LUCAS' POV

I looked up from my laptop and watched as Samantha walked to the headboard and grabbed a pillow, my irritation began to simmer beneath the surface. Her insistence on creating unnecessary barriers between us was starting to wear on my patience– this would be worse than I thought. I couldn't understand why she was so stubborn, so hell-bent on making things difficult for both of us, especially me. Getting father's approval was one thing but staying with this woman? I'll lose my mind before we're done.

"What do you think you're doing?" I couldn't help but ask, I held myself from showing so much irritation already brewing inside of me. The furrow on my brow deepened as I watched her lay out a bedsheet on the floor, seemingly determined to sleep there.

For a moment, there was silence. Samantha's gaze met mine, her eyes defiant and ready for a tug of word exchange– sweet baby Jesus! She didn't utter a single word. It was as if her silence was a protest, a way of asserting her independence.

T