Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning pissed off beyond belief. He hadn't touched me last night. We hadn't slept together.

"Mrs. Kingsleigh? Are you awake?"

Mr. Harris’s polite voice filtered through the door before the elderly butler stepped inside, carrying a silver tray with a hot breakfast and a glass of warm milk.

"Where’s Aethon?" I asked, pushing myself up against the headboard.

"Mr. Kingsleigh left for the office at dawn, ma'am," Mr. Harris replied respectfully, setting the tray on my nightstand. "He asked that you finish your breakfast and remain inside the estate today."

I bit my lower lip, frustration boiling over. Stubborn bastard. He still didn't trust me. He thought my confession last night was just a delusional lie induced by whatever sedatives Edward had given me.

As Mr. Harris turned to leave, my phone chimed on the nightstand. The caller ID made my jaw clench instantly: Sasha Palmer.

I picked up, dialing my voice down to sound as weak and fragile as possible to bait her. "Hello..."

"Olivia! Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you!" Sasha’s voice overflowed with sweet, frantic concern—a flawless performance from a two-faced snake. "Edward told me you vanished after canceling the asset transfer last night. Are you okay?"

"I'm not feeling well," I murmured softly. "Aethon locked me in the mansion again."

"See?! I told you he was a dangerous monster, Olivia! Why won't you listen to me?" Sasha let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. "Look, I was so sick with worry that I just dropped off my family’s corporate investment proposal at the Kingsleigh Group headquarters. I even tried talking to Aethon directly so he'd stop being so cruel to you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. Sasha was at Aethon's office?

"You... met with Aethon?" I asked, playing completely clueless.

"Yes, sweetie. He was actually surprisingly welcoming. Probably because he knows I'm your best friend, so he felt comfortable opening up," Sasha bragged, her arrogance practically bleeding through the speaker. "He even invited me into his private office for coffee. Honestly, he’s not so bad when you get him one-on-one. Don't worry, I’ll help convince him to give you your freedom back."

You conniving viper.

She was using her status as my best friend to slither into the cracks of my marriage, worming her way toward Aethon under the guise of sisterly concern! And Aethon—who didn't know her true colors in this timeline—would naturally assume her visit was harmless.

"Thank you... you really are the best friend I could ask for," I whispered, holding back the burning nausea in my chest.

The second the call disconnected, I slammed the phone onto the mattress. Pure rage and possessive jealousy exploded inside me. I wasn't going to let that leech lay a single finger on my husband. Aethon was mine. Mine alone.

That evening, I decided to take total control of the board.

At nine o'clock sharp, heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway. Aethon stepped into the master suite, peeling off his black suit jacket and loosening his tie with a exhausted sigh. The silver mask covering the left side of his face caught the dim, romantic glow of the bedroom lights.

I was standing by the bar cart, wearing a sheer, floor-length black lace babydoll that left nothing to the imagination—framing my collarbones, shoulders, and the curve of my thighs. I had left my dark hair down in loose, tumbling waves.

"You're still awake?" Aethon’s voice was icy, but his sharp eyes lingered on my body for a long, dangerous beat before he forced his gaze away.

"I was waiting for you," I purred, taking a slow, deliberate step toward him. "How was work today? I heard Sasha stopped by your office."

Aethon’s hands froze on the top buttons of his dress shirt. His gaze flattened. "Your friend was just delivering Palmer Corp's investment dossiers and checking on you. She was worried."

"And you believed her?" I asked, a sweet, dangerous smile playing on my lips.

"She’s the only person in your circle who hasn't tried to assassinate me or steal my classified files, Olivia," Aethon replied coldly, tossing his silk tie onto the leather armchair. "Unlike you."

The words stung, but I refused to back down. Aethon was built like a fortress—his heart locked behind iron walls because he was terrified of being broken by me again. If I relied on sweet talk alone, he would keep shoving me away, leaving an open invitation for women like Sasha.

If soft tactics didn't work, I had to play dirty.

I poured two crystal glasses of dark red wine.

Turning my back to him, I slipped a small glass vial out of my robe pocket—a high-potency aphrodisiac I had secretly instructed a trusted maid to source earlier that afternoon.

I tipped five clear drops straight into Aethon’s glass.

Swirling the liquid, I turned back to face him, carrying both glasses. I walked toward him with a slow, hypnotic sway of my hips, letting the thin silk part to reveal my skin.

"For you," I said softly, offering the glass.

Aethon stared down at the dark wine, then locked eyes with me, his gaze dripping with suspicion. "What did you put in this?"

I took a delicate sip from my own glass to prove a point, then leaned up, letting my breath brush his earlobe. "If you're so afraid I'm poisoning you... why don't you take it directly from my lips, Hubby?"

Aethon let out a rough, frustrated breath. Without breaking eye contact, he snatched the glass from my hand and drained the entire contents in one long gulp.

"Satisfied?" he hissed coldly, slamming the empty glass onto the mahogany table with a sharp clink.

I smiled. Now, all I had to do was wait three minutes.

To pass the time, I engaged him in useless small talk, but before he could respond, Aethon grabbed the edge of the vanity table so hard the veins in his forearms bulged against his skin. His slow, controlled breathing suddenly hit a jagged, heavy wall.

He clutched his chest, his throat working hard as he swallowed dryly. A dark, feverish flush crept up his neck, spreading rapidly across his jaw.

"O-Olivia..." Aethon groaned, his deep voice faltering. "What the hell did you put in my drink?!"

I stepped closer, slowly untying the silk belt at my waist and letting the robe pool onto the carpet, leaving me in nothing but a whisper of lace.

"I'm just giving us what should have happened last night, Aethon," I whispered gently.

I stopped directly in front of him, reaching up to frame his burning face with my hands. My cool fingers stroked his rugged jaw line, moving up to untie the leather straps of the silver mask shielding the left side of his face.

Click.

The mask detached, dropping onto the plush rug below. For the first time in this second life, I stared straight at the jagged, brutal scar carving across his left cheek—the mark that made the world brand him a monster. But to me, it only made him look devastatingly handsome.

I leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss directly onto his scar.

Aethon’s massive frame shuddered violently.

"You're out of your mind..." Aethon rasped out. He tried to push my shoulders away, but his body was already betraying him, pulling me flush against his chest. "You drugged me with some cheap aphrodisiac?!"

"It's your own fault for lacking the initiative to touch your wife," I whispered, deliberately sliding my bare thigh between his legs, rubbing my warmth against the thick, rock-hard bulge strain against his trousers.

"Ugh!" Aethon let out a guttural groan as the contact shattered his restraint.

I grabbed the lapels of his white shirt, pulling his chest tight against mine. I looked up, locking eyes with the wild, predatory darkness consuming his iris.

"Touch me, Aethon. Tell me you want me more than any woman in this world," I teased with a low whimper, biting my bottom lip right in front of his eyes.

"You brought the devil out yourself, Olivia!" Aethon growled in a lethal, raspy roar.

His broad hands snapped around my waist, bruisingly tight, hauling my body up against his with zero space between us. Before I could catch my breath, his mouth crashed down on mine in a brutal, possessive assault.

His tongue forced its way inside, claiming my mouth, plucking my breath away as if trying to consume my entire soul.

"Mmh!" I gasped into the kiss, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, matching his feral energy stride for stride.

With one sweeping motion of his arm, Aethon cleared the vanity, sending perfume bottles and crystal trays crashing onto the floor. In a split second, he lifted me by my thighs and slammed me down onto the edge of the cold wooden table.

His rough fingers traveled up my legs, gripping my thigh so tightly it left flushed red marks, before he brutally tore the silk lace of my lingerie right down the center.

"Aethon... ahh!" I let out a sharp gasp as he towered over me, ripping open his own dress shirt until buttons scattered across the floor like hail.

Our heavy, ragged breaths collided in the air. Aethon buried his face in the crook of my neck, dropping burning kisses down my collarbone, biting down just hard enough to leave deep, purple mark after mark—marking his territory.

"Say my name, Olivia..." Aethon commanded, his large hand sliding down to explore the soaking, slick heat between my thighs that was already desperate for him. "Tell me who owns you tonight!"

I arched my neck back, letting out a shattered moan as his fingers set my nerve endings on fire.

"Aethon. Aethon Kingsleigh..." I surrendered, digging my nails into his broad, muscular shoulders. "Only you... my husband..."

A dark, lethal growl rumbled deep in his chest. The passion fueled by the aphrodisiac—and years of repressed, obsessive love—erupted into an unstoppable wave. Aethon grabbed my hips, positioning his thick length at my entrance, and with one brutal, possessive thrust, he buried himself completely inside me.

"AHHH!" I screamed as my body filled to absolute capacity with his searing size.

Aethon gave me no time to adjust. He plunged into a fast, deep, unyielding rhythm. Every collision of our bodies sent a shockwave of raw heat through the room.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding on tight, drowning entirely in the storm of a monster who was now undeniably, completely mine.

"You are mine, Olivia. Forever only mine," Aethon snarled, cupping my face, staring into my eyes as if he intended to devour me whole.

"Prove it. Stop talking," I teased, tapping his nose, drawing a dark, wicked smirk from his lips.

"You asked for it!" he growled.

He proved every single word, and I devoured every touch he offered. It drove me out of my mind. He was relentless, breathtaking, consuming every ounce of my energy without mercy. His wild, unending pace worked every joint in my body to complete liquid. I surrendered to him entirely, until I finally blacked out in his arms, sinking into a deep sleep brought on by intoxicating exhaustion.

Morning arrived all too fast. When I slowly opened my eyes, the warmth beside me had already evaporated. The space next to me on the bed was cold and empty.

At the foot of the king-sized bed, Aethon stood with his back turned to me. He had already pulled on his tailored trousers and a white dress shirt, leaving it unbuttoned just enough to hide the chest I knew was covered in claw marks from last night.

He was getting ready to leave. Again.

He was acting as if the wild, explosive intimacy we shared last night was just a minor inconvenience to be swept under the rug. He was putting his icy wall back up, pretending the burning love and sheer terror in his eyes last night had never existed.

You really think you can run from me after what we did last night, Aethon Kingsleigh?

Ignoring how sore and bruised my body felt under the heavy duvet, I leaped out of bed. The silk sheet slid to the floor, leaving my bare skin—covered in deep violet love bites—completely exposed to the cool morning air. I tiptoed up behind him and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist.

I pressed my cheek flush against his broad, warm back.

"Where do you think you're going, Hubby?"