Lyra was locked inside the room for an entire night.
Bodyguards stood watch in shifts outside her door, making any attempt to escape completely impossible.
It wasn't until the following afternoon—after Alistair regained consciousness and Rowan had gone home to change his clothes—that he finally spared the time to see her.
When Rowan pushed the door open, Lyra had already eaten her meal. She was sitting quietly in the center of the room, her expression completely indifferent.
Rowan stopped right in front of her, his voice devoid of any readable emotion. "Tell me. What exactly is your problem with me, or with Jasmine?"
"If you wanted to destroy the Ford family, you could have picked any day of the year. Why did you have to do it on the exact day of my engagement?"
"Were you really that desperate?"
"Did you absolutely have to turn it into a public spectacle in front of my entire family?"
"What did the Jamesons ever do to you? My grandfather and my brother adored you, and how do you repay them? By humiliating my grandfather..."
His jaw clenched tightly, a dark, murderous shadow falling over his features. He leaned down, his large hand snapping out to wrap around her throat, forcing her head up so she had no choice but to meet his eyes. "Speak."
Lyra had been back in this timeline for almost three years, and he had just spoken more words to her in the last thirty seconds than he had in all those years combined.
"Is it because you're still in love with me?" Rowan dragged his thumb roughly across her soft cheek, genuinely impressed by his own patience.
Wesley Wade stood silently behind Rowan, watching as Lyra didn't so much as blink. "There's nothing to explain," she said coldly. "I just hate looking at you and Jasmine. You two are a pair of cheating scumbags. Watching you both get publicly humiliated was the highlight of my year."
Rowan's face went completely glacial, a biting chill radiating from his core.
"Scumbag?" He let out a harsh, furious laugh, a flash of pure malice crossing his eyes.
Remembering something, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pill.
"I suppose I could act the part."
Panic flared in Lyra's eyes, but before she could react, his fingers clamped tightly around her jaw, forcing her mouth open as he shoved the pill inside. She fought wildly to spit it out, but in her frantic struggle, she only managed to expel half of it. Rowan tilted her head back, violently forcing her to swallow the remaining half.
Lyra's eyes widened in sheer terror. "W-what did you just do?!"
Rowan stared down at her. "It's a party favor from those guys on the yacht. I grabbed one while I was taking out the trash. Seems like a perfect fit for you right now."
Lyra slumped weakly against him, her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated humiliation.


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