I had a secret crush on Liam Vance for ten years, but I never dared to confess my feelings. That was, until I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I tied him up and slept with him, over and over again. His eyes were bloodshot as he struggled against the restraints. "Harper! Let me go if you have the guts." I thought that if I let him go, he would strangle me in a fit of rage. Instead, he fiercely claimed every inch of my body, day and night, without stopping. "Harper, did you think I was weak? I can't believe you actually drugged me." 1 I had a secret crush on Liam Vance for ten years. From my teenage years all the way into adulthood. He lived in the grand estate right next door to mine. I watched him grow from a green, youthful boy into a mature, striking man. I was completely mesmerized by the mature charm radiating from him, but I never dared to say a word. I was terrified that if I confessed and he rejected me, whatever we had would be over forever. That was until ten days ago, when I passed out at work and was rushed to the hospital. The doctor looked at me with deep pity. "Terminal brain cancer. It's too late. There's no viable treatment left." I couldn't just die like this. I hadn't traveled the world yet. I hadn't even slept with Liam... My mind suddenly filled with the dark romance and forced-proximity novels I'd been reading lately. I was going to die anyway. Doing something a little extreme wouldn't be too much, right? I called Liam and invited him over to my house for dinner. Liam was the CEO of Vance Corporation. He was incredibly busy. But he still promised to come over later that evening. When Liam arrived, he looked travel-worn, dressed in a sleek black overcoat. He brought the chill of the night air in with him. Only then did I realize that when I called him, he had been out of the country. He had flown all day, coming straight home to walk right into my trap. I started to feel a twinge of guilt. I wanted to find an excuse to kick him out, but he walked straight to the dining table and sat down. Without waiting for me to say anything, he made himself at home and started serving himself. I watched as he drank the Tom Yum soup—which I had heavily spiked. He even raised an eyebrow at me while taking a sip. "Haven't seen you in a while. Your cooking skills have improved." Of course they had. Because it was takeout from the highest-rated Thai restaurant in the city. Why did I order takeout? The reason was simple: I was afraid my cooking would be too awful, and he wouldn't eat enough for the drug to take effect. By the time I came back from the kitchen with an extra bowl, he was sitting at the table, his eyes already starting to lose their focus. I bit my lip. "Are you tired? Do you want to lie down?" He nodded slowly. "I'm a little dizzy." "Then go rest for a bit." We had known each other for years, and any mutual guardedness had vanished long ago. He obediently followed me into the guest bedroom. 2 Liam fell asleep. I struggled to take off his heavy coat, then stared blankly at the flesh faintly visible beneath his white dress shirt. I pursed my lips, my heart racing, my mouth going dry. But I still couldn't summon the courage to completely strip him down. I rummaged through my closet and pulled out a pile of silk ties I had bought for him over the years but had never been brave enough to gift him. Today, they finally came in handy. I used the ties to bind his wrists and ankles directly to the bed frame. After expending all my energy to finish the job, I collapsed onto the edge of the bed. I looked up at his handsome, sleeping face. He looked so peaceful right now. But I could easily imagine the absolute fury that would erupt once he woke up. It would probably be just like the time his mother joked that we should just get married—he had been furious then, too. I stared at his face, afraid to even blink. I kept thinking about how, in just a few days, I would never be able to see him again. I wanted to look at him enough to last an eternity. I had been a kind, selfless person for over twenty years. Now, at the very end, I was determined to be selfish. Even if he hated me, it didn't matter. That way, when I died, he wouldn't be sad at all. The phone in his coat pocket started ringing incessantly. It was his assistant, Ryan. Without much hesitation, and afraid the noise would wake Liam, I answered it. "Liam is exhausted. He fell asleep right after dinner." Ryan sensibly hung up the phone. Gradually, my own eyelids grew heavier and heavier. I simply climbed onto the bed, wrapped my arms around Liam's waist, and fell into a deep sleep. In the middle of the night, I was jolted awake by Liam's roar. "Harper!" I shot up into a sitting position. The sudden movement made my head spin. My vision went entirely black, and I fell heavily back onto Liam's chest. "Harper! What the hell are you doing?" What was I doing? I propped myself up on my elbows, looking at him with dazed eyes. "Guess." Liam's expression grew even darker. I sat back on my heels, gazing down at him. "Since you're awake, let's get down to business." Liam's brow furrowed deeply as he tried to yank his arms free from the restraints. I panicked a little. I was terrified that if he actually broke loose, all my efforts would have been for nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my entire body weight onto him. "Don't move! Just listen to me!" Liam ground his teeth. "Are you out of your mind?!" I lifted my head slightly. My face was barely four inches from his. "I'm not crazy." "Then what are you doing?" "I've got you tied to a bed. What do you think I want to do?" Liam's pupils contracted sharply. The disgust on his face was impossible to hide. "Harper! I am Liam Vance!" "Have you lost all your self-respect as a woman?!" I didn't want to hear him lecture me, so I blindly grabbed something soft from the nightstand and stuffed it into his mouth. Ignoring the flames practically shooting from his eyes, I glared at him fiercely. "Shut up!" Liam tried to break free, but realized it was useless. My heart was hammering against my ribs. "I'm going to kiss you. Don't interrupt me." With that, I pulled the makeshift gag from his mouth. Before he could speak, I squeezed my eyes shut and kissed him aggressively. I clumsily tore at his dress shirt. The buttons popped off one by one, rolling away onto the hardwood floor. Like a survivor fleeing an apocalypse, I refused to stop. I just needed to find an outlet. I had a chest full of pent-up emotions. Amidst Liam's low, muffled groans, I released them bite by bite, kiss by kiss, marking every inch of him. My best friend, Mia Sullivan, once told me that men in bed only ever think with their lower halves. Sure enough, despite my somewhat ruthless actions, Liam didn't utter a single curse. There were only his continuous, heavy groans. When it was over, Liam's face was flushed red, looking as though he had suffered the ultimate humiliation. I didn't want to look at him, so I threw on some clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Seeing me leaving, Liam called out to me. "Harper!" I turned back to look at him. "What?" His eyes were bloodshot with anger. "Let me go, if you have the guts." I froze for a second, then let out a nonchalant smile. "I'll let you go, but not right now." 3 After my shower, I originally planned to go back to my own bedroom. But I kept thinking about Liam's eight-pack abs. They had felt so firm. So, I walked back into the guest room. Liam wasn't asleep. He was staring blankly at the ceiling. Looking exactly like a frog strapped to a dissection table. When he saw me walk in, he cursed through gritted teeth, "Untie me!" I shook my head. "No." "Do you have no shame at all?!" "What exactly are you getting out of this?" "Didn't your mother ever teach you anything about self-respect?!" He hit a nerve. He did it on purpose. I pressed my lips together and didn't answer. I just silently walked up to the bed. I kicked off my slippers, climbed onto the mattress, and straddled him again. He scowled, opening his mouth to yell at me again, but I clamped my hand over his lips. "Shut up and listen." "I've known you for eleven years. I've loved you for ten. I thought about giving up, but I just couldn't accept it." "I know you don't like me. People say whoever loves more should take the initiative, so I'm taking it." "I'm going to have you, and struggling won't do you any good!" With that, my eyes red and teary, I lowered my head and kissed him again. Liam's lips were thin and cool, tasting faintly of mint. I was already exhausted, but I could clearly feel a certain change in his body. I lifted my head, looked at his face, and laughed. "Stop pretending to be the aloof, untouched CEO. You're just a man after all!" Throughout the entire ordeal, the sounds Liam made left my face burning red and left me... immensely satisfied. When I opened my eyes again, Liam was already awake. Fortunately, his expression no longer read "suffering ultimate humiliation." Seeing me stir, his voice was hoarse. "Untie me." "No." Sighing in frustration, he tried a different tactic. "Harper, what exactly is wrong with you? How long do you plan on keeping me tied up?" I counted on my fingers, then held up a number for him. "Seven days." Liam was completely speechless. "Why on earth?" "No reason," I said calmly, throwing on my robe and getting out of bed. "I just demand to spend seven full days with you." I thought Liam would be furious, but instead, he chuckled. "This is illegal imprisonment. You know exactly how much work I have every day, how many people will be looking for me. I just vanished into thin air. Do you really think you can keep me here until day seven?" I stood rooted by the bed, unable to move a single inch. He was right. He was a grown man. If he refused to cooperate, how long could I possibly keep him? "Harper, untie me. I promise I won't leave." I hesitated for two seconds, then stubbornly shook my head. "I don't believe you." "Harper, I have critical business to handle. You can stay right beside me, but you have to let me out of this room." Liam thought that making a compromise would guarantee my agreement. But I rejected it without a second thought. I told him with absolute stubbornness, "Until the cops break down my door to find you, you're staying right here." Liam realized I was a lost cause. His dark eyes swept over me from head to toe several times. Finally, in a completely unexpected move, he surrendered. "If you keep me tied up like this for seven days, my limbs will sustain permanent nerve damage. Is that what you want?" "No." "But I don't have a choice. I can't physically overpower you, and I can't stop you from leaving. This is the only way." "Harper, I swear on my grandmother's grave. I will not leave this house for seven days." Grandma Vance. I knew how much she meant to Liam. I also knew she had been genuinely, truly kind to me. When she passed away, Liam and I had hidden in a corner together, holding each other and sobbing. That was the first time I had ever seen Liam cry. "I need your cooperation, or else your front door will likely be bashed in by a SWAT team this afternoon." Liam's tone was dead serious. I knew he was telling the truth. The CEO of Vance Corporation goes missing—how could that not be a massive crisis? I wanted to keep him here, but I didn't want my legacy to be a criminal record after I died. I didn't need half a brain to know how nasty and sensational the media headlines would be. I caved. I threw his clothes at him, then systematically untied his wrists and ankles. He gritted his teeth, rolling his stiff shoulders and rubbing his wrists, mercilessly criticizing me. "How did I never realize you were a psycho?" I kept my face blank. "There are a lot of things you never realized." He stared at the messy pile of silk ties I had tossed onto the floor, looking at me in disbelief. "Where did you even get all these ties?" "Whenever I saw one that I thought would suit you, I bought it. I just ended up collecting a lot." Thankfully, it wasn't a waste of money. They eventually served their purpose on him. "Why didn't you ever give them to me?" I let out a bitter scoff. "I don't make a habit of pressing my warm face against a cold shoulder." Liam's expression cooled. "So you decided to just jump straight to forcing yourself on me?" I blushed from the top of my head down to my toes. When I was losing my mind yesterday, I didn't care about the consequences. Now that I was calm, hearing him say it out loud made me feel incredibly embarrassed. To get a man, I had actually resorted to ropes. But I quickly let it go. I told myself that getting to do this once in my life made it all worth it. 4 Liam kept his word. Once freed, he made no attempt to force his way out of the house. He simply asked for my laptop. "Are you going to email Ryan to come rescue you?" Liam looked at me like I was a complete idiot. "Is there something wrong with your brain? If I wanted to leave, do you think I'd need to call for backup?" My brain wasn't just "not working well"—it was literally deteriorating. I handed him the laptop. I had already quit my job anyway, so I had no use for it. Liam sat out on the sunroom patio handling his work, while I curled up on the living room sofa, quietly watching him. The angle of the sunlight spilling over him looked perfectly calculated, giving me a fleeting, beautiful illusion of domestic bliss. Even though this "bliss" was something I had shamelessly kidnapped him for. The afternoon sun was warm, and as I watched him, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I tried my hardest to fight it, but I eventually lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, Liam was nowhere to be seen. I jumped off the couch, sprinting around barefoot in a sheer panic. Until I violently pushed open the bathroom door. My heart dropped from my throat back into my chest. But my sanity completely abandoned me the second I saw him stepping out of the shower. I lunged at him. I had no technique, just biting and nipping aimlessly, desperate to leave marks on his skin. My heart was thrashing inside my chest like a trapped deer. I used all my strength to cling to him like an octopus, terrified he would peel me off and throw me away. In a daze, I heard Liam let out a helpless sigh, and then a strong arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me up. "You really are a psycho. But I like it." Liked what? Before I could process his words, he bit down on my neck, and the tables were completely turned. I was starting to believe Mia's words more and more. To a man, love and lust really were two entirely separate things. Afterwards, as the heavy fog of passion receded, Liam leaned against the headboard, studying me. "Harper, I'm seriously beginning to suspect you've been possessed by a demon." Having known me for so long, it wasn't surprising he was suspicious. I was acting completely out of character. "Yep," I nodded solemnly. "A lust demon." Liam narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't this lust demon go possess someone else?" I tilted my head, pretending to think. "Probably because you're the only one around here who's easy bait." I grabbed my phone to order delivery, but Liam snatched it out of my hand. "What? You cook for me to trick me into your bed, use me up, and now you're brushing me off with takeout?" I ignored him. Half an hour later, the delivery guy knocked on my door. Liam stared at the yellow pharmacy bag in my hand, his pupils shrinking violently. When he saw me pull out a tiny box of Plan B, he completely snapped. He lunged forward, grabbing my chin. "Harper! What the hell are you doing? You're taking that trash?" I managed to force the words out. "Did you want me to have a Vance heir for you?" Rage painted Liam's face; even the edges of his eyebrows seemed to vibrate with fury. His grip on my jaw tightened. "You have the guts to pull a stunt like this, but you're afraid of having a kid?" "You're hurting me!" I wrenched my face away from his grip, knowing he was genuinely livid. So, I spun a lie that sounded reasonable enough. "Of course I want to have a Vance heir. But I just remembered I took a lot of strong antibiotics a few days ago for a cold." I frowned at him. "What? Did you actually want me to get pregnant so I could blackmail you?" Liam looked away, his voice freezing over. "In your dreams. You greedy woman." "Liam, you're not usually like this with me! Yes, I initiated it, but if you really didn't want to, I couldn't have forced you!" Liam was furious. I thought he would storm out the front door. Instead, he just walked into the guest room and slammed the door with a loud bang. Hah. He really was keeping his promise. It almost made me feel bad.
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