Ethan's POV
After the party, we returned home shrouded in a suffocating silence.
The second I walked into the bedroom, there she was—lounging on the bed, scrolling through her phone, acting like the night's chaos was nothing more than background noise.
The sight of her… so unaffected… made my blood boil.
"So... how was the kiss, leech?" I growled, voice low and dripping with venom.
No reaction.
Not even a twitch.
Like I didn't even exist.
Rage clawed up my throat.
In two strides, I was towering over her. I ripped the phone from her hand and hurled it against the wall. It shattered into pieces, a satisfying explosion of glass and plastic.
Still, she didn't move. Didn't even flinch.
It was like she was mocking me with her silence.
I grabbed her wrist, yanking her off the bed. She stumbled, but caught herself, refusing to show weakness.
That stubborn defiance—so fucking proud—made something snap inside me.
"You think you're untouchable?" I sneered, slamming her back against the bed, pinning her down hard enough that she gasped.
Her hand lashed out before I could say another word, slapping me across the face with enough force to sting.
"You don't get to touch me, you egotistical monster," she spat, her voice trembling with fury.
The sting of her slap was nothing compared to the white-hot fury surging through me.
Without thinking, I gripped her throat—not enough to crush, but enough to remind her who held the power now.
"You really think you can just slap me and walk away?" I hissed against her ear. My breath was ragged, my control slipping fast.
She shoved her bleeding lip in my face, pure hatred burning in her eyes.
"You bit me like a goddamn animal," she hissed. "You're not a man—you're a fucking beast."
I laughed, a cruel, broken sound.
"You don't deserve to be treated like a human," I snapped. "You're nothing but a parasite."
She flinched but didn't back down.
"If she loved you, why did she leave so easily?" she fired back, her voice a weapon slicing through my rage. "Why did she run to another man the second things got hard?"
I squeezed harder, watching her breath hitch. Her pulse hammered under my fingers—and I hated that it thrilled me.
"Shut your filthy mouth," I snarled.
But she didn't.
She leaned closer, whispering the truth I didn't want to hear.
"If Veronica truly loved you… no orphan could've broken you. She would've stayed. But she didn't, Ethan. She left you. You just can't accept it."
Every word drove the knife deeper.
I lost the last shred of restraint.
Grabbing a fistful of her hair, I yanked her head back, forcing her to look at me.
"If you hadn't destroyed everything," I snarled, "she would be in my bed right now, begging for me... screaming my name like she used to."
I saw her shudder, saw the way her face paled—but she still didn't cry. She swallowed it all, her hands balled into fists at her sides.
"I have no intention of staying here," she said through gritted teeth. "I didn't come here willingly. Your men dragged me like a dog. I only agreed because my best friend begged me to."
She fought against my hold, her strength pitiful compared to mine.
"And you know what, Mr. Hart?" she spat. "Because of you, I lost everything. My future. My dreams. My life. I built everything with my own damn hands—and you burned it all to ash."
Her voice cracked, but she didn't stop.
"So don't worry. I'll stay out of your precious, broken world. I'll stay invisible until this nightmare is over. That's a promise."
I tightened my hold cruelly for a second longer before finally shoving her away like she was garbage.
She stumbled off the bed, gasping for breath, tears welling in her eyes—but she didn't let them fall. No, she still tried to be strong.
It made me want to break her even more.
"And for your information…" she said, voice shaking, "I didn't drug you. I never needed to. You're pathetic enough to destroy yourself."
That final blow landed harder than any punch.
For a split second, something ugly twisted inside me—something dangerously close to regret.
But I buried it deep.
"Get the fuck out," I barked, my voice raw and merciless.