All Chapters of Her Neglected Scars: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

I don’t pull my hands away from the stallion’s neck, mostly because my fingers are locked into the coarse, black hair, and partly because if I move, the stretched skin across my shoulder blades will tear open completely.The dry blood from last night’s welts feels like tight papier-mâché against my spine, ready to crack at the slightest sudden shift.So, I stay exactly where I am, plastered against a beast that could crush my chest with a single kick, looking back at my husband.Konstantin steps into the stall with the unbothered grace of a man who owns every square inch of earth he steps on.The charcoal wool of his suit jacket shifts over his broad shoulders.He stops just inches away, the scent of expensive cedarwood cologne mixed with the sharp, earthy tang of the stables hitting my nose.“You’re never this obedient to anyone else, are you, Z’ver?” Konstantin murmurs, his eyes never leaving mine.His deep voice vibrates in the small space, low and rough, sending a sudden spike of

The bruised purple of the twilight bleeds out into an absolute, suffocating blackness that presses against my chest.It’s night time.I stand frozen against the rough bark of the birch tree, my chest heaving, listening to the dead silence that follows the disappearance of the mare.The sound of her frantic hooves has completely dissolved.“Konstantin!”I scream his name until my throat scratches raw, tearing out of my lungs and immediately getting swallowed by the dense canopy above.No voice answers, not even the rustle of his horse, Z’ver.Nothing but the rhythmic, agonizingly steady chirp of crickets mocking my isolation.Where the hell am I?I touch my side, my fingers immediately sinking into something warm and uncomfortably slick.My shirt is glued to my skin.The fall from the saddle didn’t just bruise my ribs, it completely split the whip wounds across my back.The deep, jagged tracks Sofia left on my skin are weeping fresh blood, the heat of it contrasting violently against t

My heart hammers against my ribs like a trapped bird.I can’t let him see.If he forces me to take off this shirt, if he sees the raw, jagged tracks Sofia left across my skin—and the older, faded silver scars my brother Caesar carved into me years ago—the carefully curated lie of the perfect, adored Bennington princess will be obliterated.He’ll see exactly how broken I am.He’ll see I’m nothing but a thoroughly discarded tool.“I . . . I scraped myself,” I lie quickly, forcing my voice to sound casual, even though my hands are trembling beneath the heavy wool.I quickly avert my eyes, staring at his wet collarbone to avoid his suffocating gaze.“When the horse bolted into the thicket. I got thrown off, and the low branches caught my back. It looks worse than it is.”Konstantin doesn’t move.He stands perfectly still in the middle of the pouring rain, staring down at me with an intensity that feels like a physical weight pressing against my chest.The silence stretches between us.I c

Before I can even process the small, humorous victory, Konstantin lifts me effortlessly off the ground.I let out a sharp gasp as he hauls my body up onto Z’ver’s saddle, settling me firmly in front of him.He mounts the stallion behind me in one smooth, powerful motion, his chest pressing flush against my back.His massive arms come around either side of my waist to take the reins, effectively trapping me within the heavy, radiating heat of his body.Shit.As the horse shifts, the proximity makes my heart hammer violently against my ribs.I’m completely surrounded by his scent—rain, cedar, and the sharp copper tang of blood.I try to shift forward, trying to create even an inch of space between my back and his chest.“Stop moving so much,” Konstantin commands rough and low, his breath hot against my ear.“You’re going to fall off the fucking horse.”I freeze, my hands gripping the pommel of the saddle so tightly my knuckles turn white.“I’m fine,” I mutter, staring straight ahead at

The two massive guards instantly step into the clinic, their thick, heavy hands clamping down like vices onto the old doctor’s frail shoulders.The old man looks completely terrified, his bottom lip trembling as they begin to forcefully drag his stumbling frame toward the open door.Panic spikes in my chest, hot, wild, and utterly overwhelming.Fired.He’s losing his entire life’s work, his profession, his status—all because I am a coward who can’t face a medical checkup.The crushing weight of guilt is too much to bear.My father raised me to be a tool to destroy men, but I have never wanted to be a monster who ruins innocent people just to protect my own skin.I can’t let another person suffer because of the filthy secrets carried on my back.“No! Stop! Wait!” I shriek, lunging forward out of the corner, my hands reaching out toward Konstantin before my brain can stop me.I grip his thick forearm, the muscle beneath his tailored sleeve as hard and unyielding as solid granite.“Don’t