“Ah… mm… slower…”

The voice slipped through the silence like a blade, soft, breathy, and far too close.

Elena Vaughn’s lashes fluttered.

For a moment, everything felt heavy. Her body, her mind, even the air around her seemed thick and suffocating. The faint scent of alcohol clung to her skin, mixing with something sweeter… something unfamiliar.

Then another sound came.

A low groan.

Male.

Her heart skipped.

No—stopped.

She blinked again, slower this time, forcing her eyes open. Darkness greeted her first. The curtains were drawn, leaving only a dim glow from the city lights outside filtering through the edges.

Her head throbbed.

Fragments of last night flickered in her memory, wine, laughter that didn’t feel real, forced smiles, and the sharp sting of humiliation she had tried so hard to ignore.

And then........

Another moan.

It was closer, and so real...

Elena froze instantly.

Her fingers curled into the sheets beneath her, with her nails digging into the fabric as a strange, cold feeling crawled up her spine. She didn’t move immediately. Didn’t breathe. As if the slightest motion would confirm the nightmare forming in her mind.

“Dominic…”

The name came out in a whisper.

Soft, intimate and wrong.

Elena’s chest tightened violently.

That voice…

She knew that voice.

Slowly,so slowly, it felt like her body didn’t belong to her anymore, she turned her head.

And saw them.

The world didn’t shatter.

It didn’t explode.

It simply… stopped.

Dominic Vaughn.

Her husband.

And—

Selene.

Her stepsister.

Selene knelt between his legs, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders as she moved with deliberate slowness. The sheets were tangled around them, and their bodies pressed too close, too familiar.

Dominic’s head tilted back, eyes half-lidded, his hand buried in Selene’s hair.

He didn’t even look surprised.

Didn’t even look guilty.

“Elena…” he murmured hoarsely, as if her name was an inconvenience.

As if she were the interruption.

Her stomach twisted.

For a second, Elena wondered if she was still dreaming. If this was just another cruel illusion her mind had created to punish her.

But no.

The sound of their breathing.

The heat in the room.

The way her heart felt like it was being crushed in her chest—

This was real.

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

Selene turned first.

Their eyes met.

And Selene smiled.

Not shocked.

Not embarrassed.

Smiled.

“Oh,” Selene said lightly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as if she had just been caught doing something trivial. “You’re awake.”

Elena’s fingers trembled.

“What…” Her voice cracked. She swallowed hard, forcing the words out. “What is this?”

Selene didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she slowly rose to her feet, completely unbothered by her state, wrapping the sheet loosely around her body like it was nothing.

Like this was nothing.

Dominic exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair as he sat up.

“Elena,” he said, his tone already impatient. “Don’t make a scene.”

A scene.

Elena let out a broken laugh, the sound hollow even to her own ears.

“A scene?” she repeated, her voice shaking. “You’re in our bed… with her, and I’m making a scene?”

Her gaze snapped to Selene, anger finally cutting through the shock.

“You—” she took a step forward, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “You’re my sister!”

“Step,” Selene corrected casually, crossing her arms. “Let’s not exaggerate relationships that were never real.”

The words hit harder than the betrayal.

Elena’s breath caught.

Dominic sighed again, as if this entire situation was exhausting him.

“Enough,” he said coldly. “You’re overreacting.”

Overreacting.

Elena stared at him, searching his face—desperate for something. Regret. Guilt. Even a hint of discomfort.

But there was nothing.

Just annoyance.

Like she was the problem.

“Overreacting?” she whispered.

Her chest tightened painfully, memories flashing through her mind like broken glass.

Six years.

Six years of loving him.

Six years of trying.

Six years of convincing herself that one day… one day he would look at her the way he used to.

The way he had that night.

That one night that changed everything.

“If not for that night…” she said softly, almost to herself.

Dominic’s expression darkened.