Luna's POV
The days dragged on, each one more suffocating than the last. Alexander had kept his word—he held me to our agreement with cold, mechanical precision. But that was all he gave me.
He no longer spoke to me unless it was to issue a command or remind me of my place. He didn't ask how I was or linger for conversation. The man who had once let his guard slip, even for a moment, had vanished completely.
Now, I was little more than a body he summoned when he wanted me.
It happened late at night, most often without warning. He would appear in my room, his expression unreadable, his touch insistent but devoid of tenderness. He didn't say anything—didn't ask if I wanted him, didn't care to make it feel like more than what it was.
A transaction. A fulfillment of our contract.
And I let him.
Because I couldn't bear the thought of him knowing how much it hurt.
One night, after another wordless encounter, I lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling. The bed was empty beside me—Alexander had left immediately after, as he always did.
I wrapped the sheets tighter around me, willing myself not to cry. But the tears came anyway, hot and silent, slipping down my cheeks in the quiet of the night.
I hated him for what he was doing to me. For reducing me to this hollow, desperate shell of a person. But more than that, I hated myself for letting him.
For wanting more from him when I knew he was incapable of giving it.
Alexander's POV
I stood in the hallway outside her room, the door closed behind me. My fists clenched at my sides, and I forced myself to take a deep breath, to calm the storm raging inside me.
It was always like this—every time I left her, I felt the weight of what I was doing pressing down on me.
She didn't say anything anymore, didn't fight back or try to argue. She just… let me.
And it was killing me.
I told myself this was what I wanted. That keeping her at a distance, keeping things purely physical, was the only way to maintain control. But the truth was, I hated seeing the light in her eyes dim more with every passing day.
I hated the way she looked at me now, as if she had resigned herself to being nothing more than what I demanded of her.
But I couldn't stop.
Because if I let myself feel for her—if I let her see even a hint of the weakness she brought out in me—I would lose everything I had worked so hard to protect.
So I pushed her away. Again and again.
Even though it was breaking both of us.
Luna's POV
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Helen knocking softly at the door. She entered with a tray of breakfast, setting it on the bedside table without a word.
"Thank you," I murmured, though my appetite was nonexistent.
She hesitated for a moment, her usual stoic expression faltering. "Are you all right, miss?"
I blinked at her, startled by the question. "I'm fine," I said automatically, forcing a smile.
Helen didn't look convinced, but she nodded and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
I stared at the untouched breakfast, my chest tightening.
How much longer could I endure this? How much more of myself was I willing to lose for the sake of this arrangement?
Alexander might not care, but I did.
And I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.