Goodbye My Alpha (Taya and Griffon)

After I ran home in the rain, I removed my dress and the diamond necklace and threw them into the box they'd come in.

Tomorrow, I would send them back to Roman. His "gifts" disgusted me, and I would never accept them.

After closing the box, I went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet in the bathtub. I desperately needed a hot soak to warm me up. The chill from the rain had set deep in my bones, and my illness didn't make it better. Once the tub was full, I sank into the water with a sigh.

I held the bath ball and scrubbed my face and body, rubbing my skin red before looking at myself in the mirror, sans of my armor of makeup. My face was left with a sickly pallor, devoid of any vitality or energy, and my eyes were dimmed to the point of lifelessness. I couldn't see the light, couldn't feel the warmth.

Tonight I'd been treated as if I were no better than the dirt under someone's shoe. But I was a person, dammit. And I deserved to be treated with dignity.

"Dignity."

I snorted and gave myself a self-deprecating smile in the mirror. From the moment I'd sold myself to Griffon, I had lost whatever little bit of dignity I'd possessed.

I dried my hair and lay down on the bed, extremely tired, and fell deeply asleep again.

After getting drenched in the rain, my condition worsened significantly. I buried my head in sleep until the afternoon of the next day.

***

Harper had been on duty all night, so she slept from morning to afternoon. When she got up and prepared dinner, Taya was still asleep.

She had no choice but to knock on Taya's door. She called out to her, but there was no response. Only then did she realize that something was wrong.

Harper quickly pushed the door open and walked in. When she saw Taya's flushed face, she quickly reached out and touched her forehead.

She was burning up!

Harper quickly lifted the quilt to help Taya up. "Taya, you have a high fever. Get up quickly. I'll take you to the hospital."

Taya, in and out of consciousness due to the fever, resisted when she heard the word "hospital."

"We're not going to the hospital..."