chapter503

As Thalassa moved to select a dress, her eyes caught the mark on Lysander’s neck once more—the distinct silhouette of a bite mark she had left in her desperation to be heard. The realization of her own bold resistance made her heart hammer against her ribs.

Lysander caught her staring. His eyes narrowed, a brooding fury simmering beneath the surface. Before she could retreat to the dressing room, he closed the distance between them, his hand gripping the back of her neck with firm, undeniable strength.

“You have quite the nerve,” he murmured, his voice a vibration of suppressed anger.

Thalassa didn't flinch. “I was fighting for my own boundaries,” she countered, her breath hitching as she looked up at him. “You wouldn't listen to my words, so I had to find another way to make you hear me.”

To her surprise, her defiance didn't provoke a further outburst. Instead, a strange look of satisfaction crossed his face—a recognition of her spirit. “Don’t let it happen again,” he said simply, before turning to leave the room.

Relieved, Thalassa quickly changed into a modest long-sleeved dress and hurried downstairs. Lysander was back at the table, seemingly finished with his meal.

“Can I go now?” she asked again, her mind racing toward the daycare where her children were waiting.

“Eat first,” he commanded.

“I’m not hungry. I have a genuine emergency.” She turned to leave, but a bodyguard stepped into her path, his presence a silent wall.

Frustrated and desperate, Thalassa sat down and forced herself to eat at a frantic pace, hoping to satisfy his whim and earn her release. Her thoughts were entirely on the Kensington children and the unexplained absence of Evelyn. Why was her mother’s phone switched off? Every minute spent in this dining room felt like an eternity.

After finishing the meal in record time, she stood up once more. “I’ve done as you asked. May I leave?”

Lysander watched her, his mood unreadable, his silence a final test of her patience. Without waiting for a verbal confirmation, Thalassa strode toward the exit. This time, the bodyguard stepped aside. She didn't look back, her focus entirely on the lives waiting for her outside the gates of the Sinclair empire.