I watched those same people drop the cruelty from their faces in an instant and fawn all over him the moment he walked in.
And I watched how he looked at the marks on my body with that flat, unmoved expression.
"These people are here to help you. Don't be so guarded."
Davina called it "emotional desensitization"—showed me flirtatious messages between her and Oliver, compromising photos, one after another.
She made me practice the correct responses for every kind of humiliating scenario.
The rift between Oliver and me kept growing.
I asked for a breakup more than once.
Oliver never answered. Every time, he just slammed the door and left. And every time, the only thing that followed was another trip overseas for more etiquette training.
By then, I could barely tell where my own mind ended and the fog began.
I broke.
Davina stood off to the side, sneering. "This unhinged mess—and she thinks she deserves a Vance heir?"
They broke two of my ribs.
I woke up in a psychiatric hospital.
Dr. Kim told Oliver I'd been hurting myself.
He looked at me with open disappointment. "Why can't you just give in to them for once?"
"Do it for me. Can you do that much?"