“Because I said so, that’s why. Because I said that’s what I’m going to do, and your mother didn’t seem to have any problem with it.” No big surprise there. I’m sure she would agree to anything he suggested, so long as she gets to enjoy the privileges of being his wife. Does she know? Does she suspect anything? Even if he showed her who he is, I’m sure she would still deliberately turn a blind eye. Anything, so long as she lives the life she thinks she deserves. She would even hand her daughter over to him. I would put nothing past her.

“You can’t do this,” I whisper. I know it’s probably not true, but it’s what I’m thinking. “You can’t. Why would you do that?”

“Because I can. I most definitely can. You had a tough few years. It’s hard on someone mentally, you know?” I do know, but this? Fuck. “You forget, one of us is a lawyer, and it isn’t you. If I need to manufacture a reason, I will, but I don’t need to. I would advise you against telling me what I can and can’t do, Leni.”

“You can’t do this.” I repeat, but this time my voice is weaker and trails off at the end.

“But cheer up,” he continues. “Things don’t have to be that bleak. I’m ready to make a deal with you.”

“What kind of deal?” This can’t be anything good.

And it isn’t. “For the next few days, you will do what I want. Everything I want. You will submit to me, be available to me whenever I desire, and you will offer no resistance.”

I don’t need to ask what sort of submission he’s referring to. He’s already shown me.

“You do this until your mother returns, and you can go to school.” Oh, fuck me, I didn’t even consider my education to be in jeopardy here. I didn’t imagine he would go that far. I should know better already. “I’ll even pay for everything. Your dorm room, fees, books, whatever your scholarship doesn’t cover. I’ll take care of it. But only if I have your full participation between now and your mother’s return.”

What do I do? Say no? And what happens to me after that? I don’t want to think about it, but I’m pretty sure my future would involve nothing but humiliation, being forced to do whatever he wants, and living under his thumb while he makes every single decision about my life. Where I go, what I do, who I see. I won’t even be able to go to the doctor on my own without him having a say in it.