now. That was how it'd been for the past three years.

I grabbed a mirror, trying to freshen up before heading out for work.

When I saw the marks on my neck, I reached up and gently touched them. Owen's warmth still lingered, haunting me with memories I couldn't shake.

Our story started by pure accident.

At that party, the Grant family's rivals spiked Owen's drink, but I ended up drinking it all instead.

I was always supposed to shadow Owen, so when the drug kicked in, it was only the two of us.

I lost all control and groveled, sobbing and begging him to help me.

Owen always stayed chaste, but I clung to him so desperately that he couldn't shake me off.

Annoyed and impatient, he dragged me to the bed and took care of the drug's effects in a brutal way.

When I opened my eyes, before I could process what was happening, Dimitri and Emily slapped me across the face. "We took you in for eighteen years, and you dare to drug our son and try to seduce him?"

Before I had a chance to get dressed, the Grant family's bodyguards hauled me down to the basement, where I was tortured every day.

By the time they finished their investigation and realized it was merely a misunderstanding, they finally let me out. I was seriously wounded.

Owen looked at me with mixed emotions. "Why didn't you say anything?"

I couldn't bring myself to admit it. There was a part of me that wanted something I shouldn't.

I managed a weak smile from the bed. "I'm okay."

After that, maybe Owen got hooked. He'd call me to his room, fully aware of what he was doing. But every time, as soon as it was over, he'd coldly tell me to leave.

He never let me stay the night. No matter how tired I was, he'd always force me to get up and make me go back to my own room.

But this time, it was different. He kept coming back to me, on and off, the whole night.

After freshening up in the mirror and slipping into a clean outfit, I headed out to make breakfast for Owen.

Unlike the other maids in the Grant family, I was Owen's personal maid.

When Owen was a kid, he was always sick. A friar told his family that if they found a girl whose birth chart matched his and kept her by his side, he'd get better.

They searched all over the country and finally found me in an orphanage.

I was seven, and Owen was eight.

The Grant family only wanted to give it a try, but to their surprise, after I'd been with Owen for five days, his health improved.

So, I stayed by Owen's side from then on.

When we were kids, I kept him company. As we got older, I studied alongside him. After he graduated, he didn't need me by his side all the time anymore, so I became his personal maid.

Over the years, he'd always been cold and indifferent to me.

But he always remembered my birthday, and he'd give me a gorgeous necklace.

Sometimes, when he got drunk, and I brought him some soup to sober him up, he'd take my hand and run his thumb over it, with a soft smile on his lips.

"Anna, you're not like anyone else. You're the most special person in my heart," Owen said affectionately.

Those flirty words stuck with me and made me fall for him when I really shouldn't have.

I always believed that maybe he had a bit of feelings for me. That was enough for me.

But today, I finally realized it was all wishful thinking.

His heart belonged to Wendy Lawson, the heiress, and only her.

Once breakfast was ready, I carefully arranged everything and got ready to serve it upstairs.

Now that Owen didn't need me anymore, I shouldn't keep lingering here.