No, no, no.This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.An intense sense of dread settled over Ayla as she looked up at Levi from where she was kneeling on the ground. Her vision was blurry from the pain – or was that the concussion? – and she swayed slightly, nearly keeling over, but even then, she could see the expression on Levi’s face. Levi was smiling. His voice was calm, reassuring even. But his eyes… She swallowed. He had a dangerous look in his grey eyes, something dark and murky that barely concealed the smoldering rage beneath. There was a grim certainty to his gaze, an absolute self-assurance that said let the heavens help anyone who dared step in his path.Though Ayla had never seen Levi look like this before, she somehow knew without a doubt what he was about to do. He had hinted toward it before, but she never thought he’d actually do it.Levi was going to stand up to their father.It felt as though she was dreaming. In fact, for a moment she wondered if the pain was making her hallucinate. It wouldn’t have been the first time. She clenched her right fist, so tightly her nails drew blood. Despite the sharp pain that shot through her palm, the scene in front of her didn’t change. Okay. This was actually happening. Once, Ayla had hoped for this day to come. Back when she’d first replaced Levi as heiress and learned exactly what ‘heiress lessons’ entailed. The beginning had been extraordinarily rough; their father had been even harsher on her than him since she was behind. Every night, as Ayla dragged her broken and bleeding body back to her room, she’d silently (...)