Page 13 of Claimed By the Billionaires

The kind older woman wasn’t gone for long. She handed Winter a cup and saucer and told her to drink the contents as quickly as she could. At that point, Winter would have done anything to stop the terrible fullness in her breasts.

“There,” Millie said after Winter downed the drink. She gently tucked Winter into the bed, then ordered her to eat the sandwich she had brought up with her and offered her a glass of chocolate milk as well.

“You need to rest. Tomorrow is another day.”

“Thank you, Millie,” Winter said, full of appreciation.

“I’ll be by tomorrow. Anything you need, you just ask me, all right?”

Winter smiled and nodded, then watched the woman leave the room.

She waited like a fool for them, but now a deep frown nestled into her face as she tried to figure out what to do next. She’d been taught how to handle everything, but not this—their rejection. Was rejection even the right word to use?

Forced to grow up quicker than most girls her age, being naive wasn’t an option. Nor was she some silly little girl who became enamored with three obscenely attractive men just because looking at them stole the breath from her lungs.

This was her calling. She had planned to execute it clinically and then leave it all behind her once it was done.

She had no idea what to do next, but she was here to get things done, so that was what she was going to do. They couldn’t avoid her forever.

With new determination and better walls erected around her, she ate her sandwich, drank the chocolate milk, and somehow managed to fall asleep again.

Chapter Seven

Another day had gone by, making it close to five days in total now, and they hadn’t shown up yet.

Winter found herself having to continually console her anxiety that it wasn’t because of her. And if it was, they needed to come right out and say it.

According to Millie, she wasn’t allowed to leave their house until they said so, which appeased her conclusion about it not being her but also contributed to her confusion because if the fault was with her, why would they still want her to stay in their home?

She avoided video calling her parents, too. They’d want to know if everything was okay, and she couldn’t bring herself to lie to their faces. She resorted to texting them and replied to their messages, saying she was okay.

Amelia was harder to throw off, but after reminding Winter she could still run away, even now, she backed off a bit. But Winter hadn’t even told Amelia that things hadn’t happened the way they’d been written centuries ago.

The thing was, Winter could absolutely still run away.

In order for the ritual to be a success, she should have been wearing their brand by now—the symbol of the pegasus seared onto her back, where the lines of the x they’d have flogged into skin met. And if that were the case, she wouldn’t be a virgin either. They approved of her at the unveiling for crying out loud.

So, as of now, they had zero claim over her.

Her thoughts kept going around in a loop, and just when she thought she was going mad, Millie arrived carrying a beautiful dress in a transparent garment bag.

Winter had been wearing the clothes she and her mother had packed for her, which had been collected by a Pegasus attendant the day before she arrived at their home.

“Here you go, lovely. Your dress for tonight.” Millie said happily as she removed the dress from the bag. She held it up, and Winter couldn’t deny it was stunning.

The dress her parents had bought for her was high couture and cost a serious sum of money, but this dress was in another league altogether. To say it was exquisite failed to do justice. Pale pink in color, with the fabric far too opulent, the straps of the dress were a string of diamonds with a pearl-embellished hem. Both gems looked undeniably real.

When Millie turned it around, it was clear to Winter that the dress had been designed in such a way that it was completely backless.

“They want me to wear this dress? For tonight?”

She’d already taken an extra-long bath, with plans to put on her pajamas and read until she passed out for the night. That had been her nighttime routine since arriving at their home.

“Yes, for dinner with your family tonight,” Millie said, with a slightly perplexed look on her face at Winter’s question.

Winter gave Millie and the dress a blank stare. She was so confused it actually started to hurt her brain.

“But—”

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