My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 713

He needed Isabella Austin to feel a little threatened—only then would she truly depend on him, instead of walking away without a second thought, just like before.

The two of them held each other in silence. Isabella assumed their conversation was over. Just as she was about to ask Benjamin to let her go so she could get out of bed, he suddenly spoke up again.

“Are you tired?”

Her heart clenched, a wave of humiliation rising in her chest.

She bit her lip, struggling to hold back the urge to tell him to get lost.

Benjamin’s hand tightened around her waist, his thumb tracing lazy circles on her skin. “I asked you something. Are you tired?”

The soreness in her body was an unrelenting reminder of what had just happened between them.

She had cheated.

Right here, on this bed, she had betrayed her marriage.

Isabella took a slow, careful breath, forcing her voice to stay gentle. “I’m fine. I’d like to get up and freshen up, if that’s alright.”

Benjamin let out a low, amused chuckle. “Why so tense? I never said you couldn’t.”

She managed an awkward smile. “So… may I get up now?”

He finally let her go, rolling back under the covers. “Go ahead.”

The words felt like a pardon. Isabella scrambled off the bed and hurried to the bathroom.

The shower poured down on her, hot water streaming from her scalp to her toes. Only then did she finally let herself exhale, letting out the breath she’d been holding in her chest.

It wasn’t as if Isabella had ever been fiercely loyal to her marriage or her husband.

She didn’t feel much about sleeping with Benjamin again. Honestly, she just wanted him to deal with the problem for her, neatly and cleanly.

It was the medication she’d ordered online.

Her hands shook with urgency as she tore open the package, popped a pill out of its blister pack, and swallowed it with a quick gulp of water.

“What are you taking?”

Benjamin’s voice came from behind her—soft, even, but carrying a weight that made her freeze.

Startled, Isabella dropped the box of pills.

Benjamin walked over and crouched down, picking up the box before she could stop him.

“Don’t—” she started, but it was too late.

He’d already read the label. “Birth control?”