I should have never stepped into his world.
But now, I was trapped.
He casually pushed himself off me and sat in his chair like he owned the universe, one arm draped over the leather rest, fingers idly tapping against the dark wood. The scar on his face only made him look intensely ruthless, scheming as if he was already planning my demise. I would’ve punched him, butlooking at him, I felt like he knew more about me than anyone else. This man was so much worse.
The rhythm was slow, unhurried—like a clock counting down the seconds to my annihilation.
“Take a seat,” he said.
I didn’t move. But I did slip from his desk and grabbed the chair to steady my trembling legs.
His lips twitched. Not in amusement. Not in frustration. Just... something cold. Detached. “Suit yourself.”
He reached into a drawer, and then with a sharp thud, he pulled out something.
I flinched.
A stack of papers lay in front of me, bound together in a way that made my stomach twist.
“Read it.”
I didn’t reach for it. My hands curled into fists at my sides. It must be some other contract he must have fished out for me. “What is it?”
He tilted his head like he was indulging a particularly slow child. “A contract.”
The word sent a chill through me. Fuck him and his contracts.
His gaze was steady, and his tone awfully flat. “You’ll obey. You’ll submit. You’ll belong to me. I don’t have to say it twice.” He gestured at the papers like they were nothing more than aroutine business deal. “Sign, and I’ll make sure you never have to wonder about her again.”
I swallowed hard. “Who?”
His fingers tapped the desk again.Tap. Tap. Tap. Then he said it. “Your mother.”
The world tipped sideways.
My breath hitched. My heart twisted violently inside my chest.
“You’re lying.” The words scraped my throat.
His expression didn’t change, and my stomach dropped. “Am I?”
A muscle in my jaw twitched. “She’s dead.”
“Yes,” he murmured. “But you don’t even know why, do you?”
My stomach clenched. I felt sick. He didn’t know anything. He couldn’t. No one did.
His voice dropped lower. “Or should I say, you don’t know who she really was?”
The floor beneath me might as well have disappeared.
My body locked up. My fingers dug into my palms. “You’re bluffing.”
He leaned forward, forearms resting on the desk. “Sign, and I’ll tell you everything.”
A sharp, hysterical laugh burst from my throat before I could stop it. “Do you think I’m stupid? You’ll say anything to get what you want.”
He sighed, slow and measured, like I was testing his patience. “Do you want proof?”
