Steven slapped me without hesitation.
My right cheek stung sharply, a ringing filled my ears, and the metallic tang of blood coated my tongue.
"Remember your place, Maeve." Steven warned coldly. "A mistress has no right to bear children."
To drive home his point, he dragged me up from the floor and slammed me against the wall.
Like a ravenous beast, he claimed me relentlessly, without satisfaction or respite, as if he'd just discovered this was how a mistress should be treated.
No words were spoken, no tenderness shown. When dawn barely broke after that brutal night, Steven left.
I didn't know how many more rounds of this torment remained. This was our private hell—his and mine alone.
Despair ebbed and flowed around me like relentless tides.
As the door clicked shut and the entrywa
