With what little awareness I had left, I managed to force my eyes open. I could have sworn Ryan had already given the key back. So how did he still have it?

Edward burst into the bathroom, his eyes widening at the sight. He rushed over and turned off the shower, then grabbed a bathrobe and wrapped it tightly around me. His voice was strained and rough. “Victoria, what are you doing?”

I was shivering so hard, my hair soaked through, but that stubborn urge inside me was still rampaging. Without the cold water pouring over me, the heat started to return.

Edward grabbed a towel and quickly started drying my hair. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped, staring down at me for a couple of seconds before pulling me fiercely into his arms, holding me tight.

He sat right down on the soaked floor, not giving a damn about the water, crushing me against his chest, his face buried deep in the cool curve of my neck.

“Edward… let me go…” I whispered, my voice weak as I tried with all my might to push him away.

But I was as weak as a kitten—he barely noticed my struggle. With just a little force, he pulled me right back against his chest.

There was a warm, dry scent on him that drifted through his clothes and washed over me.

My mouth was already parched, and the heat radiating from him was like a fuse, so easily setting me ablaze.

I swallowed hard, my mouth bone-dry. I had no idea what Isabelle Lynn had made me take, but whatever it was, this stuff was definitely illegal.

She just watched, calm as ever, as I walked right into her trap and then walked away. In the end, all it took was a single call to Ryan, and I fell straight into her pit.

“Ryan’s not the one who came. Are you disappointed?” Edward’s deep voice rumbled in my ear. “Did you get yourself in this state just so he’d walk in and feel sorry for you?”

“I didn’t…” I blurted out, my mind a total mess. Edward actually thought I was sitting here, freezing, just waiting for Ryan to walk in.

My mind was being pulled in every direction—Isabelle’s threats echoing, her bodyguards storming in, the tea house waiter giving me that sly, knowing look. In a city crawling with power players, I finally realized just how insignificant I really was.

When you’re scared out of your mind, your survival instincts just take over.

Isabelle could act so bold because she had someone powerful in her corner.

“Victoria, no matter what you do to yourself, Ryan’s still going to marry someone else…” Edward’s voice was tight with frustration and pain.

“Can you stop being so foolish?” he said, his tone rough.

“Do you really love him that much?” Edward’s words were low, almost a whisper, disbelief and hurt flickering in his eyes.

My mind was racing, desperately searching for a way out, but all I could hear was Edward’s angry, relentless scolding.

‘He just wouldn’t shut up…’ I thought.

My head tipped back from his arms, and the moment he said “love,” a rebellious impulse surged up in me. In a fit of defiance, I silenced him with a kiss.

His whole body shuddered, and I felt his strong hand at my waist clench tighter, almost involuntarily.

My cool lips brushed against the heat of his, and my mind went completely blank—a surge of electricity raced through my entire body.

It was like some magnetic force was drawing me in, making it impossible for me to stop.

“Victoria… stop…” Five seconds later, his hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me away from him.

I stared at him, my eyes dazed, his voice sounding distant and fuzzy in my ears, like I couldn’t quite make out the words.

Instinctively, I reached up, trying to wrap my arms around his shoulders.

Edward caught my arms and pushed me away again. “Stop acting crazy.”

I froze, his voice carried so much authority that it jolted me back to my senses for a split second.

Yeah, even if I was pathetic enough to cling to this last lifeline, he’d already stopped caring a long time ago.

Bit by bit, I gathered up the pieces of my dignity, quietly bracing myself against the wall as I struggled to stand.

But my legs felt like jelly, and my whole body was burning up, like I was trapped in a forty-degree heatwave. I felt absolutely miserable.

Desperate, I stumbled into the kitchen, yanked open the fridge, grabbed a bottle of ice water, twisted off the cap, and started gulping it down.

I’d barely taken two sips when a large hand snatched the bottle from me. Before I could react, he tossed it straight into the trash.

“Victoria, no matter how much you mess yourself up, he’s not going to show up…” Edward snapped, his words slicing through my foggy brain.

I was about to go crazy. ‘Why won’t Edward just shut up? Does he seriously think I’m waiting for Ryan?’ I thought.