The taste of him lingered long after his mouth left mine.
I sat so stiff in the car, my back hurt just staring out the tinted window as the city lights smeared into streaks of gold and red. My lips still burned. My pulse hadn't slowed since the second Adrian's hand forced me into that kiss.
It wasn't supposed to happen like that.
I hadn't agreed. I hadn't wanted…
God. I pressed my fingers to my mouth, but it didn't erase the sensation, the warmth of him, the way he'd taken, the way my body had betrayed me by leaning in, by wanting. Wanting more.
A storm churned in my chest. Humiliation, anger, something darker I didn't dare name.
Adrian Throne had just claimed me in front of the entire city, and I'd let him. Stupidly
I should've shoved him away. I should've slapped him, screamed, anything but instead I froze like some naïve little girl, like the same girl who once thought he wasn't good enough for her.
Now? Now the world thought I wasn't good enough for him.
The irony was bitter on my tongue.
My phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Every notification another dagger, another headline, another photo. The image of him crushing his mouth to mine was already splashed across blogs, gossip columns, even mainstream news. Heiress Raine Vance kisses ex-rival turned billionaire Adrian Throne revenge or romance?
I wanted to throw the damn phone out of the window.
But when it finally rang with Elara's name, I couldn't ignore it anymore.
Her voice spilled out the moment I answered. "Raine, what the hell did you do? You're trending in thirty countries! Everyone's talking about you. Do you even know what this looks like?"
I squeezed my eyes shut. "I didn't..." My voice cracked. "Elara, it wasn't..."
She didn't let me finish. "They think you planned it. That this was your way of clapping back at your sister, at your ex. You should see the comments, Raine. Half of them are calling you a queen. And the other half? They're tearing you to shreds."
My stomach dropped. Of course they were.
Of course this was exactly what Adrian wanted.
"I need to go," I whispered, hanging up before she could argue.
The second call came from my mother. Then my father. Then my sister. I ignored them all, but the messages stacked up in angry little red circles that I couldn't escape.
By the time I stumbled into my apartment hours later, I felt hollow. I stripped out of my dress and crawled into bed, not even bothering to wash the smeared lipstick from my mouth.
But sleep wasn't mercy.
Every time I closed my eyes, I felt him again. His hand at the back of my neck. His mouth consuming mine. The faint rasp of his whisper Smile.
I woke tangled in sweat-soaked sheets, heart racing like I'd been running.
The phone was still buzzing.
My sister's name lit up the screen this time. I answered before I could stop myself.
"Raine!" Her voice was shrill, sharp enough to pierce bone. "Do you know what you've done? You've embarrassed us all! You've embarrassed me. Do you think anyone will take me seriously now, when my sister is parading around with him?"
She sounded so frustrated I laughed. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Because it was funny, oh how the tables have turned. "Funny. You didn't seem to care about embarrassing me when you spread your pretty little legs for my fiancé."
Her gasp was audible. "You fucking bitch!!! I'm going to kill uou, I'll freaking end your existence, I'll ki—"
But I didn't let her finish. "Save it, Jeslyn . You don't get to lecture me about shit. Not now not ever."
The line went dead with her frustrated scream still ringing in my ear.
For a moment, I just sat there, staring at my reflection in the black screen.
I looked tired. Bruised. But there was something else in my eyes too—something dangerous.
Resolve.
When the next call came from my father, I answered. His voice thundered down the line, demanding, threatening, shaming. My mother joined in the background, begging me to come home and fix this.
"You can't leave Alex, he is your fiancé. Your engagement to him was already made public, his father is threatening to withdraw all the shares he has at the company and you know how much power he holds, please fix this, you can't be with Adrian, it doesn't say well for your reputation and that of this family's. You know Adrian has a reputation, don't embarrass this family like that. I'll tell your sister to stay clear of Alex, his yours, just fix this Raine."
Finally, I relented. "Fine," I said coolly. "I'll come."
Their relief lasted only seconds.
Because when I arrived back at the house, still smelling faintly of Adrian Throne's cologne, still marked by the scandal that was burning the world alive, I didn't cower.
I walked in with my head high, a smug smile curving my lips as my family stared at me like I'd destroyed everything they held sacred.
"You wanted me married, didn't you? You asked me to bring someone after Jeslyn slept with my fiancé Alex didn't you . And I brought someone." I said sweetly, tilting my head. "Congratulations. You got what you wanted and I got what I wanted win-win, I don't get what the fuss is all about."
" Your father didn't mean it when he said you should get someone else. We didn't think you would find someone to get married to you so quickly before the month runs out and your shares is transferred over to your sister."
My mother answered her face twisted in a snarl, my sister looked, bitter and red with rage. And my parents looked ready to explode.
And for the first time in years, I felt something other than shame or desperation.
I felt powerful.
Even if it was borrowed power. Even if it was wrapped in Adrian Throne's chains.
For once, they weren't in control.
I was.