My Ruthless Husband Begs For Mercy Chapter 2

I didn't flinch. I calmly looped my arm through his. "Let's go."

Cole let out a harsh, jagged laugh, the sound practically vibrating with poison.

I was used to it. I simply shut off the audio in my brain. As Mrs. Kensington, my only job in public was to remain elegant, poised, and untouched.

Soon, I told myself. Soon, I won't have to do this anymore.

The second my heels hit the concrete of the pier, I unlinked my arm from his.

Cole instantly caught my hand, lacing his fingers brutally tight through mine. "Keep up the performance," he sneered. "Don't get lazy now. The cameras are still rolling."

I furrowed my brow slightly, turning my face toward the tinted window of the waiting town car.

Whatever. Let him have his petty victories.

We rode back to the penthouse in total silence.

The second the heavy mahogany door clicked shut behind us, Cole slammed me back against the entryway wall.

In the dim, ambient light of the foyer, I could see the dangerous, chaotic energy buzzing in his eyes.

I was utterly exhausted. My soul felt hollowed out. "Cole, please. I don't want to do this tonight."

I pushed against his chest.

Cole’s grip only tightened. He dipped his head, his teeth grazing my collarbone in a sharp, punishing bite.

He let out a low, cruel chuckle. "Play your part, Mrs. Kensington. The old guard is still waiting for you to pop out an heir."

My body went completely rigid.

Every time he spat the words Mrs. Kensington like a curse, it was a deliberate reminder of the cage I had locked myself in. I was the one who had willingly put on these chains. I had surrendered the right to say "stop." I had always just endured it.

But not anymore.

The one reason I had compromised my entire existence had just betrayed me. I had nothing left to protect. No more collateral damage to fear.

For the first time in a decade, I shoved Cole Kensington with everything I had.

"I don't have to be Mrs. Kensington anymore, Cole."

He froze, his hands hovering in the air. He stared at me, his chest heaving, his eyes searching my face for a lie.

"Hedy... are you serious?"

My heart plummeted like a stone, heavy and cold.

"I'm giving you exactly what you want. Isn't this enough?" I whispered, my voice exhausted. "I've suffocated you for ten years. You're tired. I'm tired. Let's just let each other go."

Before the silence could settle, Cole grabbed my wrists, pinning them against the wallpaper. His body pressed flush against mine, as if he were trying to crush me into the drywall.

We stayed locked in that strained, breathless stalemate until he finally hissed, his voice vibrating with barely contained rage, "Your little hard-to-get act is pathetic, Hedy. Do you really think I'm going to let you win?"

He released me as abruptly as he had grabbed me, turning on his heel. He stormed down the hall without looking back.

I stood in the shadows, entirely bewildered.

I watched his retreating back, my mind spinning in quiet confusion.

I gave him exactly what he had tortured me for ten years to get. So why was he so angry?

CRASH.

The sound of shattering glass from his study snapped me back to reality.

It didn't matter. My mind was made up.

But the moment the adrenaline faded, the thought of Paige sent a fresh, agonizing spike of pain through my chest.

My phone buzzed in my coat pocket.

I pulled it out, my thumb hovering numbly over the glowing screen.

Finally, I opened the chat from Paige. The messages were coming in rapid succession.

[Hedy, I guess you know everything now.]

[Since it’s out in the open, just let me have him.]

[You’ve had ten years with him and he still doesn’t love you. Why don’t you let me try?]

[Who knows? Maybe he’ll actually fall in love with me.]

[I know stealing your best friend's husband is wrong, but I couldn't help it.]

[The day you introduced us, I was obsessed with him.]

[I tried, okay? I tried avoiding him, but you always brought him around. It’s not my fault.]

[You practically forced us together!]

...

With every word I read, my heart turned a little more to ash.

This was the person I trusted with my life.

I let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh.

[Paige, I was so wrong about you.]

[If you want him that badly, he's yours. Take him.]

I typed the two sentences, hit send, and blocked her number.

Just like that, the sisterhood I had bled for was dead. She had sold me out for a man. I had spent my life protecting a snake.

I didn't sleep a single minute that night. When dawn finally broke, my eyes were swollen shut. I had to sit with ice packs pressed to my face for an hour just to look human again.