Chapter 221/Not Your Fucking Dog

Chapter 221: 221/Not Your Fucking Dog

Chapter 220

Stephanie’s POV

I closed the distance between us with decisive steps, my voice dripping with harsh venom. "What the fuck do you want, you bastard?"

A cold, unbothered smile spread across his lips as he dabbed the corner of his mouth with his fingertips. "If I were in your shoes, Stephanie, I wouldn’t dare speak to me like that."

I lifted my head, my patience wearing paper-thin. "Spit it out. I don’t have time to waste on you."

He gestured with his finger toward the door behind me, his voice dangerously smooth. "Close the door first."

I turned, shoving the door until it clicked shut with a soft thud, then spun back around to stand rigidly before him. "Talk."

He leaned back against the cushion of the sofa. "Come sit down."

"Are you going to talk, or do I walk?" I demanded, my voice firm.

He waved a hand dismissively in the air, his tone dripping with sheer indifference. "I’m not holding you hostage here, Miss Miller... If you want to leave, the door is right in front of you."

I hesitated where I stood, my mind racing as I calculated my options. Retreating now would leave me drowning in even more doubt. I moved toward the sofa and sat on the far edge, leaving a sharp, undeniable distance between us.

A glass carafe of juice rested on the wooden coffee table. He poured a glass and slid it near me. "I think you’re going to need this."

I whipped my head away, my voice bone-dry. "Cut straight to the chase."

He let out a heavy sigh, inspecting me with sharp, intense curiosity. "You told me Alexander knows everything... I have to admit, I’m amazed by the sudden wave of courage it took for you to confess all of this to him."

I tilted my chin up, refusing to break eye contact. "Yes, I told him... So I don’t have to be your fucking dog anymore."

His smile widened into an infuriating smirk as he replied, "You’re not a dog."

"I was when I was working for you," I cut in with razor-sharp sarcasm.

He tilted his head, his tone calm as he tested my resolve. "And what did Alexander say when he found out?"

"None of your damn business," I snapped back coldly.

He sighed, pressing harder. "Oh, come on, Stephanie. I’m genuinely curious... Otherwise, I’m going to start suspecting you never told him a thing."

"He handled it fine," I said boldly, my stance unwavering.

His eyebrow shot up in visible surprise. "Fascinating... I really didn’t expect that."

I adjusted my posture, my voice ringing with absolute authority. "You told me you have something on me... Go on, tell me what the hell it is."

He raised his hand, pointing his index finger toward the upper corner of the wall near the ceiling. "Look up there."

I turned my head, squinting at the dark upper corner, only to spot a tiny black lens nestled deep within the shadows.

My eyes narrowed as a wave of apprehension washed over me. "What the hell is that?"

"It’s a camera," he said, his voice dropping into a chilly whisper.

My pupils dilated as I whipped my head back to face him. "What?"

"Everything that happened in this room was caught on tape, Miss Miller," he said, staring at me with absolute, unshakable confidence.

In that exact split second, the memories rushed back into my brain like a violent flood; the terrifying tape of yesterday played back in excruciating detail... How I had submitted to his threat, how my hands had trembled as I took off my dress, how I had climbed onto his bed and surrendered to his kiss, shuddering beneath the weight of his blackmail.

My breath hitched, a choked raspy sound escaping my throat. "You’re a sick bastard..."

An unbearable dryness rasped in my throat, compounding the suffocating pressure in my chest. My trembling hand reached toward the table, snatching the glass of juice and gulping it down in one desperate swallow, hoping the cold liquid would extinguish the fire blazing in my chest.

I glared up at him, pure shock and rage boiling in my blood. "How could you put a camera inside your own bedroom?! Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

He adjusted his robe, utterly unfazed. "I’m a man who trusts no one... I would never leave my room unmonitored."

I clenched my fists tight. "Are you going to use this to blackmail me?"

"If you quit your job, I will... Yes," he answered with a flat, merciless finality.

My voice spiked with intense disgust as I glared at him. "You are an irredeemable scumbag!"

He crossed his arms, completely unbothered. "I don’t care."

I took a deep, steadying breath, feeling a spark of sheer defiance ignite, burning away the remaining fear inside my chest. Standing my ground, I fired back with a bold determination he never saw coming.

"You know what? I’m not falling for this again... I will tell Alex that you blackmailed me and used Kyra’s voice recording against me!"

A faint smirk played on his lips. "Except the camera shows us kissing each other."

I summoned every ounce of strength left in me and bolted up from the sofa, my full height declaring my total independence.

I looked him dead in the eye, delivering a fierce, unwavering ultimatum that shattered his calm composure:

"The camera shows that I took off my clothes under duress... That I got under the covers in my underwear... And that you kissed me and nothing more! I will tell Alexander everything... How you threatened me... And he will believe me!"

Suddenly, the room spun violently around me, as if the floor had been yanked right out from under my feet. I stumbled on the spot, my posture failing me as my firm stance collapsed in an instant.

He noticed immediately. Leaning off the sofa with a swift step, his solid hand shot out, gripping my arm tightly to keep me from crashing onto the floor. He tilted his head, searching my hazy eyes, his voice laced with a sudden, genuine flicker of concern.

"Are you okay?"

I lifted my other trembling hand to my head, heavy with a bizarre, suffocating dizziness. "I’m... I’m not... I feel..." I gasped out, the raspy words barely squeezing through my throat.

The words died in my throat, my sentences completely failing me. My heart rate spiked into a frantic frenzy, beating against my ribs like a violent drum. A strange chill paralyzed my limbs, while a sudden, terrifying heat began crawling under my skin, rushing through my veins in a terrifying wave.

His pupils contracted as he saw my lips quivering and my breath hitching. He grabbed my other arm, slowly guiding my helpless steps forward, his voice low and firm, leaving zero room for argument:

"Come here... Lie down on the bed."

I tried to pull back, weakly tugging my arm in a desperate attempt to cling to the last thread of my consciousness. "No... I’m fine."

The feverish heat continued to boil inside my body, and my mind spiraled into a terrifying haze; overwhelming panic, a thick fog obliterating the room around me, and a complete, agonizing loss of control over my own body.

He tightened his grip on my shoulders to steady me, leaning his face close to mine, his voice cutting through the fog with absolute authority:

"Come on... You need to rest."