Chapter 15. Punishment
919 Words
“No. Not until I see you’re okay!” Nathan’s fist slammed into the side of the bed near Tessa.
Tessa didn’t answer.
His breathing was heavy, almost animalistic, a sign his patience had completely snapped.
“I don’t have time for your stupid games,” he said, yanking the coat off her head. “You don’t need this either.” Before she could stop him, her hat and sunglasses were gone.
Tessa looked wrecked. Her eyes were red, her nose runny, tears streaming down her face. Her stomach hurt and her chest felt so tight she was almost nauseous.
Nathan’s eyes swept over her body and back to her face, like he was searching for something he couldn’t find.
“This is your fault,” she sobbed. “Don’t act like you care. I’m here because of you. You left me when I needed you most.”
Nathan shook his head. His hand reached for her neck, his fingers threading into her hair. “No matter what I did, you’d still be going through this. Your father’s in prison for his crimes, and people were always going to hate you for it.” His lips moved closer, his gaze sharp and cutting.
“It didn’t have to be like this,” Tessa hissed through clenched teeth. “If just one person had stayed with me, helped me face all of it, I wouldn’t be here. Instead I got a husband who walked out on me when things were at their worst.”
She pounded her fists against his chest again and again. Nathan stayed still, not blocking a single blow. Then he let go of her hair, giving her space to unload.
“You win. Are you happy now, watching me get dragged through the mud? Robert Caldwell’s daughter, paying for his sins?” She slammed her fists into the bed, the metal frame ringing with each hit. “If you’re not happy yet, I could just die right now and make you smile!”
Nathan only stared, expressionless. His face was flat, his eyes cold. Tessa knew no words would break through that wall of revenge. In his mind she was just another part of a plan he needed to finish.
The urge to release everything boiled over. She climbed off the bed and stormed to the side table, sweeping everything onto the floor. Files and medicine scattered. The sound of breaking glass felt like fire under her skin, a twisted kind of relief.
She grabbed a replica skull and hurled it at the window, shattering the glass. Shelves, cabinets, anything she could destroy, she tore apart. Even the bedframe collapsed, and she stood in the wreckage, breath coming in ragged bursts, her rage finally ebbing.
Tessa stood in the corner of the room, staring at the chaos she’d created. Even when she’d been her father’s heir, she’d never lost control like this. But now, hell, she needed it.
For the past year she’d held it all in. Kept her head down. Stayed quiet. Took every insult without fighting back. And now, she’d let it out. It was the most satisfying thing she’d felt in her life.
“Feel better now, princess?” Nathan asked from where he’d been standing the whole time, unfazed by her outburst.
Tessa didn’t answer. She just took a deep breath, her knees trembling as the adrenaline drained out of her.
“Got it all out?” Nathan stepped closer, picking his way through the debris. “If so, let’s head home.”
His hand gripped her hips in a way that made her feel owned.
“You’ve got two choices, princess,” he murmured. “Come home with me or stay here and trash the whole hospital. Either way, I’m not leaving you.”
She wanted to pick the second option, but her body could barely hold her up.
“I’ll go home today. But someday I’ll burn your house down,” she whispered, her voice still raw from the storm.
Her feet moved on their own as she entered the private wing of Hawthorne Estate. Nathan cleared the way, making sure no staff saw her, sealing off the entire section of the house.
Hawthorne Estate remained a mystery. There were secrets there no one could know. Nathan wouldn’t let anyone find out he was hiding his ex-wife inside. And for Tessa, there was no advantage in anyone learning she was now her ex-husband’s kept woman.
Alone at last, she collapsed onto the bed and shut her eyes. Her body needed rest after everything. She felt wrung out.
She drifted off to the sound of Smokey’s meowing.
---
When she woke, her body felt lighter. The room was dark, though she didn’t remember turning off the lights.
She got up, flicked the switch, and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her stomach growled. If she was hungry, Smokey probably was too.
She hurried to the kitchen, grabbed a can of tuna, and poured it into Smokey’s bowl. But when she saw the water dish still full, her brows knit. Smokey hadn’t touched it all day.
“Smokey!” she called again and again. No answer.
She searched under the bed, in the bathroom. Nothing.
Finally her eyes landed on something on Smokey’s bed: a piece of paper.
She snatched it up and read it over and over, unable to believe it.
'Tonight at ten, I’m coming over. Be a good girl, or I’ll send your furball to the shelter!'
- Writer
