Chapter 5
CRASH!
.
The shattering of a water glass interrupted Dominic’s unfinished declaration.
Mia jumped from his embrace like a startled rabbit.
“Ari, you’re awake!” She rushed to the bedside, tears appearing on command. “How do you feel? Does it hurt? This is all my fault…”
Ariana’s pale lips twisted into a cold smile. “Your presence offends my eyes. How could I possibly feel better?”
Mia’s tears instantly fell harder, her shoulder’s trembling as if she’d suffered the greatest injustice imaginable.
She bit her lip, casting one last glance at Dominic before running out.
Dominic instinctively moved to follow, then forcibly stopped himself.
He turned to Ariana, his voice low. “Miss Reeves, the situation was chaotic, and I reacted without thinking…”
Ariana remained silent, turning her head to stare out the window.
She didn’t want to hear it.
For three full days, Dominic stood guard outside her hospital room like the dutiful bodyguard he was, but she never spoke another word to him.
Until the day she was discharged.
Walking on her still–healing leg, Ariana went straight to the study.
She pulled open a mahogany drawer and removed a gleaming black leather whip-
This was the Reeves family’s traditional instrument of discipline. One lash could split skin to the bone.
“Tell Dominic to come here,” she instructed the housekeeper.
When Dominic entered the room, Ariana was methodically polishing the whip.
Sunlight streamed through the floor–to–ceiling windows, casting shadows beneath her eyelashes.
“Dominic Reed, you are my bodyguard, yet you failed to protect me,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I’m going to punish you. Any objections?”
Dominic stood motionless, his pupils contracting almost imperceptibly.
20:11
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Chapter 5
Ariana caught it clearly.
This North Shore heir probably never imagined that one day someone would dare discipline him like a servant.
Of course–he was the legendary Dominic Reed, heir to an empire. People normally fell over themselves to please him. Who would dare touch him?
Yet now, she intended to whip him?
Ariana watched his expression, suddenly laughing.
He was hesitating.
He could easily walk away, resign, leave–but instead, he was… hesitating?
All for Mia?
To stay close to her, to maintain proximity to Mia?
Her eyes burned with unshed tears, almost laughing through them.
Dominic gritted his teeth and finally answered quietly: “No objections.”
In that moment, Ariana’s heart contracted painfully. She gripped the whip tighter and raised her arm-
“NO!”
A slender figure suddenly burst in, firmly placing herself in front of Dominic.
Mia stood with tears in her eyes, her voice trembling. “Ari, if you want to hit someone, hit me instead! This has nothing to do with Dom!”
“Move,” Ariana commanded coldly.
“I won’t!” Mia shook her head, crying pitifully. “I’m the one who caused your injury–punish me if you must…”
Dominic reached to pull her away. “Miss Mia, this doesn’t concern you.”
But Mia stubbornly remained in front of him, absolutely refusing to budge.
Ariana watched this display, her anger boiling over. With a swift motion, she lashed out with the whip!
CRACK!
The sound of the whip cutting air was piercing. She had aimed at Dominic, but Mia threw herself forward, deliberately taking the blow!
“Ah!!!” Mia cried out in pain, her delicate frame swaying before collapsing.
20:11
Husband’s Secretary Affair Exoosed–Then 1 Yell Ints Collage de
Chapter S
Dominic caught her before she hit the floor, bending to examine her injury. When he looked up again-
Ariana met a pair of eyes cold as death.
Within them, burned pure murderous intent.
As if the next moment, he would snap her neck without hesitation.
Her body froze, chilled to the core.
“Get out,” she heard her own voice tremble.
Dominic carried the unconscious Mia and turned to leave. The study door slammed behind him with deafening force.
Ariana stood frozen, realizing her hands were shaking too badly to hold the whip.
