Tachibana stared at me in utter disbelief, her pale lips slightly parted. For the first time since I had entered the room, the stubborn, defiant, sharp-tongued girl looked completely lost for words. Her chest heaved with shallow breaths as she processed what I had just said.
"You're… lying," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible, cracking with suspicion and a strange mix of hope and fear.
"You have to be lying. No rich man would ever agree to that so easily. What's your angle? You think saying yes will make me spread my legs faster? That I'll become your obedient little wife out of gratitude? I'd rather die than be pitied or owned!"
She turned her head away, but her grip on the blanket had loosened just a fraction. "Master… he's playing us. Men like him always do. They say whatever it takes in the moment."
