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Chapter Four
Mary had never imaginedherself as some rich man's mistress. But she had also never imagined herself to be so indebted to the duke. If not for Rathe barging into her dorm room that night...
Oh God.
Over a week had passed, and Mary still had nightmares about her stepfather's attempt to rape her. And who knew if it would've ended there? As terrifying as it was to admit, Mary had a feeling that Bartholomew would also have no qualms killing her afterwards...if he thought there was a need for it.
Rathe was the only reason she was alive now...
But that's not why I agreed to become his mistress, Mary reminded herself valiantly.
It was true that she had felt rather numb at first, when the duke was forced to tell her that both Bartholomew and her own mother had gone into hiding. It meant that she was all alone...until Rathe had asked her to be by his side. And it was then she had told him 'yes'...
She would be the mistress to the Duke of Flanders for as long as he wanted her, and not only that, but she would be the best mistressever,which was why...
"I willnotquit school."
"Don't you get that your life is still in danger?" Rathe growled. He had hired a team of private investigators to look into Bartholomew Grenville's affairs, and their initial report alone had him savagely furious and sick at the stomach at the same time.
The man had a history of sexual abuse and raping young girls that had been entrusted into his care because he had been their pastor. None of them, however, had also been able to press charges, with Bartholomew able to blackmail them into silence.
His own family had not been spared from his abuse, with the report providing undeniable evidence of how Bartholomew regularly beat his wife for her sinful past and how the pastor even liked to boast about the many ways he punished his stepdaughter for her equally sinful ways.
The bastard was the reason why Mary had developed a stammer and tended to move with clumsy awkwardness. She had grown up second-guessing her every move in fear of being punished, andGod,if Rathe ever saw that bastard now...
Mary's heart ached when she saw how Rathe was looking at her. "I'm safe now, truly."
"You're not, dammit. As long as that asshole isn't behind bars, you aren't fucking safe. Can't you fucking understand that?"
"I r-really appreciate you looking after me. That's why, even though I r-really feel it's too much, I a-agreed to move into a house of your choosing. B-But when it comes to my studies, I r-really need to put my foot down—-"
"Why?" Rathe demanded.
"How do you expect me to get a j-job," Mary argued, "if I don't graduate?"
The duke was so bloody tempted to remind his little pearl that being his mistresswasa job. But because he couldn't be that crass to Mary—-
"I'm greedy where you're concerned," Rathe said finally. "I want every second of your day to be mine—-"
"I w-want that, too," she forced herself to admit even as the words made her cheeks turn pink. "But I also know that Ineedto graduate first. I've d-done my research on this," Mary explained earnestly. "A good m-mistress is someone her lover is able to respect, and you c-can't respect me if I d-don't respect myself. Ineedto do this, Rathe. I want to bemorethan your mistress. I want to be someone you can also be p-proud of."
Rathe's jaw clenched as he was eventually realized that Mary had it right...and that he had to just fucking remember that innocent would never be synonymous to stupid where his little pearl was concerned.
The day came to an end like it usually did, with Rathe and Mary enjoying dinner via room service, and Mary later on trying to get him to stay for the night like she always did.
Rathe had insisted that she temporarily move into a hotel after her discharge, and Mary had been secretly relieved to agree to this. She just didn't feel right about going back to her old dorm room, and she had literally burst into tears when the duke promised her that the new house he'd buy would have enough space to give her piranha their very own palace.
