Asha
The headlines didn't stop. I thought I could handle it.
The whispers, the articles, the comments from people who'd never met me but somehow ended up calling me names.
A gold-digger.
Whore.
I stood in front of the mirror in Kade's closet the following morning, staring at my reflection like I didn't know her anymore. My cheeks were flushed, my throat raw from holding back everything I wanted to scream. His shirt hung off my body like a shield that didn't work.
I did not weep. Not because I wasn't in pain, but if I did, I wasn't sure I would stop.
He came up behind me quietly, his presence heavy and quiet.
"I made them take the articles down," he said, his voice even. "Every one of them."
I didn't look at him. "That doesn't change anything or what they have written."
"I'll sue them. Blacklist every name attached to it. You know I can."
"That's not the point, Kade," I said, facing him now.
"Then what is it?"
"They believed it."
My voice broke and I despised the sound of it. I hated that I was allowing certain strangers affect me. But it wasn't only strangers. It was the reality behind it. The tiny bit of dread deep inside me told me I was that girl.
He moved closer and set a tiny velvet box on the dresser before me.
"I don't care what they think," he said quietly. "But I care what you feel when you look at yourself."
I opened the box slowly.
It wasn't a ring.
It was a collar.
The one from last night.
"Why this?" I whispered, fingers brushing over it.
"Because it's a promise," he said. "And a warning."
I turned around to face him.
"To who?"
"To everyone," he said. "That you're mine."
There was no softness in the way he said it. No remorse. Just the truth. I should've been scared. But I wasn't.
I swallowed. "And what am I to you?"
"Everything."
He kissed me like he meant it. Like he wanted to bury the world in that moment and replace it with just us.
We had sex again that morning, it wasn't soft. It wasn't gentle. It was a war.
Hands gripping. Teeth grazing. Sucking. Fingering. Skin burning.
He bent me over the bed, his name falling from my lips like a plea and a prayer. I clawed at the sheets,
gasping with every snap of his thrust, every whispered moans of "mine."
We broke and rebuilt each other in that bed. And afterward, when he curled around me with his lips on my shoulder, I realized something terrifying.
I didn't want to leave. I'm obsessed with him so he was.
~~~~
The next day, I met Mira for coffee near my workplace. I couldn't go to work after the scandal with Kade.
She put on a sunglass even though it was cloudy and wore one of her oversized coats that swallowed her body shape
"I saw the pictures," she said gently as we sat.
"I figured," I replied, staring down at my untouched drink.
She paused. "You okay?"
"No," I admitted. "But I think I'm falling for him."
Mira blinked. Slowly pulled her glasses down. "What?"
"I know," I said quickly. "I know how it sounds. I didn't plan it this way."
"Of course you never do," she said, then added softer, "But is he worth it?"
I didn't have an answer.
Because I wasn't sure what it meant anymore.
I just knew that when I was with him, I wasn't pretending. I felt alive and raw
And that scared the hell out of me.
"Be careful girl," Mira said, her voice full of worries.
"I will," I replied, putting up a smile behind my fear.
~~~~~
Kade invited me later that afternoon to join him for a formal dinner at his father's estate.
"It's only a formality," he said, changing his cufflinks. "He's old money. Who loves playing like a king."
"And you?" I asked as we walked towards the car.
"I let him be," Kade muttered. "It makes him easier to control."
The estate was nothing like I expected. It was colder. Sharper. All in glass, steel, and silence. The sort of location where even your ideas seemed inappropriate.
At the door, his father welcomed us with a strained grin that lacked eye contact.
So this was the guy behind Kade. I thought.
No handshakes. Though it was clear I wasn't welcome, I stayed composed.
"You have really stirred things up," he murmured to Kade, ignoring me as we made our way toward the dining room.
Kade didn't flinch. "It's not my fault people are bored."
"And this one?" His eyes finally flicked to me. "Is she your hobby of the month or something serious?"
I opened my mouth, but Kade stepped in first.
"She's mine," he said flatly. "That's all you need to know."
His father hummed, unimpressed. "Hers or yours, she's still temporary."
Dinner was worse. Stiff. Formal. So quiet you could hear the sound of silverware tapping china.
His father's friends were no better—businessmen with cruel smiles and the kind of power that made them think manners were optional.
I stayed quiet. Put on a smile when I had to.
Pretended as though the not-so-subtle remarks passed unheard.
But when I exited to look for the restroom, I heard something I wasn't meant to
Two guys in low tones are speaking near the corridor.
"Renner Senior's planning something. Says the girl is a threat."
"She's not a threat," the other man said.
"Doesn't matter, what matters is his image.The merger depends on Kade not acting like a man in love," the first man replied, his voice firm.
There was a silence before the other man spoke again, this time low and dangerous. "Then, "He'll have her removed. Quietly."
My blood turned to ice.
I pressed my back against the wall, heart pounding so loud I was sure they'd hear it.
Removed.
Like I was a piece on a board they could just... take away.
I hurried out of the corridor to the dining room, ensuring no one noticed my face.
Back at the table, I was unable to eat.
Kade noticed. He brushed his hand on mine under the table. "You okay?"
I nodded quickly. "Yes I am."
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't push.
When we eventually departed, I could scarcely breathe until we were back in the car.
I stayed quiet, watching out the window as he started the car and drove off of the estate.
"Is everything okay?," Kade said finally.
I didn't answer.
He reached over, his fingers curling around mine. "Tell me."
"I heard your father's friend," I whispered. "He wants to get rid of me."
He didn't move. Didn't speak.
His silence scared me more than his rage ever could.
"I'm not surprised," he said at last. "He's tried it before."
I turned sharply. "Before?"
"Yes. With anyone who's ever tried to get close to me."
"And you're okay with that?"
"No," he said flatly. "But I'm not letting him touch you."
My throat tightened. "Kade…"
"I'll handle it."
"How?"
He looked at me, his gaze on mine. "The way I handle everything."
~~~~
I didn't go back to my place that night. The truth is I don't want to be alone.
I curled into the corner of Kade's massive bed, my knees to my chest, the collar he'd given me resting in the drawer beside me.
He came in later, his jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up, tension in his jaw.
He sat beside me without a word.
Then laid down, his head resting on my thigh.
"I don't know how to do this," he said softly.
"Do what?"
"Care without breaking something."
I brushed his hair back. "You haven't broken me yet."
He looked up at me.
His eyes were dark. Honest. Scared.
"I've remembered who you were since the alley," he whispered.
My heart stopped.
"I never forgot."