Chapter 4
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My lip almost twitched into a sneer. He was insane. I wanted to spit a retort right back at him, but Charles was no longer the man I could push around.
I held back my anger and forced another polite smile. “That isn’t a funny joke, Mr. Bennett. I have other customers, Goodbye.”
“Why is it something you’d do for Leo, but not for me?” His voice was cold, sharp.
I frowned. “What are you talking about? What does Leo have to do with this?”
“Earlier. You told him to pay more if he wanted a night with you. So I’m asking, why him and not me?”
I almost rolled my eyes. I’d said that to Leo because thirty thousand was already stretching him to his limit; asking for more was just my way of brushing him off. I never thought Charles would actually believe it.
He took a slow drag from his cigarette, exhaling a smooth cloud of smoke. “Your family’s broke. Actually broke. One night. 3.5 million. It’s a simple deal. Take it or leave it.”
My fists clenched at my sides. I knew exactly what this was–a power play, humiliation packaged as a transaction. Tears of anger pricked at my eyes, but I held them back, meeting his gaze with a cold sneer.
“You think your money makes you special? Yeah, we’re broke. But I’m not that desperate for cash,” I said. Then I turned and fled before he could see me cry.
It was strange how emotions worked. The taunts from everyone else just rolled off my back. But every word from him felt like a fresh cut, a sharp, deep pain that left me breathless with sorrow.
I burst into the main lobby only to stop dead. My brother Ian was there, still in his delivery uniform, on the floor. Sam, Leo, and their crowd were laughing, throwing cash down at him. Ian was scrambling for it, his pride completely gone.
In that moment, my own pride shattered. Tears streamed down my face as I covered my mouth.
There was lan, debasing himself for a handful of bills, and I had just run away from 3.5 million. What right did I have to act so high and mighty?
I spun on my heel and sprinted back upstairs, a desperate prayer in my heart that Charles hadn’t left yet.
I threw the door to the private room open. He was still there, lounging on the sofa. He looked up, a faint, knowing smile playing on his lips, as if he’d been waiting for me.
I walked straight up to him. “Do you hate me?” The words tumbled out. “Is this because of how I treated you back then?”
I didn’t let him answer. “Fine. Pay off my family’s debt. You can humiliate me any way you want, for as long as you want.”
Charles swirled the drink in his glass, looking down at it with that same infuriating smile. “So, you agree? Even to being my secret lover?”
I took a sharp, deep breath. He’d reserve the spot of wife to his first love, and now he was offering me the shadows. The insult couldn’t be more blatant. But I had no choice. “Okay,” I whispered, the word tasting like ash.
The next day, my father came home practically buzzing with excitement and announced that all of our family’s debts had been completely paid off.
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Chapter 4
My mother burst into tears of relief, immediately asking how it was possible.
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Dad explained that Charles had taken care of everything–not only the debts, but he’d also arranged a comfortable new place for them to live.
Mom was overjoyed, immediately singing his praises. “He must still love you so much,” she kept saying, “to be so generous to our family.”
I just smiled. If only she knew the truth.
That afternoon, Charles’s driver arrived to pick me up. Beaming with pride, my parents sent me off, believing their daughter was being whisked away to resume her life as a cherished wife.
They had no idea I was being collected like a kept woman, a source of entertainment for his resentment.
Charles was now living in my family’s old villa. He’d kept the same butler and all the staff.
Servants always followed their master’s mood, and back when I was in charge, they’d eagerly helped me humiliate him.
The fact that he’d retained them all showed a certain generosity on his part. It made me wonder if any of that mercy might be extended to me.
But then I remembered his cold proposition in the private room, and my heart sank.
My situation was different from the servants. Their offenses had only been words. Mine had been public spectacles–I’d cursed him, hit him, and even thrown a glass of wine in his face for everyone to see.
Remembering my own cruelty now sends a chill down my spine. If I had known then how the tables would turn, I really should have been kinder to him from the start.
Bella, one of the maids, led me to the bedroom door. “Mr. Bennett asked that you wait for him inside,” she said, and then hesitated before adding, “…but that you should clean yourself up before he returns.”
I bit my lip, the bitter taste of the insult unmistakable. But what could I do? I had agreed to this. I had sold myself for my family’s freedom, and my pride was part of the price.
The room was a painful echo of the past–the same one Charles and I had once shared. Every piece of furniture was in its place, yet the feeling was entirely different.
I remembered the worn mat that used to lie beside the bed, his designated spot, while I reigned alone in the large bed, constantly asserting my superiority.
That mat was gone now, and so was the girl who had demanded it. That gentle, submissive husband I had bossed around was gone, too.
I told myself it wasn’t the time to think about the past. I pushed the sorrow down, forcing myself into the shower. Afterward, I slipped into bed to wait for him. I was his lover now, and I would play the part I had agreed to.
As painful and humiliating as it all was, it wasn’t for nothing. Our debts were gone. My parents could finally breathe. My brother Ian would never have to beg for scraps of cash again.
That single thought was the only comfort I had, a small light in the overwhelming shame.
I had no idea when Charles would return. Exhausted from the emotional turmoil of the last few days, I unexpectedly fell into a deep, heavy sleep.
I’d only been out for a little while when I felt something heavy pressing down on me. I opened my eyes to find Charles on
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top of me, his hand already under my clothes,
“H–how dare you!” I swung at him instinctively.
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In one swift motion, he caught my wrist. “Down and out,” he sneered, “but still playing the princess, aren’t you?”
It took me a second to recognize the room–his room–and the cold look on his face. Then it all rushed back. Right. He was the master here now. And I was just his mistress. Nothing more.
I pulled my hand back and meekly whispered, “Sorry”
He let out a cold laugh and got up, heading to the shower.
The sound of running water filled the room. I sat there, nervously twisting my fingers. It wasn’t that I minded his touch. Ever since I’d taken a liking to him, a part of me actually craved his closeness.
But there was a world of difference between mutual affection and this possessiveness and revenge. The thought of what was coming made me want to run. But I couldn’t.
It felt like an eternity before the water finally stopped. The bathroom door opened, and I flinched.
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