Chapter 136
Chapter 136:
It was evening. Eliza paced back and forth across the Persian rug. The deed to The Gilded Lily sat on the coffee table like an accusation. The image of Dallas’s bleeding wound was burned into her eyes.
It was too much. The money. The violence. The intensity.
She felt like she was drowning in his world. She needed air. She needed to know where Eliza Solomon ended and Mrs. Koch began.
The elevator chimed. Dallas walked in, returning from what had likely been a meeting devoted to dismantling another company that had displeased him. He looked exhausted, but there was a settled quality to his posture — a sense of order restored.
He began removing his cufflinks, dropping them into the crystal bowl by the entry. Clink. Clink.
“I want to move out,” Eliza blurted.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Dallas went still. His back was to her. He didn’t turn around for a long moment. When he finally did, his face had become a mask of sub-zero ice.
“Excuse me p>
“This — us — it’s too much,” Eliza said, her voice shaking but determined. “I need space. I need to process the kidnapping. Everything is moving too fast p>
𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝗇
It was a lie. She didn’t need to process the kidnapping. She needed to process him — the fact that she loved him so much it terrified her.
Dallas walked closer, looming over her. “You are my wife. You live here p>
“It’s a contract marriage, Dallas!” Eliza stepped back, her voice rising. “We agreed on boundaries! You are buying me restaurants and taking bullets for me. That wasn’t in the deal p>
Dallas laughed — a bitter, jagged sound. “Boundaries? You want to talk about boundaries after I pulled you from the bottom of the ocean p>
“That’s exactly why!” Eliza cried, tears stinging her eyes. “I can’t owe you my life! I can’t be another debt on your ledger p>
Dallas stared at her. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked in his cheek. He looked at her as though she had struck him.
He turned away abruptly. He walked to the bar cart and poured a glass of whiskey without offering her any.
“Do whatever you want,” he said, his voice flat. He took a long drink. “If the cage is open, fly away p>
A sharp pain bloomed in Eliza’s chest. She had wanted him to fight for her, perhaps. Or perhaps she had simply wanted him to understand. Instead he just looked rejected.
She turned and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.
In the living room, Azalea rose from behind the large white sofa. She had been there the entire time, scrolling on her phone with headphones around her neck.
She walked over to Dallas.
“You’re an idiot, Daddy,” she said.
Dallas glared at her over the rim of his glass. “Go to your room, Azalea p>
“She thinks you only saved her because of the contract,” Azalea said, picking an apple from the fruit bowl. “She thinks she’s an obligation p>
“It doesn’t matter what she thinks,” Dallas said, finishing the rest of his drink. “She wants to leave p>
“Because she’s scared.” Azalea rolled her eyes and marched down the hallway.