Chapter 131
A slap echoed across the room, the sound hanging in the air as Sullivan’s cheek stung from the impact.
He paused, his gaze lowering to the figure sprawled on the bed. Megan’s chest rose and fell with heavy, uneven breaths; her silk nightgown had slipped down her shoulders, revealing the delicate curve of her clavicle and hinting at more intimate secrets. Her skin looked pale and fragile, like a porcelain doll in the dim light.
“Starting to fight back now?”
Sullivan’s tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth, his eyes shimmering with an unreadable emotion, though his voice remained
soft.
His fingers closed around hers, pinning them above the pristine white pillowcase… yet he hesitated, motionless.
Megan’s nose was flushed red. She looked up at Sullivan, her voice nothing more than a shattered whisper, “Sullivan, what’s this? Are you forcing me now? If not, then let me go!”
But Sullivan didn’t release her grip. He watched her, the vulnerability in her gaze stirring something within him, and after a long silence, he finally spoke in a hoarse whisper, “When I said I wanted to start over, I meant it.”
Megan turned her face away. Burying her cheek into the pillow, she murmured, “There won’t be any children between us or anything else. I can’t afford this game, Sullivan… It’s over between us!”
After her declaration, she stopped struggling. She lay beneath him, completely defenseless.
Sullivan could have taken her then, with little resistance, as she had her own Achilles‘ heel–her brother’s well–being was at stake. She couldn’t just throw everything away because he wasn’t done playing his games. No matter how unbearable it became, she still had to play the role of Mrs. Lowry.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, a loveless existence.
A heart encased in concrete!
Sullivan knew this, too. He knew he could possess her, even father a child with her–they were both young and fertile. But he also knew that if he went through with it, it would truly be the end of whatever fragile thread held them together.
He lay still for a long while until Megan’s raspy voice broke the silence, “If you’re not going to do it, then let me go.”
This time, she easily shook him off, turning her back to him and lying down… Her coldness toward him was palpable, even in the way she turned away. Sullivan watched her silently, realizing that the tables had turned. Once upon a time, he had been the one to treat Megan and their marriage with indifference. Now, she was doing the same to him.
He didn’t leave, choosing instead to lie beside her.
Sullivan’s hand reached out to touch her shoulder, not with any particular intention, just a need to feel her… to confirm that she was still there beside him.
But at that moment, Megan tensed.
Sullivan’s handsome face paled.
Later that afternoon, Bianca called to inform him that Cressida had been transferred back to the Lowry Hospital and was eager to see Sullivan.
Taking his phone, Sullivan stepped out of the room. He settled onto the sofa in his study, massaging his temples with a hint of exhaustion. “Just tell her I’m tied up!”
Bianca relayed his message honestly, “If you don’t show up, Cressida is being uncooperative with her treatment. Her mother is making a scene at the hospital; it’s quite unseemly. Mr. Lowry, have you considered sending Ms. Baldwin abroad for treatment?”
Bianca was at her wit’s end. She was just a secretary, albeit one with a seven–digit salary, but dealing with the Baldwins at the hospital day and night was more than she could bear. And with her own wedding just a couple of months away.
Hearing her plea, Sullivan actually gave it some thought.
For now, he needed to make a trip to the hospital to calm Cressida down.
