Chapter 4

The edge of the black card sliced cleanly across her temple.

Beads of bright crimson blood welled up immediately.

As an heiress who had been spoiled rotten since birth, she had rarely even suffered a minor scrape.

The moment her manicured fingers touched the sticky blood, she let out an ear-piercing shriek and bolted out the door in hysterics.

The heavy front door slammed shut with a deafening bang.

I looked at Julian awkwardly.

"Sir... aren't you going to go after Miss Chloe?"

Julian turned around to look at me, his dark brows knitting slightly.

"You belong to me. Why do you care about her?"

It felt as though a pebble had been tossed into the quiet lake of my heart, sending soft ripples outward.

A flush of heat crept up the edges of my ears.

I heard him repeat, his voice low and steady,

"You're mine. So don't be afraid."

...

Ever since that afternoon, my heart would race whenever Julian was near.

I started actively avoiding his eyes.

Fortunately for my sanity, an urgent overseas assignment came up, taking him away for four or five days.

He even granted me a short break.

Sighing in relief, I prepared to head to the hospital to visit my parents.

The second I stepped off the estate grounds, a cloth soaked in chemicals was clamped over my mouth and nose, and I was dragged violently into a black SUV.

When I finally opened my eyes, I was chained inside a damp, subterranean basement.

Heavy iron shackles bound my wrists and ankles.

The air was thick with the stench of mildew and rot. A few decaying corpses lay discarded in the far corners.

The nauseating smell made my stomach heave violently.

The sharp click of designer heels echoed through the stone corridor.

I lifted my head to see Mrs. Sterling. Despite her age, her face was impeccably preserved, twisted now into a sneer of pure contempt.

"So this is the cheap little stray who seduced Julian?"

My heart lurched, but a tight gag in my mouth prevented me from uttering a sound.

"Do you know why Julian went through personal maids so quickly?"

"Because every time a woman harbored inappropriate ideas about him, I took care of them for him."

"Later on, he pretended to execute them, but secretly gave them cash and let them escape with their lives. I merely chose to turn a blind eye."

My breath hitched in my throat.

The real monster pulling the strings behind the scenes wasn't Julian—it was his adoptive mother!

She snapped her manicured fingers.

Several stone-faced women strode in, clutching long, gleaming steel embroidery needles.

"But you, you miserable bitch... you actually made him lay a hand on my daughter! His future bride!"

"Do it. Carve up her pretty little face. Let's see how she plans to seduce Julian without it!"

Terror crashed over me like a tidal wave.

Watching the sharp, silver needles gleam closer and closer, my body shook uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Julian's deep voice echoed in my head:

*You're mine. Don't be afraid.*

*Liar. I'm scared to death right now!*

*If I could do this all over again, I swear to God I would never be a maid!!*

I shut my eyes in sheer despair.

Yet the expected, piercing agony never came.

Instead, a soft chuckle broke the silence.

Julian arched an eyebrow, cleanly severing the iron chains around my wrists with a tactical blade.

Looking down at me, he murmured,

"If you don't want to be my maid, what do you want to be?"