Ste offered him a cold, mocking smile.


    "To me, Joshua, you were just a weapon-a stepping stone to get what I wanted. But this de is a little too sharp. It cuts others, and it cuts the one holding it. So, I had to toss it away."


    Joshua stared her down. "I am not a toy you can pick up and throw away whenever you please, Star."


    "You just demanded too much," she countered tly.


    "So, you still n on leaving me?"


    Her fingers twitched. He phrased it as though staying together was still an option—


    as if all the horrific things she had done to him could just be erased.


    She lowered her gaze. "I''ve already agreed to remarry Haynes."


    A twisted, manic light red in Joshua''s eyes. "I waited for you all week. If you had juste to me and said one sweet word, I would have forgiven everything. But you didn''t. Instead, you paraded around with him every single day. I am furious right now, Star."


    His lips curled into a smilepletely devoid of warmth. The air around him turned suffocatingly dangerous.


    "Are you absolutely sure you want to keep pushing me?"


    Ste''s breath hitched. Her survival instinct screamed that she had crossed a fatal line. If she kept pushing, something unspeakable was going to happen.


    She turned her face away. "Get out. I''m going to bed."


    A low, dark chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Since you love kids so much, let''s just have one. That way, you won''t have the energy to look at other men."


    Panic spiked in her veins. Before the word could even leave her lips, he seized her, crushing his mouth against hers in a punishing, bruising kiss.


    His eyes were wild, consumed by a primal darkness. The deep obsidian of his irises was bleeding into a terrifying, bloodthirsty red-a look of pure, unadulterated obsession.


    Ste''s heart hammered against her ribs. In her desperation to push him away, she finally connected the dots. From the moment the lights flicked on he hadn''t been in his right mind He was having a psychotic break.


    All the blood drained from her face. "Joshua, stop! Calm down, let''s talk about this!"


    He couldn''t hear her.


    His breathing was ragged and


    scorching as he trailed wet,


    aggressive kisses down her jaw and


    throat, devouring her as if trying to merge their flesh. His expression


    remained eerily nk, but his grip was brutal, pinning her down with terrifying dominance.


    Driven by madness, he whispered feverishly against her skin. "You can''t do this to


    me, Star. You know I can''t survive without you."


    She thrashed wildly, fighting him with everything she had.


    Her resistance only shattered whatever fragile thread of control he had left. The


    crimson haze in his eyes deepened into absolute insanity.


    "Don''t fight me, Star," he growled, a predatory warning vibrating in his chest. "Don''t make me angry. I don''t want to break you."


    The next morning, Joshua woke up with a skull-splitting headache.


    Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, painting the room in a soft golden glow Seeing the woman lying quietly beside him, seemingly asleep, his tense muscles instantly rxed.


    But as his eyes adjusted to the violent bruising marring her skin, his heart plummeted.


    He gently shook her shoulder, but she didn''t stir. She waspletely unresponsive.


    "Star? Star..."


    He pressed a trembling hand against her forehead.


    Her skin was scorching hot.