Chapter 3: "Gavin, let's end this."

Mia's POV

During the dozen or so years I lived with Eva, she forced me to kneel countless times.

Every single time, she would threaten me with my mother, making me kneel and beg for her mercy.

My mother, Susan Green, was once the lady of the Bell mansion.

Until the year I was born, when the Green family went bankrupt due to poor management.

My father, Henry Bell, quickly divorced Susan and kicked her out of the house with me, still an infant.

To keep me alive, my mother swallowed all her pride and voluntarily stayed at the mansion as a servant.

She and I were arranged to live in the most dilapidated and damp servants' quarters.

Not long after, Camilla married my father and gave birth to Eva.

From that moment on, mine and my mother's nightmare began.

For my mother's sake, I knelt and begged Eva for mercy time and time again.

But things are different now.

I stared at Eva's face, which bore some resemblance to our father's, and sneered coldly.

"Even if you break my legs today, I will never kneel before you again."

Eva's expression turned ugly, as if frightened by the intense hatred in my eyes.

I was no longer the Mia from three years ago who could be bullied at will.

Just as Eva was about to explode, the dorm supervisor's phone rang.

The supervisor looked at the caller ID and her expression instantly became obsequious. She walked out with the phone.

A few minutes later, she returned.

And her attitude toward me had changed dramatically.

"Miss Mia," she said in a flattering tone, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you earlier. It was my mistake. You may leave now."

Eva stamped her feet in anger. "How can you let her go? She hasn't knelt and apologized to me yet!"

But the supervisor acted as if she hadn't heard, her face full of smiles as she opened the office door for me.

I was somewhat puzzled about who had made that phone call.

But I didn't ask further and turned to leave the office.

My dorm room had been trashed by Eva and her friends. I didn't know if my computer had been damaged, and I needed to hurry back to check.

I had just stepped out of the office when I saw a familiar figure.

My heart sank heavily.

It was Gavin's assistant, David.

His face wore a professional smile as he nodded slightly toward me.

"Miss Mia, Mr. Adams is waiting for you outside. Please come with me."

I nervously clenched my fingers. "But I still have things to do..."

David interrupted me with an unchanged smile. "Miss Mia, Mr. Adams's patience is limited."

After three years with Gavin, I knew his temper all too well.

He was a man whose desire for control ran bone-deep. I had no room to refuse.

So I followed David downstairs.

Seeing the car parked below the academic building, I suppressed the urge to turn and run.

The rear window slowly rolled down, revealing Gavin's face.

He spoke in an icy voice. "Get in."

I opened the car door and got in.

Only the two of us remained in the car, along with the driver up front.

The car started smoothly, and oppressive silence spread through the cramped space.

After a moment, he turned his head, those gray eyes staring straight at me, demanding an answer.

"Mia, why did you leave the villa this morning without telling me?"

My voice trembled uncontrollably.

"I... I had an emergency at school this morning. You were still sleeping, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"Is that so?"

He let out an ambiguous chuckle.

"This is a first, Mia. You're becoming less and less obedient."

My heart beat even faster.

Over the past three years, Gavin and I had met almost exclusively at his private villa, occasionally at presidential suites in various hotels.

But like today, with him actively coming to find me at school, this was the first time.

But why?

He was about to get engaged. Why was he still looking for me?

Could it be that he wanted me to continue being a mistress hidden in the shadows even after his engagement?

No, this couldn't go on anymore.

I thought I should make things clear with him.

I took a deep breath and gathered my courage to speak.

"Gavin, let's end this."

The moment the words left my mouth, the temperature in the car seemed to plummet to freezing.

Gavin's expression suddenly became extremely ugly.

"What the fuck are you saying?"

I trembled with fear, but I still forced myself to meet his rage-filled gaze.

"What we had was just a transaction to begin with. Now I have someone I like, so we should end this."

"Someone you like?"

He repeated these words, and the next second, a large hand suddenly grabbed my neck, pressing me hard against the seat back.

The sensation of suffocation hit me instantly.

"The person you like," he leaned close to me, his hot breath spraying on my face, "does he know I've been fucking you for three whole years?"

"Stop the car. Get out."

Gavin roared.

The driver pulled over and hastily got out of the car.

The car doors locked.

Then Gavin lunged forward, pinning me hard against the leather seat.

He kissed my lips forcefully.

I could feel the tense muscles in his jaw and the dangerous aura emanating from him, mixed with cologne and fury.

Survival instinct made me struggle desperately, trying to make him let go.

His large hand grabbed the collar of my t-shirt.

The sound of tearing fabric was particularly jarring in the narrow car.

My upper body was completely exposed to the air. The confined space of the car amplified my shame and fear.

"Let go of me!" I squeezed out broken protests through the gaps between his lips and teeth.

My resistance only earned me even rougher treatment.

He restrained my flailing hands, his knee forcefully pushing between my legs, completely pinning me down so I couldn't move.

Despair and anger surged in my chest. In the chaos, I used all my strength to bite down hard on his lip.

A strong taste of blood instantly spread through our mouths.

Gavin grunted in pain, his body stiffening for a moment.

I thought my resistance had worked, but the next second, the hand around my neck suddenly tightened.

"Ugh..."

I didn't even have the strength to struggle anymore.

All air was taken away, and just as my vision began to darken...

He released my lips, those eyes burning with fury staring at me.

He used his thumb to wipe away the blood at the corner of his mouth, leaned down.

"Please me well, and maybe you'll be free."

Free.

I looked into those eyes that held no warmth whatsoever and instantly understood one fact.

Resistance was useless.

In front of him, I had no right to say "no."

Everything about me, my body, even my "freedom," was all controlled by him.