He Never Loved Me Until the Day I Finally Left Him novel Chapter 172

"Helena, I told you. As long as you behave and play the role of Mrs. Hayes perfectly, I guarantee Wynn stays perfectly safe. But if you step out of line, you'll suffer the consequences," Sebastian warned with a nonchalant drawl.

He tossed out the last few words with agonizing casualness.

Only then did he finally release her.

Even after Sebastian left the room, Helena couldn't force herself to relax.

She didn't even know how much longer she could hold out in this profoundly twisted, suffocating emotional prison.

Even the door to the master bedroom—the only barrier that separated her from Wynn—could no longer keep Sebastian's madness at bay.

If she dared to argue, Sebastian would forcefully silence her in bed until she couldn't make a sound.

If she refused to beg, he would exploit her greatest weaknesses to force her into submission.

Because she was pregnant, Sebastian even stationed The Doctor in the villa twenty-four hours a day, ensuring they'd intervene the second anything seemed off.

Helena felt like a caged canary, trapped behind golden bars with her wings permanently clipped.

No matter how hard she tried to suppress her emotions in front of Wynn, she couldn't hide everything.

They had grown up together, after all, and Wynn easily picked up on her underlying distress.

As Helena ladled the soup into a bowl, Wynn looked up at her. "Lena, what's wrong? You seem a little upset. Is it because I'm here, intruding on you and my brother-in-law?"

Everything Wynn had endured over the years had left him overly cautious and highly sensitive.

Just the thought of being a burden made him instantly tense up.

Helena noticed it immediately. Wynn's hands were gripping the armrests of his wheelchair so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

"No, of course not. What are you talking about? It's just the pregnancy hormones. My mood swings are all over the place. Your brother-in-law brings it up all the time, too," Helena forced a bright smile, coming up with the most plausible excuse she could muster.

Wynn nodded, relieved. "Lena, as long as he loves you this much, I can rest easy. If I'm not around someday, he'll still be there to take care of you."

Helena just murmured a vague agreement and didn't say anything else.

Did Sebastian actually love her? It was the most ridiculous joke she'd ever heard.

But she couldn't dare contradict him.

She felt like someone screaming for her life at the bottom of the ocean, where no one could hear a sound.

And with the baby growing inside her, once it was born, could she really just walk away without looking back?

Helena lowered her eyes, a bitter, self-deprecating smile tugging at her lips.

"Lena, I'm happy right here in Riverton. I just want you and my brother-in-law to be happy together," Wynn said with total sincerity.

Helena gave a muted nod.

But all she could hear ringing in her ears was Wynn endlessly praising Sebastian.

When she finally looked up, she saw Sebastian leaning against the dining room doorframe, a smirk playing on his lips.

It was the look of a man who had already won the game.

And she was nothing more than his helpless prey.

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