I had a child with Liam North, the most powerful man in Capital City. Everyone assumed I would use the baby to blackmail him into marrying me. But ten days after giving birth, I left the city, alone. Liam chased me to the train station, clutching our child, his eyes red-rimmed and desperate. "Julia Rivers, you don't want me. Fine. But now you're abandoning your own child, too?" A single tear escaped my eye, but I didn't turn back. I stared at the vast, empty freedom of the sky and said calmly, "That's right. I'm done with you. And I'm done with our child." 1 After I said those words, Liam, holding our wailing, swaddled infant, turned and walked away. A man of his stature, his pride. For him to chase me to a public train station was already a stunning concession. But this wasn't the first time we had separated. We broke up once before, three years ago. The day before that breakup, we were in his opulent penthouse office. On the sprawling mahogany desk that was worth more than my childhood home. He undressed me, his movements slow and deliberate, piece by piece. I lay back on the cool wood, my eyes squeezed shut in a wave of shame and anticipation. Liam leaned over me, his lips brushing against mine. "Do you know, Julia," he murmured. "Every time you walk in here to give me a report... I only have one thought." "To take you, right here, on this desk." 2 That afternoon, the lock on his office door was bolted. His private secretary and personal assistant stood guard outside. For three solid hours. When he finally lifted me from the desk, my body was spent. He carried me to the immense floor-to-ceiling windows. We were in a skyscraper at the very heart of Capital City's glittering, exorbitant CBD. From this height, the world below was a scattering of ants. "Julia." Liam held me from behind, his hot kisses trailing along my ear. "Your birthday's coming up. What do you want?" My fingers left damp streaks on the cool glass. My reflection stared back—a face flushed with passion, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. The reflection trembled, vibrated with the relentless, quickening rhythm of his body against mine. Finally, the dam broke, and the tears spilled, rolling down my cheeks. I reached back, my hand finding his, our fingers lacing together in a desperate grip. "Liam, all I want is to be with you." I thought I heard a low chuckle. He turned me in his arms, pulling me tight against his chest. "Silly girl. Aren't we already together?" 3 I was a silly girl. It wasn't until his engagement was about to be announced that I learned he'd been seeing his fiancée for a year. During that year, he flew to Paris constantly. They weren't business trips. He was visiting his future wife. The day I handed in my resignation, the sky was a heavy, oppressive gray. I stood before that same mahogany desk, my eyes fixed on the tips of my shoes. Liam’s expression was dark. He refused to sign the papers. I didn't rush him. Instead, I started talking about the past. "Do you remember that accident two years ago?" "The Calloway family went bankrupt, and their youngest son hired thugs to get revenge on you." "I took a knife for you." I managed a smile, looking up at him through my swollen eyes. "You said you'd grant me one wish, that you'd never go back on your word." "I never knew what to ask for." "But I know now, Liam." "Let's end this. Let's break up for good." His gaze was intense, unreadable. The expensive fountain pen in his long fingers bled a dark pool of ink onto the crisp white paper. Finally, he spoke. "Julia Rivers." He said my name, and nothing else. Then he looked down and signed. He pushed the resignation letter across the desk toward me. I picked it up, glanced at his signature, and gave a small, formal bow. "Thank you, Mr. North." 4 Resignation. Breakup. Packing my bags and moving back to my hometown. Once the dust had settled, I started working again. I went on dates. I thought I would never see Liam North again. But two years later, our paths crossed. It was summer again in Capital City. The heat was suffocating. I'd just indulged in a second ice cream cone to cool down. I turned around, and there he was, striding toward me, surrounded by an entourage. After a brief, dizzying moment of shock, I composed myself, lowered my head, and tried to melt into the crowd. The conference hall was massive, packed with people. I was just a junior employee. No one would notice me. But he walked straight toward me. His bodyguards and assistant intercepted the sycophants trying to get his attention. In the center of that vast hall, the man in the bespoke black suit stood, an aloof and unapproachable god. The room fell silent. I kept my head down. I didn't speak. I didn't look at him. After what felt like an eternity, Liam took a step forward. He reached out and took the half-melted ice cream cone I was hiding behind my back. "Aren't you afraid of cramps anymore?" 5 A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, then silence fell again. Liam wiped his hands clean. His gaze was steady. "Go wait for me in my car." If it weren't for the engagement ring on my left hand, if I hadn't just ended a video call with my fiancé twenty minutes earlier, I might have believed that the last two years had never happened. That Liam and I had never been apart. That I was still in this city, young and reckless, consumed by a love that demanded everything. But the illusion lasted only a second. I looked up, my smile polite and professional. "I'm sorry, Mr. North, but I have to get back to work." He didn't get angry, but his voice dropped several degrees. "Julia." "Don't push me." I took a deep breath. "I apologize, Mr. North. I have work to do." The silence was so absolute you could hear a pin drop. Even his secretary of ten years shot me a look of disbelief. My face was a calm mask, but my back was drenched in sweat. Having been by his side for so long, I knew the depths of his power. The scandal that had nearly destroyed my family years ago... he had made it disappear with a single phone call. To defy him so publicly was practically a death wish. But then, a low laugh escaped his lips. "Julia Rivers. I never knew you could hold such a grudge." After that, he didn't press me further. But it seemed I had soured his mood. He turned and left the conference hall, his entourage trailing behind him. 6 I spent the next three days in a state of anxiety. Nothing happened. I allowed myself to relax, just a little. But on the day I was scheduled to leave the city, I got a call from my fiancé, Leo. "Julia, who in God's name did you piss off?" "Why are they doing this to me?" "My friends, my family... they invested everything they had in my company. Their life savings, Julia! It's all gone..." "I'm begging you, go to him, whoever he is. Ask him to let me go. Please." "If he won't... Julia, I don't see any other way out. I'll have to jump..." Leo’s voice was a hysterical, broken thing, a mix of sobs and laughter. I clutched the phone, a deathly chill spreading through my veins. It took me a long moment to find my voice. "Leo," I whispered, "who is this man?" "All I know is his last name is Saxon. He's some kind of executive secretary." A hot tear splashed onto my phone screen. Mr. Saxon. Liam North's right-hand man. His shadow for the past decade. 7 It was a sweltering summer night in Capital City. The ten o'clock breeze was still warm. The black sedan was understated but screamed luxury. It moved silently through the decadent, glittering night. I felt like I was back in another time, years ago. It had been Mr. Saxon who picked me up then, too. I was only twenty-one. I walked into the suite and saw Liam wearing nothing but a towel. I was so scared I nearly burst into tears. He had found it amusing, and had even tried to comfort me. Now I was twenty-six. I had an engagement ring on my finger. I had a fiancé. I was about to start a new life. But I knew that after tonight, all of it would turn to ash. Liam was on the terrace, smoking, dressed in a navy silk robe. I walked into the suite without a word and went straight to the bathroom. When I emerged, I was wearing nothing at all. Liam extinguished his cigarette and leaned against the railing, his eyes traveling over me. He studied me for a long moment. Then he shook his head with a soft sigh. "You've lost weight." I looked at him, my expression numb. "Liam, just do what you want." "And when you're done, please, just let my fiancé go." "Julia, begging me for another man's sake will only make me angrier." His eyes were cold as they dropped to my hand. "Get rid of that thing." I immediately pulled the ring off my finger and tossed it into the trash without a second glance. Liam's expression softened slightly. "Come here." I walked to him. He reached out, his hand tracing the line of my cheek before trailing slowly, deliberately, downwards. The moonlight spilled over the silver curves of my body, a soft, ethereal white. But that white was soon bruised and broken. I turned my face away, staring into the gentle night. Tears fell in silent streams. It wasn't until he bit down, his teeth breaking the skin, that I cried out, a soft whimper of pain. Only then did he gather me into his arms, a flicker of something like tenderness in his eyes. "Don't be so stubborn." "If you'd just ask me nicely, like you used to, is there anything I wouldn't give you?" He whispered this as he pressed me against the cold glass of the window. "I've wanted to do this since the moment I saw you at the conference." His grip on my hips was merciless. I struggled instinctively, but he held me fast, his voice a cold command. "If you don't want him to die, you'll behave." I went still. A moment later, he seemed displeased again. He slapped me, not hard, but enough to sting. "You know how I like you." 8 By the time Liam carried me back to the bed, I was boneless, completely drained. But he was far from finished, his body pressing down on mine, ready for more. I closed my eyes, my voice a raw whisper. "I'm so tired, Liam..." In the dim light, he loomed over me. He pinched my chin. "Alright. I'll let you off for tonight." He stood and started toward the bathroom. I forced myself to sit up. Liam lit a cigarette, watching as I struggled out of bed and retrieved my clothes from the sofa. The warmth in his eyes slowly turned to ice. "What are you doing?" "I'm leaving." I kept my eyes down, pulling on my clothes piece by piece. "Leaving to where?" "Home." A cold laugh. "Still so naive." My hand trembled, but I didn't stop. I zipped up my dress and bent to put on my shoes. Liam crushed the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray, the red ember disintegrating into dust. "Julia Rivers." I turned and walked toward the door, pretending not to hear him. He didn't say another word. He didn't try to stop me. Downstairs, a maid and a driver were waiting. They were perfectly polite. "Miss Rivers. Mr. North instructed us to drive you." I numbly nodded. Liam's driver took me to the airport and left. Even as I boarded the plane, I felt like I was in a dream. He had let me go. Just like that. I didn't realize then, even after all our time together, just how little I understood the true depths of Liam North's cruelty. 9 I thought that after that night, my engagement to Leo would be broken, and Liam would leave him alone. I never imagined it was only the beginning. Leo's small company was plagued by one disaster after another. Liam's people played with him like a cat with a mouse. Just when Leo was on the brink of collapse, they would offer a sliver of hope, pulling him back from the edge. Then, just as he was catching his breath, they would strike again, harder than before. After several rounds of this, Leo finally broke. He tried to end his life. He was lucky. Someone found him in time. He survived. I went to the hospital, but I didn't go into his room. I just gave the fruit and gifts I'd brought to his parents. As I was leaving, I got a call from Mr. Saxon. "Miss Rivers. Mr. North asked me to inquire when you will be returning to Capital City." I stood under the scorching summer sun, my clothes stuck to my skin with sweat, yet I felt as if I'd been plunged into an icy abyss. But even then, in my foolish pride, I refused to bow. "I'm not coming back." Mr. Saxon said nothing and hung up. Maybe Liam realized that using Leo was no longer an effective way to control me. Or maybe he decided that tormenting a woman this way was beneath him. After that call, things were quiet for months, all the way through the fall. My parents were still sad about Leo, but with time, they started trying to set me up on dates again. That winter, Liam North got married. His bride was the French heiress. The day I heard the news, the weather was grim, just like the day I had broken up with him. Their wedding was a quiet affair, for reasons I didn't know. Not a single photo was leaked to the press. On my way home from work, I bought a cup of hot soup from a street vendor and sat on a bench, eating it bite by bite. Toward the end, it started to taste unusually salty. I looked down and saw tiny ripples forming in the last of the broth. I touched my cheek, surprised to find it wet. I hadn't even realized I was crying. 10 That night, I was sitting on the sofa with my parents after my shower when my phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number. I ignored it. A moment later, a text came through. [Julia. Are you coming down, or am I coming up?] A cold sweat broke out on my back. The phone buzzed again. I silenced it, excused myself to my room, and answered. It was Liam's voice. "Liam, what the hell do you want?" I whispered, unable to keep the rage from my voice. "I missed you, Julia." I was stunned. I started to hang up. "If you don't come, I'll have to pay your parents a visit." I glanced toward the living room. I could hear the TV, the sound of my parents laughing. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by those sounds, a tight, aching pain. "I'll be down." "Good. I'll wait." I threw on a coat, made an excuse to my parents, and slipped out. Liam's car was parked in the shadows of the trees down the street. I pulled my coat tight, glanced around like a thief, and hurried to it. The back window was lowered a few inches. Liam was lounging inside. His eyes found my face as I approached, and a slow smile spread across his lips. "Get in." "If you have something to say, you can say it from here." He didn't argue. "Fine. Then I'll come out." The door opened. The next thing I knew, he had me pinned against the car, his hand cupping my jaw. His kiss was a torrent, hot and smelling of alcohol. I struggled, trying not to make a sound. In the chaos, my hand flew up and slapped him across the face. My nails, which I'd just started to grow out, left three thin, red scratches on his jaw. He released me abruptly, his expression hardening. I was terrified. I stumbled back. He touched the scratches on his face, his eyes narrowing. Just as I braced myself for him to hit me back, a slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. "Julia, you can either get in this car with me, or we can do this right here, right now." "The choice is yours. And you know I'm a man of my word."
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