Since becoming Alexander's mate, degrading myself had become as natural as breathing.

I kissed the floor when his dinner wasn't hot enough, even though he came home three hours late.

I spent the night in the dog kennel when I interrupted his call to tell him I'd found hotel receipts with Victoria's name.

I wrote a fifty-page essay on my worthlessness when he broke my finger for accidentally using his favorite coffee mug.

I even thanked him last month when I found him in our bed with Victoria, as if his betrayal was a gift I should cherish.

With blood filling my mouth and my vision blurring, I forced myself forward.

Lowering my face to her shoe, I placed my bleeding lips against the leather once, twice, then a third time, leaving blood marks as they recorded the entire humiliation.

Then I looked up at Alexander with eyes devoid of everything except resignation.

"Is that enough?" I whispered.

His nostrils flared as he noticed the blood pooling beneath my face.

"Lauren," he sneered, grabbing my chin roughly, "Your grandfather is dead, and I own everything he left you. Your tears won't work on me anymore. Who exactly are you trying to impress with this victim act?"

Before I could respond, the healer arrived—Alexander's personal physician who had falsified my medical records numerous times to cover the abuse.

Stepping over me like I was nothing but a stain on the floor, Alexander guided the doctor straight to Victoria's side, leaving me bleeding on the marble.

While Alexander attended to Victoria's every whimper, I slipped quietly through the service entrance.

I had barely made it halfway down the winding driveway when headlights flooded the darkness. A familiar black SUV pulled up alongside me, the healers vehicle.

The family lawyer, Mr. Reeves emerged with a sympathetic smile.

"Lauren, thank goodness we found you. Alexander is worried sick," he lied smoothly. "You're having another episode. Let us help you home."

Before I could protest, two nurses in white uniforms approached from behind. One pressed a cloth against my face, the smell flooded my senses before darkness took me.

I woke up in our home medical suite, My clothing had been changed to a thin gown, and an IV dripped clear fluid into my arm.

Alexander entered my line of vision.