bChapter /bb166 /b

bChapter /bb166 /b

DORA’S POV

Ever since Adrian kicked me out of his house, the

only ce that offered me even a shred offort was the cramped, musty room i novi called mine. wouldn’t call it home–home was the mansion, with marble floors and ceilings that kissed chandeliers. That was where I belonged. But now, here I was tucked away in this dump of an apartment, stripped of the luxury I had grown used to.

Yes, I had a new room–but it wasn’t mine by

One of my goals back when I was trying so ha house bills. I had envisioned a life of ease, with

to

a future with Adrian was simple: marry him, and let him take care of everything–especially the days, designer handbags, and Adrian’s card funding it all.

But everything… everything crumbled.

That n failed–spectacrly. Not only had I been exposed, humiliated, and kicked out of his mansion, but the financial support I’d hoped to cling bto /bdisappeared with it. And now? We were living in a depressing two–bedroom apartment that could barely fit a decent bed, let alone dreams.

We had no choice. Either this or the streets.

The walls were cracked, yellowed with age. The ceiling leaked when bit /brained, and sometimes even when it didn’t. The sinks wheezed and spat rust- colored water, the toilets never flushed properly, and don’t get me started on the electricity. We could go a whole week without power, and when our phones died, we’d walk miles just to pay someone to charge them.

It was hell.

I never realized how much I had taken the mansion for granted–its warmth, its silence, its endless space. Now, the smallest creak in this apartment echoed like a scream. I missed the walk–in closets. I missed the gold–rimmed mirror that used to reflect back the image of a woman who had bit /ball. That mirror was gone now. And I no longer recognized the girl in this room.

I barely left my bed.

There was no TV. No luxury. No beauty. Just the suffocating reminder of failure.

My dad tried to cheer me up sometimes. He’d knock on my door gently, tell me dinner was ready, and ask if I wanted to step outside for some air. But the moment I did… the world out there, the noise, the garbage–lined streetb, /bbthe /bpeeling paint on the buildings–it all made me feel sick, it was disgusting, I wasn’t used to this style and I didn’t want to get used to it. So I stayed in bed, pulling the thin nket tighter around me like it could protect me from the

truth.

I couldn’t stay here much longer. I knew that.

In a moment of desperationb, /bI had called Jessica and asked if I could stay at her ce–just for a while. Just until I figured things out. But she didn’t even hesitate before saying no. She imed her siblings were crashing with her and there was bno /bspace for me. I knew that was a lie. She just didn’t want me there. After all the nights she’d spent at my ce, raiding my fridge, lounging in my designer robes, now she couldn’t return the favor?

I gritted my teeth and tried not bto /bcry.

Why was this happening to me?

Why did bit /ball go so wrong?

My mother was furious. She hadn’t spoken to me properly since Adrian threw me out. She med me for everything–for bnot /bgetting bpregnant/bb, /bbfor /bbnot /b“locking him down” like she had taught me. She said I failed her. I tried to exin, but she wouldn’t listen.

“It’s not my fault!” I had screamed one night after another one of her cold remarks.

But bit /bdidn’t matter. She didn’t care.

b1/3 /b

bChapter /bb166 /b

bShe /bbhad /bbgiven /bme all the bseduction /bbtips /bbin /bthe bbook/b–what bto /bwearb, /bbhow /bto smile, when to touch him. bShe’d /bbprepped /bbme /bblike /ba bsoldier /bbgoing /bto war Bot.

none of bit /bbhad /bworked.

Adrian never gave me a chance,

He barely let me touch him. Any time I tried to get close, he’d shut down. Move away. Pretend I wasn’t even there. I had wondered over band /bover if he was seeing someone else behind my back. If some low–ss street girl had taken my ce in his bed.

Because bit /bdidn’t make sense.

bI /bhad done everything. Every trick in the book.

I had made him breakfast in lingerie, worn the perfume he said he liked, and even tried to get him drunk one night. But nothing worked. He was cold. Unreachable. Like he had already made up his mind, and I was just a ghost in his house.

I squeezed the nket tighter around me, wishing I could disappear into it.

Adrian had meant everything to me. Not just because of the money–but because, in some twisted way, I thought he was mine. I had known bhim /bbfor /byears. We grew up together. I was supposed to be the one beside him.

Now, all I had were fading dreams, a leaking apartment, and a mother who wanted nothing to do with me unless I delivered results.

Olivia wasn’t in Adrian’s life anymore. That should’ve meant something. That should’ve opened a door for me, given me the chance I always dreamed bof/bb. /b

But nothing happened. He never looked at me like he looked at her. He never even touched me.

And if he wasn’t seeing someone else—and I was pretty sure he wasn’t–then what exactly was wrong?

There’s no way a man can go that long without sex. Not a man like Adrian. No matter how emotionally distant or cold he pretended to be, he was still human, and humans had needs. Cravings.

Unless…

Unless he wasn’t attracted to me.

The thought made my stomach twist. No. That couldn’t be it. I refused to believe it. I’ve always been told I was beautiful–always had men staring at bme /bwherever I went. I had curves, I had the body. So why didn’t he want me?

I stood from my bed slowly, the mattress creaking beneath me in this suffocating, worn–down apartment. My bare feet padded across the cold tile floor as I walked toward the cracked mirror that hung unevenly on the wall.

I stared.

Then, wordlessly, I began peeling off my clothes–first the oversized t–shirt I wore just to feel some level offortb, /bthen the loose, worn–out trousers that hung on my hips. I let them fall to the ground, leaving me bare.

I stood naked in front of the mirror, studying myself from head to toe. My hands slowly lifted and cupped my breasts. They were still softb, /bstill full–but they didn’t sit the way they used to. Not as high. Not as tight. They sagged just a little.

Was that it?

Was that why Adrian never touched me?

A bitter smile pulled at my lips. Olivia’s breasts were smaller, sure–but they were perky, pointedb, /bperfect in a way that bseemed /bbeffortless/bb. /bbEven /bbin /bbher /bworst days, she had that graceful elegance about her, like she wasn’t trying to be beautiful—she just was.

And maybe that’s what he loved about her. Maybe that’s what bI /bcould never replicate.

I turned to the side, trying to examine my body from every angle. My waist was slim, my hips curved just benough/b. By bsociety’s /bstandardb, /bbI /bhad bthe /bbperfect /bshape. But Adrian never cared about society’s standards.

bChapter /bb166 /b

bHe cared /bbabout/b… herb. /b

b“/bbI /bbdon’t /bget it,” I whispered to myself, my voice shaky. “Why wasn’t I enough?”

Tears threatened to spill, but I blinked them back.

Still naked, I turned away from the mirror and grabbed my clothes off the floo Unweing. Like everything else in my life these days.

quickly pulling them back on. The fabric felt cold against bmy /bskin

But I couldn’t stay like this. I couldn’t rot in this apartment. I couldn’t keep letting rejection define me.

If Adrian wasn’t going toe to me, then I’d go to him. Again and again, if I had to. I’d wait outside his gate for hours, days if necessary. bI’d /bapologize. I’d beg. I’d do whatever it took to make him see that I was still here. That I wasn’t giving up.

Because I had nothing left to lose.

And even though he’d shut the door on me, even though I was no longer wee in his home, I wasn’t going to stop. I had given him everything. My timeb, /bmy body, my trust.

And I’d do it again. Because I didn’t know who I was without him.