Chapter 350

Hannah drew on the last fragments of willpower within her frame, her tone rasped yet rang with fierce determination. "Vincent, as long as I'm still breathing, I'll find a way out."

Vincent released a sinister chuckle, fury igniting in his gaze like a raging inferno. "Very well." In the next instant, he rammed into her again-harsher, rougher, more merciless than before. "Then I'll make sure you never have the strength to run again. I'll see to it you never forget who you belong to."

Each motion was brutal-designed to crush her spirit, to make escape a distant fantasy.

Inside the vehicle, the only sounds were broken gasps, muted impacts of bodies colliding, and muffled sobs that filled the airless chamber.

Abruptly, he drove into her with such savage force that it seemed he meant to crush her into the seat.

His mouth slammed onto hers-not tender, but a vicious, punishing bite.

"Ah!" Hannah wrenched her face aside, straining with every ounce of fight to avoid his onslaught

But Vincent's grasp on her chin was ironclad. He forced her face back, capturing her lips once more with unrestrained brutality.

His restraint had vanished entirely. He ravaged her mouth with frenzy steeped in blood and cruelty.

Unable to dodge further, she struck back the only way left-her teeth sank into his lower lip with all her force.

Vincent spat a hiss as the sting and metallic taste filled him.

Seizing that flicker of weakness, Hannah shoved his face away, scambling to pull herself upright.

But Vincent only grew wilder, dragging her beneath him once again. His mouth, scorching and unyielding,burned across her jaw down to her throat, while his hands roamed over her body without permission or pause.

Hannah clamped her teeth until her jaw throbbed. She refused to plead, refused to break. She denied him that victory.

Moments dissolved. At the end, the vehicle lay in disarray, garments scattered.

Vincent's chest rose with labored breaths. The storm within him slowly eased, ebbing like a retreating tide.

Hannah never shifted her gaze toward him. He removed his jacket and placed it over her.

She recoiled. He studied her still, drained profile-and the disturbance in his chest only tightened.

Silence consumed the vehicle.

At last, Vincent muttered a command, and the car started toward the secluded estate, hidden within the city, encircled by walls and armed sentries.

When the car halted, Vincent stepped out without sparing Hannah anóther look. His features were blank,stripped of emotion.

Outside, guards and household staff awaited.

"Take her upstairs. Return her to the chamber." Vincent's voice was frigid and detached, as if none of it bore weight.

Two attendants approached cautiously, helping Hannah out of the vehicle. Her knees faltered, unable to hold her upright. She drifted with them like a shadow-silent, hollow.

Vincent lingered, watching her weakened frame half-dragged away, his stare impossible to decipher.

Hannah was led back into the opulent suite where she had been confined before.

Vincent entered soon after. He observed her step into the bathroom. Soon, the rush of water echoed within.

He leaned against the wall, waiting in wordless stillness.

Time crawled. Eventually, the sound ceased.

Hannah reappeared. She had bathed and clothed herself in fresh lounge attire. Damp strands clung to her,

her complexion pale, her eyes stripped of light.

Without a glance his way, she moved directly to thetall window, staring at the enclosed courtyard outside.

Vincent followed, halting a few steps behind.

For a long interval, quiet reigned. Then, his voice broke it, low and edged with control. "Don't waste your energy trying to escape. You won't succeed."

Hannah's frame tensed, slight but telling. She didn't turn. Her eyes held to the thin strip of sky above the high enclosure. Her voice, rasped and dry, carried a calm that was chilling. "Vincent, do you truly mean to cage me for my lifetime?"

Vincent stared at her fragile yet unyielding outline. An unseen fist seemed to clench around his chest once more. He advanced a step, speaking as though it were a simple truth. "If you abandon thoughts of Claude Hobbes and bring my child into this world, this place will grant you everything imaginable."

A soft, bitter sound escaped her mouth. She did not scream. She did not weep. She only turned-slow,deliberate. Her eyes locked with his. They held no fear, no doubt. Only an icy, piercing certainty-one that ripped through every fantasy he clung to.

She parted her lips, and two words fell like a dagger, "Never happening."