Mag-log inELEANOR POV"You're shaking.""You're here," I reply, my voice a breathless whisper.He chuckles softly, leaning back against his seat beside me in the exact alignment we occupied during our first executive luncheon."Anthony here will be securing the deep-water port infrastructure," Banks says smoothly to the table.I instantly zone the rest of the room out. Something is wrong. The atmosphere feels dangerously different. He isn't touching me—not even a passing brush of his knuckles against my skin. Rooke secured my transport here, and a tier-one close protection detail escorted me directly into this Basilica, but since my arrival, Banks’s focus has been entirely monopolized by the people at the table. He hasn’t even activated the internal device he ordered me to insert."The port acquisition has been thoroughly approved and secured, Mr. Wellington. Due diligence is finalized," Anthony notes, shifting his files."That is quite an expansive operation.""You didn't provide any advance n
"Anor," his voice barks back: deep, low, gravelly, and it instantly anchors my entire universe. He called me Anor. "You sent a styling team." "Have they established their station?" "Yes. She arrived with a cosmetics artist, an extensive wardrobe selection, and custom footwear." "Okay" My chest gets heavy again and I walk away from the team. "You don't like them?" "What?! No. Of course, I do. I just" I bite my lips and breathe out "She said you selected them yourself " "I did" "That must have represented a significant challenge considering my size isn't easy to get," I murmur, hyper-aware that my voluptuous proportions aren't standard for luxury archival houses. "It represented no challenge whatsoever," he answers flatly. I let out a shaky breath, and walk around. My fingers feeling cold. "The outfits are exceptionally beautiful." I hear a low, dry chuckle on the other end of the line. "Stop pacing, Anor" I stop, without realizing I was actually pacing. "Are you unwe
ELEANOR POV I feel like I'm being punished and Banks is tired of me. After forcing me to eat yesterday, I thought he'll come back, but he never did. His silence is starting to feel like a cruel punishment. Three full days have passed without his physical presence, and the dark anxiety coiling in my stomach tells me he has grown completely tired of me. He probably doesn't have any feelings left for me. Three days since this massive penthouse has transformed from a luxury estate into a prison, and he hasn't laid a single finger on me. I miss him. I need him. I miss his touch. I don't even mind him punishing me with the hot wax, handstock,whip or public punishment. I don't mind, I just want him here. It's now I understand his need to wanting me by his side. For these three days, I've been forced to think of those days I ignored him. Without him, the air in this room feels thin; I can’t breathe through the sudden terror that he is preparing to break up with me. It wouldn't surprise me
"Release me, Orland! How dare you hold me captive against my will? Is this howi raised you?" I sit back, sealing my own safety harness as the car accelerates away from the gates. "You never raised me, Mother? Cease this desperate fixation on a man who views your existence as irrelevance.""I have achieved the type of body he likes! I am exercising daily! Just allow me to present myself to him and he will love me again, Orland!""Mother! Enough!" My voice rings out with absolute authority through the reinforced cabin, and she instantly freezes, her hands dropping to her lap as the vehicle falls into a dead silence. "Are you not exhausted? You have squandered forty years of your existence modifying your identity to match a fluid aesthetic standard he created. Where is your anger?" She blinks rapidly, her lips parting, but no sound emerges."Regardless of your physical weight, his orientation toward you remains completely unchanged. He simply does not possess the capacity to care for y
The scent of sin invades my nostrils.That is the only way I can describe the air of my father's luxury mansion. It isn't just imported furnitures and expensive leather; it hosts the fragrance of accumulated, aggressive manipulations and secrets kept behind titanium-reinforced vault doors."Orland, why are you here?" my mother asks, her voice frantic as she steps away from her chair, her eyes tracking toward my father.He remains entirely motionless on a sprawling linen sofa, his attention fixed on a ultra-high-definition display showing predatory wildlife footage. As his way, he ignores her presence completely, even as she stops three feet from his position. She stands there, visibly vibrating between the desperate impulse to reach out to him and the paralyzing fear of his rejection."Let us go, Mother," I say, my footsteps heavy, deliberate, echoing off the limestone flooring as I close the distance between us. I am in the house I spent my entire adult life building a multi-billion
BANKS POVHer boutique is less expansive than the old-money heritage houses I typically frequent. It's operating instead as a highly focused, stringently controlled workspace of emerging high-end ambition. The air lacks the oppressive weight of centuries-old privilege, but it carries the sharp, clinical scent of raw textile potential and intentional luxe. "We have a selection of vintage Amarone, a limited-reserve single malt, and champagne crisping," Rita says, maintaining a precise two-step distance beside me as I scan the bespoke racks. Behind her, an assistant seamlessly presents a polished silver tray displaying the exact bottles she mentioned."I prefer a flute of the Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame," I say, a simple gesture toward the prestige cuvée."Right away, Mr. Wellington.""A highly disciplined atelier you have curated here, Rita." She smiles, her head tilting into a precise angle of corporate deference. "It is an absolute privilege to host your private consultation today
BANKS POV "The therapist is here in the private lobby, Mr. Banks." Vandiver's voice comes through the receiver, and I give a curt response. "Ok. Bring him up." I hang up the phone, turning back to the living room where Eleanor is sitting. "We are seriously still on this therapy topic?"She asks
BANKS POV"Why on earth do I need a therapy session? I'm fine."Eleanor huffs dramatically, her full lips forming a gorgeous, stubborn pout as she glares back at me through the vanity mirror. My phone pings sharply on the counter with another corporate notification, and I slide my thumb across the
ELEANOR POVI was drugged. I lie not. Someone definitely drugged me."What's today's date?" I question groggily. My gaze is completely unsteady, my body feels limp, and my head is entirely empty."You should go back to bed," a deep voice rumbles beside me. I try to push his massive hand away from m
BANKS POV“You’re safe,” I growl against her skin, my grip tightening until her soft curves press flat against my body"Damn it, Anor. You’re safe.”“I... I saw the bus coming through the window,” she whimpers, her hands trembling against my bleeding arm. "It was moving too fast. I didn’t think...







