Chapter 127

Latisha's fingers curled into fists. She stared at his cold, impassive face, her vision blurring for a moment. She could never tell what he was thinking.

Clifford's grip on her jaw tightened. "Did you hear me?"

The pain snapped her back to the present. She nodded weakly.

“This is the last time," he continued. "If you disobey me again, I will break your legs and lock you away. Do you understand?"

A chill ran down her spine. His expression was dead serious; he wasn't joking. He was capable of it.

She could only manage another difficult nod. Only then did he release her, his fingers gently stroking her cheek. "That's better."

He leaned in to kiss her, but remembering the doctor's words, she instinctively turned her head away.

Clifford's eyes narrowed. He forced her face back towards him, his voice laced with menace. "Did you forget what I just said? You really don't learn, do you?"

She tried desperately to sign an explanation, but her frantic movements only looked like resistance. He grabbed her hands, ripped off his own tie, and used it to bind her wrists.

She shook her head wildly, struggling so hard that she slipped off the sofa and crashed onto the hard floor. The impact sent another wave of dizziness through her, and her head throbbed with pain.

Curling into a ball, she looked up at him, her tear-filled eyes pleading with a raw, primal fear.

Clifford grabbed her by the collar and hauled her to her feet, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Are you afraid of me?"

She saw the corner of his mouth lift into a chilling smile. Whether from terror or the pain in her abdomen, her body began to tremble uncontrollably. He laughed, a hollow, terrifying sound that held no warmth.

"Why?" he pressed, his gaze boring into hers as if trying to extract the answer directly from her soul. "Why are you afraid of me?"

Latisha squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away as a tear traced a path down her temple.

She wanted to know why, too. They weren't always like this.

Was it her fault? Was she too greedy? Wanting his love and her freedom at the same time, was she destined to have neither?

Her trembling intensified, and the smile on Clifford's face slowly faded.

In the next moment, he pulled her into a crushing embrace, holding her so tightly it felt as if he were trying to merge her into his very bones.

His tone shifted, becoming a soft murmur against her ear. "Don't be afraid. Just be obedient, like you were before, and everything will be fine."

He smelled faintly of something clean and floral-a scent she had always loyed. She once heard someone say that the gardenia symbolized a lifetime of devotion. From that day on she had adored the flower. Whenever he wore clothes she had washed, the scent of gardenias made her believe, just for a moment, that he loved her.

Clifford untied her wrists and cupped her face, gently wiping away her tears.

Latisha couldn't bring herself to look

at him. He was like a man with a split personality, his moods shifting like the weather. Just when she thought he would erupt, he would

suppress his volatile emotions as nothing had happened.

it

Just like now. He held her face, his gaze intent, his voice soft again. “Let's have a

child. Do you like children?"

Her eyelids fluttered. She snapped her head up and met his unreadable gaze.

"I'm serious," he said.

A frigid wave crashed over her, a profound sorrow rising in her throat. Her eyes burned, and her limbs went cold and numb. Her heart felt as if it were filled with lead and earn breath was a painful pull on ber chest.

Latisha raised her hand, wanting to say something, but what could she say?

Their baby was gone

Why didn't he come to save the baby?

Why he only now wanted a child?