Bought by Marriage

Chapter 4:

Natalia’s POV:

The next day,

“Natalia, why are you here?”

I turned around and saw my father-in-law, Jonathan Hargrove, standing there. I chuckled softly.

“Dad, I want to plant Belladonna here.”

I wiped the sweat from my brow. Under the sunlight, my hands carefully nurtured each seed.

When I said the Belladonna would bloom into a beautiful garden, he was as happy as a child. I smiled too, my heart filled with warmth.

He apologized for the commercial wedding… but I truly didn’t blame him at all.

“Do you love Edward?” he asked directly.

My face flushed. “From the party at Roselight Enterprises… when I saw him… I fell in love with him.”

He laughed joyfully, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. We bent down together to plant. I was truly happy, loved, and acknowledged.

…

I was laughing and talking with my father-in-law when suddenly a car braked sharply.

Before I could turn around, a strong hand grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet.

“Ed… Edward!”

I gasped as my wrist was squeezed painfully. My face tensed, my breath catching in my throat.

“Edward, you’re hurting me…” I whispered, unable to hide my panic.

My father-in-law immediately flared up, his voice filled with anger:

“Edward! What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” Edward turned his head, his voice chillingly cold. “I should be asking you two what you’re doing.”

I looked straight at him. His face was pale, his eyes clouded with an unreadable, dark haze. In the depths of his eyes… there was anger, but something else. A possessiveness? An inexplicable agitation? A touch of… jealousy?

“What?” he gritted his teeth. “Aren’t you tired? Doing chores for the maid?”

Ah… so it was just about that.

“It’s because I wanted to plant Belladonna flowers myself. Dad liked them, so he helped me out…” I quickly explained.

“Dad?” he sneered, his sarcastic tone cutting into my skin. “You’re quite familiar with him. I see you’re a promiscuous woman.”

Slap.

He shoved me forcefully. My back hit the ground, a chilling sensation running down my spine. I looked at him in disbelief.

“Edward…” my voice trembled.

I never imagined… he could use those words to describe me.

“Natalia is your wife!” my father-in-law roared, his hand shaking with rage. “You don’t even have the slightest respect?”

Edward narrowed his eyes. A sudden spark of anger flared in his gaze, sharp as a knife.

“Respect…?” he repeated, his voice chillingly low.

Edward laughed, a laugh so cold it seemed to freeze the air in the courtyard. I saw his eyes, black as an abyss, cold as ice.

"My father is teaching his son about respect? Has he ever respected anyone?"

At that question, my father-in-law's face turned pale. And in that moment, I saw in Edward's eyes a memory so dark it made him tremble. He was looking through us, looking at another figure… another memory I couldn't touch.

Nancy's name flashed in those eyes like a tear in his heart.

My father-in-law staggered, having to lean on the back of the chair to regain his balance. My heart tightened.

"Father!" I called out frantically, wanting to run and help him.

But as I turned to Edward, my anger flared up like a whip.

"Edward, you're so stubborn! You can't reason with me!"

He spun around to look at me. The pallor on his face was terrifyingly intense, his dark eyes seemingly devouring all the light around him.

“I’m stubborn?” he repeated, each word hissing through clenched teeth. “Can’t you reason with me?”

He leaned down, his shadow falling over me, his voice low and chillingly cold:

“Then today… I’ll show you what it means to be unreasonable.”

Before I could recoil, he grabbed my wrist, his grip so strong it hurt.

“Edward!” I gasped, trying to pull back.

It was useless.

His gaze swept over my father-in-law. Just one look, cold and sharp as a knife, enough to send shivers down my spine. Then, without another word, he dragged me towards the mansion, his strides long and furious.

I stumbled after him, swept into the storm swirling within him, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

...

Edward kicked the door open, the impact like thunder in my chest. He pushed me onto the bed, then locked the door.

I struggled to sit up, the pain from the previous encounter still tormenting me. “Edward… what do you want?” I asked, my voice trembling.

He untied his tie, his collar opening, revealing his tanned, muscular skin.

“I want you to remember… who the man you must serve is.”

Then he pressed down, his hot breath covering my skin. His kisses were no longer the tenderness I had longed for, but like streaks of fire, burning away the space around me.

“Edward! You’re crazy! I don’t understand what you’re saying!” I pushed against his chest, feeling like I was fighting a storm.

He growled low, his hot breath brushing against my ear:

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. Just know what I want.”

His hands slid up my shoulders, strong, heavy, and hot like two shackles pressing me into this suffocating reality.

“What… do you think I am?” I choked, trying to push him away, my chest tightening as if being torn apart by sharp thorns.

In a moment of desperate explosion, my hand swung up.

Slap!

The sharp, cold sound of the slap echoed, making the whole room freeze. My breath hitched, my hand still trembling in the air.

Edward reacted so quickly I couldn't dodge. He grabbed my wrist, the force so strong it made me shiver.

His fingers slid up my chin, squeezing tightly.

Cold. So numbing, as if he wanted to carve his mark on my flesh, as if a single misstep would shatter my bones.

His deep black eyes lifted me off the ground not by strength, but by that suffocating rage. His gaze was filled with anger, bitterness, and something I dared not name.

“I can overlook this rudeness. But don’t think you can act so rudely towards me.”

My wrists ached so much they were almost numb, but I still glared at him.

“I never imagined the man I love would be so moody… you’re truly unusual!”

My face flushed with anger seemed to only enrage him further.

“Love me? Then prove it.”

Then he pushed my hands above my head, using the icy rope to tightly bind my wrists. I gasped for breath.

“Let me go! Let me go!” I cried out, knowing what he was about to do.

But he didn’t listen to me. His hand moved down to my chest and squeezed hard, even through two layers of clothing I could still feel the pain. My teeth clenched, tears welling up.

“You… what are you doing?”

Ed didn't answer, of course. He easily stripped off my outer shirt, then my inner one. And then Edward started kissing me there, as if trying to mark me, to mark me as his possession, or perhaps he was taking revenge, I don't know. He sucked tightly on my skin, relentlessly, and finally, Ed bit my breast, making me scream in pain, leaving his teeth marks and causing it to bleed.

I burst into tears, but he didn't care.

Ed began to undress me and fondle my most sensitive areas. My body began to secrete fluids, fueled by the overwhelming desire. Female hormones began to intoxicate me, making me crave his touch. My body went numb and I felt unsteady as Ed began to caress the small pearl between my breasts, then his fingers directly attacked the deepest part of my body.

“Edward…” I began to moan.

“This is more like you,” Edward sneered, then threw me onto the bed. He undressed, pressed his body against mine, and began to rub against me. The teasing only intensified my arousal, and I became increasingly wet. My hands instinctively groped down his hips and waist, yearning for contact, for touch.

Then his hands gripped my waist, so tightly it felt like he wanted to lock me to him, leaving me no escape. The pain quickly overwhelmed my daze, jolting me awake. The darkness in the room seemed to erupt, engulfing me, pressing down on my chest so hard that my breath became ragged.

“H-huhu… don’t…” my voice broke, so faint even I could barely hear it.

“Pretending to be weak to beg?” His voice was chillingly cold. “Don’t you find it arousing?”

Then he mercilessly thrust in, as if wanting to crush the fragile world I was clinging to. What should have been a moment of mutual ecstasy turned into revenge. My uterus wasn’t yet accustomed to his size, and this was only the second time my sensitive spot had been touched by his key, so it wasn’t used to the intense friction. His brutality felt like it was tearing apart, quickly transforming my pleasure and desire into fear and pain.

“Remember this well.” His voice cut through my flesh, chilling me to the bone, making my heart tremble.

“Edward will never love you. You’ve won my father’s favor, so you will pay the price. Until you die.”

The intermittent, brutal roars mingled with the heavy, angry breaths, all echoing in the dark room like a cruel judge pronouncing a sentence.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, a blank, emotionless expanse, chillingly cold.

My body felt like a butterfly snatched from the sky, its fragile wings torn apart, falling hopelessly.