He only dared to lift his eyes to check her expression after he finished, only to find Lizetta staring intently right back at him.

Remington couldn't read a single emotion in her gaze. Her overwhelming calmness and silence made his heart pound erratically.

It felt as though a blade was suspended over his neck, ready to drop at any second, yet deliberately drawing out the torture.

If someone had told him in the past that the great Remington Dashiell would one day be terrified of a woman's silence, he would have scoffed.

But right now, he was genuinely, completely terrified.

Pressing his lips together, Remington broke the silence first. "Liz, I didn't mean to hide this from you. I originally planned to tell you everything in a few days when you were discharged. I didn't expect you to..."

Lizetta abruptly cut off his explanation.

"I don't want to talk about this right now. I'll do it myself."

She pushed his hands away, unbuttoning her gown as she headed toward the bathroom.

Remington felt his chest tighten. Sure enough, Lizetta was furious.

He spun around, grabbed her forearm, and gave a slight tug, pulling her flush against him and wrapping his arms tightly around her from behind.

"You're angry, aren't you? Are you regretting agreeing to be my girlfriend? No matter what I say, you don't want to hear it and you don't want to forgive me, do you?"

He pressed his forehead hard against her shoulder, his deep voice carrying a faint, undeniable tremble of panic.

Lizetta froze for a second, her heart contracting wildly, flooded with a mix of bitter ache and sweet warmth.

When she didn't answer, Remington's panic only amplified in the silence.

His arms tightened painfully around her waist, and he spoke in a raw whisper.

"I won't accept a breakup! I absolutely will not agree to it."

Lizetta was speechless.

She never knew Remington possessed this side to him.

She hadn't even said a word, yet his mind had already sprinted all the way from an argument to a full-blown breakup?

Lizetta shifted, trying to turn around

and look at him, but Remington

clear interpreted the

movement. locked her in an ever tighter embrace

"Baby, please don't leave me. I can't lose you again..."

Lizetta had been genuinely upset with him, but right now, his dramatic panic was almost comical.

She turned her head and pushed his forehead off her shoulder.

Remington seemingly needed the sheer physical friction and closeness of her body just to convince himself she wasn't going to vanish.

When she pushed him back, the

man simply swept her up into his et

arms, walked over to the nearby

sofa and sat down with her firmly his lap.

in

"Don't be mad. You didn't even get mad at Joseph, so you can't have a double standard and only be furious at me."

Lizetta let out an incredulous laugh at the sheer audacity of his logic. She glared at him in mild annoyance.

"Are you and Joseph the same? Fine, call me your queen, and I might just let it slide..."

Before she could even finish her sentence, Remington opened his mouth.

"My queen, don't be mad at me, hmm?"

Lizetta was speechless.

She wanted to keep up her cold,

angry facade. She wanted to have a serious conversation with him to teach him a lesson so he'd never do this again.

BUY

But she completely lost to his absolute shamelessness. A laugh slipped out of her

lips before she could stop it.