Dr.
Henry closed the research box after attaching the final evidence seal.
“The samples will be sent to two independent laboratories,” he said.
“I’ll verify the patent records and contact Ashworth University tonight.
We should have preliminary results by morning.”
“Preliminary?” Lyra repeated.
“Enough to verify the samples’ composition, compare the formula against existing patents, and confirm whether Isla’s records predate similar research.” Dr.
Henry gave her a pointed look.
“Full clinical testing would take considerably longer.”
Vespera adjusted the oxygen mask over her face.
“You will both remain here tonight,” she told Isla and Logan.
“Neither of you is in any condition to travel.”
Isla wanted to object, but her throat throbbed with every breath.
The family healer had already warned her to rest after the brief oxygen deprivation.
Vespera also needed to remain under observation in case her symptoms returned.
“I’ll have rooms prepared,” Vespera added.
“Isla will use mine,” Logan said.
Her body stiffened.
He noticed.
“I’ll sleep elsewhere,” he said.
Logan’s bedroom at the Vale estate was dark and severe, decorated in black wood and cold gray stone.
Isla sat before the mirror after changing into a loose nightdress.
Her breath caught when she moved her hair away from her neck.
Purple bruises encircled her throat.
Each mark had the unmistakable shape of Logan’s fingers.
Her collarbone was swollen where his thumb had pressed into her skin.
She could still remember his eyes.
There had been no hesitation in them.
No recognition.
One accusation had transformed the man who had trusted her into someone prepared to kill her.
Serena stirred restlessly.
‘He is dangerous.’
‘I know.’
‘Then don’t forget it because he looks sorry.’
Isla touched the edge of a bruise and winced.
She had wagered her marriage because she trusted her research.
But after what Logan had done, divorce no longer felt like the worst possible outcome.
Remaining trapped with a man who could turn on her without warning was far more frightening.
A knock sounded at the door.
Isla froze.
“Isla?” Logan’s voice came from the other side.
“May I come in?”
She considered refusing.
Part of her wanted to lock the door and never let him near her again.
But another part needed to hear what he had to say.
“You may.”
Logan entered carrying a medical kit, a cold compress, and a glass of warm water. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
He closed the door but remained beside it.
“The healer prescribed an ointment for the swelling.”
“You can leave it there.”
He placed everything on a table.
Instead of leaving, he stood in silence, his gaze fixed on the bruises around her throat.
“I attacked you before I knew the truth,” he finally said.
Isla waited.
“I believed my grandmother was dead.” His jaw tightened.
“That explains what I felt.
It does not excuse what I did.”
She hadn’t expected that admission.
Logan was an Alpha feared across the world.
Men like him gave commands.
They did not admit wrongdoing to Omegas.
“I promised you would be safe with me,” he continued.
“Tonight, I became the danger.”
The words struck somewhere deep, but they did not erase the memory of his hand closing around her throat.
“For a moment, you didn’t care whether I lived,” she whispered.
Pain flashed across his face.
“I gave you every reason to believe that.”
“And I was carrying your child.”
“I know.”
“If your grandmother hadn’t awakened, you would have killed us both.”
Logan’s hands curled at his sides, but he didn’t deny it.
“I’m sorry, Isla.”
His apology sounded sincere.
That made it harder, not easier.
“I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“If you ever put your hand around my throat again, this marriage ends immediately.
I will leave the penthouse, and you will not use the contract or your guards to stop me.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll choose my own lawyer.
Any changes to the contract go through them.”
Logan reached inside his jacket and removed a folded document.
“I had an amendment prepared.”
Isla hesitated before taking it.
The document granted her the right to terminate the marriage and leave any Vale residence if Logan committed another act of physical violence against her outside legitimate self-defense.
No residential clause could be used to confine her.
“Have an independent lawyer review it,” he said.
“You don’t have to use mine.”
Isla stared at the signature already written at the bottom.
He had given her a legal way to escape him.
It wasn’t forgiveness.
It wasn’t trust.
But it was a consequence he had chosen to place on himself.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
Logan glanced at the ointment.
“May I treat the bruises?”
Every muscle in her body tightened.
“Only the ointment.”
He approached slowly.
Logan stopped at once.
“Do you want me to leave?”
She forced herself to breathe.
This time, the decision belonged to her.
“No.
Continue.”
His fingers barely touched her skin as he spread the ointment over the bruises.
The same hands that had hurt her now moved with almost unbearable care.
Whenever she tensed, he stopped.
He didn’t touch anywhere she hadn’t permitted.
A sudden movement fluttered inside her belly.
Isla placed her palm over it.
Logan’s gaze dropped.
“Was that the baby?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t reach for her.
“May I?”
After a long hesitation, Isla took his hand and guided it to the side of her stomach.
The baby kicked again.
Wonder softened Logan’s expression.
His shoulders relaxed, and the gold faded from his eyes.
“The healer said the baby is safe,” Isla told him.
His attention returned to the bruises.
“You should have been safe too.”
He withdrew his hand and stepped away.
“I’ll sleep in the outer room.
Lock this door if it makes you feel safer.”
Later, Isla lay awake listening to the silence.
A thin line of light remained beneath the door.
Logan was still outside, close enough to protect her but honoring the distance she had demanded.
It did not make her trust him again.
But it was a beginning.
A knock woke her shortly after sunrise.
A servant waited outside.
“Dr.
Henry has returned.
He has the patent records and both preliminary analyses.”
Isla’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“The entire family is waiting in the dining hall,” the servant added.
Logan rose from the chair in the outer room.
Isla’s throat still hurt.
The bruises remained.
So did the fear he had put inside her.
None of it changed the truth of her work.
“Let them wait,” she said.
“I’m getting dressed.”