The Rose He Showed Off Is Putting Down Roots in a Garden of Her Own novel Chapter 12

Elara said nothing as Julian practically dragged her up the stairs.

He kicked the bedroom door shut, pinned her against the mattress, and began tearing at her clothes.

Elara didn't fight back. She let him do whatever he wanted.

Buttons snapped, and fabric ripped.

Her luminous skin was exposed, littered with deep red hickeys that trailed down her chest and disappeared beneath her silk bra—undeniable, glaring evidence of passion.

The stark contrast of the dark bruises against her radiant complexion burned Julian's eyes.

The thought of her writhing beneath another man drove him to the brink of insanity. Snarling, he ripped her stockings to shreds.

She remained entirely unresponsive, offering zero resistance.

When he saw the bruises on her inner thighs, he completely unraveled.

There was no need to strip off her underwear.

Those marks told him everything he needed to know.

Elara lay there like a soulless ragdoll, staring blankly at the man hovering over her. It was over. Irrevocable. Beyond saving.

His wife had engaged in wild, uninhibited sex with another man.

The reality of it made him clench his fists in blinding rage. He couldn't stomach the thought of his wife cheating on him.

Eyes bloodshot, he tried to hold back, but the fury took over. He backhanded her so hard her head snapped to the side.

Tears spilled over her lashes—maybe from the physical sting, maybe from something much deeper.

The tears streamed down her temples, soaking into the bedsheets.

His fury was apocalyptic.

"You unfaithful slut!"

"You are Mrs. Sterling. And you went out to get screwed by some stranger!"

"You make me absolutely sick!"

Tears blurred her vision, warping his face into a terrifying mask.

She had never seen him like this.

He was supposed to be perfect, gentle, composed.

If he had stayed that way, she would never have found the strength to let go. She would have kept compromising, kept lying to herself, finding excuses to live in her beautiful delusion because she couldn't bear to leave him.

But this was who he truly was.

He couldn't pretend anymore. Or he didn't want to. Or perhaps he felt he no longer needed to.

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