I have a thing for villains. A serious thing. I’m basically a villain-groupie. So when he wanted to die after the finale, I was the only one who wouldn't leave his side. "Don't try to talk me out of it," Leo said, his voice flat. "My mind's made up." Then he tipped a bottle of sleeping pills into his mouth, swallowed, and lay down on the bed, perfectly straight. Not three seconds later, he shot bolt upright, shoving me away as I was enthusiastically making out with his face. "What the hell are you doing?" I felt a little wounded. "You're not going to be using it anymore. What's the big deal if I get some use out of it?" 1 The villain had fallen. When the mighty tree falls, the monkeys scatter. All the people who had once clung to him, flattered him, were gone. In the hollowed-out mansion, he hung his head, his expression a perfect blank. "They all left. Why are you still here?" Because I haven't gotten what I came for, obviously. And if I told him what that was, I was pretty sure he'd drop dead from sheer indignation on the spot. So I just stood there in silence. Not that Leo Hayes expected an answer from me. He pushed himself to his feet, a thick wave of self-loathing rolling off him. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. There's nothing left for you to get from me." He broke into a deep cough, his whole chest rattling with it. The blow he'd taken was devastating, extinguishing the fire that had always burned in him. He looked like a mushroom growing in a dark corner—damp and sullen. Somehow, this didn't diminish his beauty one bit. In fact, it made him look even more delicious. My fingers twitched, desperate for a touch. Unlike everyone else who followed Leo, I never wanted his money. I wanted him. 2 I've been a connoisseur of beauty my whole life. A pretty face could stop me in my tracks. It only got worse as I grew up; my standards climbed higher and higher. The average handsome guy couldn't even make my heart flutter anymore. Just when I thought I was destined to be alone forever, Leo Hayes appeared. One look was all it took. I knew he was the man I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. It was simple, really. Leo was breathtakingly, outrageously beautiful. You could search the whole world and never find another man like him. To have him, to be able to run my hands over those abs while he slept? I'd do anything. But fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor. This stunning creature, blessed with wealth and a face sculpted by angels, was the villain. Doomed to a miserable end. The golden boy who, just as the script demanded, lost everything to the hero. Utterly ruined. In the end, everyone around him fled. Except me. I wasn't after his fortune. I was after him. Even knowing he was the villain, that his ending was tragic, I threw my lot in with him without a second thought. While my mind was wandering, Leo had already reached the top of the grand staircase, disappearing from view. Terrified he was about to do something stupid, I sprinted after him. The door was locked. He'd locked me out. I felt zero embarrassment about being so obviously unwanted. I pressed my face to the door, trying to peek through the crack. "Boss? Why'd you lock the door? I'm not in yet!" Silence. A terrifying, heavy silence from inside. I rubbed my nose, still not feeling awkward, and started digging through my purse. Finally, my fingers closed around a key. I slid it into the lock. Click. The door opened. Inside, Leo was leaning against the window, holding something. He saw me, then his eyes dropped to the key in my hand. A flicker of something—scrutiny—finally broke through his numb expression. "You copied my key?" I was a natural liar. "Arthur gave it to me," I said smoothly. "So I could take better care of you." This was, of course, a complete fabrication. I'd secretly copied it for those nights when my craving became unbearable, so I could sneak in for a little fix. Arthur’s original key was probably lost in a landfill by now. But with Arthur long gone, there was no one to contradict me. I could say whatever I wanted, and he’d never find the lie. 3 Not that Leo had the energy to investigate my claims. Or maybe he just didn't care anymore. "I don't need you to take care of me. You can go." He was clearly annoyed, issuing a direct order for me to leave. But I hadn't gotten what I wanted yet. I pretended I hadn't heard a word, sidling up to him with a sycophantic grin. "Boss, are you hungry? How about some ramen? I'll make it for you." As I moved closer, I subtly kicked a fruit knife on the floor under the curtain. Nice try, I thought. He wasn't dying until I got what I came for. My blatant refusal to follow the script was clearly getting to him. A flash of irritation crossed his perfect features, and his next words were sharp, cutting. "They all left. You're the only one still here. Are you hoping for my big comeback?" He let out a bitter laugh. "A washed-up loser. A fool. You're delusional." I just… blinked. He could insult himself all he wanted, but why drag me into it? I may have gotten my job at his company through connections, but I had made significant contributions during my time with him. For instance, I "forgot" to tell him he hadn't brought a change of clothes to the shower, just so I could be the one to bring them. I "accidentally" brushed his hand when I brought him coffee. My fingers "happened" to graze his chest and abs when I fixed his tie. They were small things, sure, but it was hard work! A labor of love! How could he be so cruel? I shot him a tiny, furious glare and stomped on his shadow. Just you wait, I vowed silently. Once I've had my way with you, we'll see who the real fool is. I would endure. For now. 4 Leo had probably never met anyone as shameless as me. He wanted to die, but he just couldn't manage it. He'd lock himself in a room, and a second later, I'd be there, key in hand, letting myself in. I'd just stand next to him, a silent, stubborn presence. Eventually, he stopped hiding. He glared at me, his face a mask of fury, and shoved a handful of sleeping pills into his mouth. I was ready. I pinched his jaw and dug them out with my fingers. He ended up gagging, spitting everything back out. After that, Leo fell silent. When he finally spoke again, his voice was laced with a calm sort of madness. "What is it you really want?" he asked, his voice strained. "Money? There's fifty million in the safe. It's all yours. Will you take it?" He was on the verge of breaking. "Take the money and go. Please?" "Just disappear from my sight. Please?" "How much longer are you going to stand there and laugh at me?" I watched him, my own silence unwavering. I realized then that his earlier calmness had been the last shred of dignity he was clinging to. And thanks to my interruptions, he couldn't maintain it any longer. As Leo’s frantic gaze bore into me, I placed the key on the table and quietly backed out of the room. The mansion finally fell completely silent. Leo Hayes's turbulent, brilliant life was about to end with the sloppy footnote of suicide. After I left, Leo remained frozen in place for a long time, until the last ray of sunlight sank below the horizon, plunging the room into darkness. Like a weary old man, he moved slowly, deliberately, to finish what he should have finished days ago. He pulled open a drawer. Inside was a bottle of sleeping pills—the one I’d been searching for for days. So that’s where he hid them. My eyes went wide with disbelief. I shrank further into the shadows where I was hiding, making myself smaller. "Don't bother trying to stop me," Leo said, not looking at me, but somehow knowing I was there. "My mind is made up." I held my breath, hoping he was bluffing. I stayed curled up in my corner like a frightened quail. He didn't say anything else. He just tipped the pills into his mouth like they were candy. In that same instant, I launched myself across the room, ready to repeat my earlier intervention. But this time, he caught my wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. His eyes were clear and serious. "This is my choice. Don't stop me. Please?" Stared at like that, my resolve wavered for a second, and my hand went limp. "Go do something you love," he murmured, his voice softening. "Stop wasting your time on me." Those were his last words. He fell back onto the bed, perfectly still. I wiped a tear from the corner of my mouth. "Okay." 5 Leo lay there with his eyes closed, serene, like Sleeping Beauty in the fairy tale. I stared at his face for a solid two seconds. Then, I couldn't hold back any longer. I leaned down. Mwah. Mwah. Mwah. I’d barely gotten in a few good kisses when the body beneath me suddenly reanimated. He shoved me away with a violent push, his ears turning a shade of crimson so deep you could see it in the dim light. "What the hell are you doing?" He was so strong. I lost my balance and landed hard on my butt. I felt genuinely wronged. He was the one who told me to go do what I love. "You're not going to be using it anymore!" I whined. "What's the big deal if I get some use out of it?" Leo was practically trembling with rage. "Shameless," he hissed. Even for a villain, he'd clearly never encountered a degenerate of my caliber. He glared at me, looking like he wanted nothing more than to strangle me. His chest was heaving. I was a little worried he might just keel over from pure fury. I wiped my mouth. "So... are you still planning on dying?" I asked tentatively. He didn't answer, just stared at me with the kind of look you'd give something you found stuck to the bottom of your shoe. I was getting anxious. Was he dying or not? I needed a straight answer. Any longer and rigor mortis would set in. Ultimately, lust conquered all. I reached for the waistband of his pants. Just as my fingers were about to make contact, he grabbed my hand, his grip like iron. He spoke through gritted teeth, his voice a low growl of fury. "Get. Out." I tried to wiggle my fingers free, batting my eyelashes at him. "Don't you want to know what it feels like before you go?" He squeezed his eyes shut, his rage intensifying. "GET OUT!" It must have been a post-mortem surge of adrenaline. After a whole bottle of pills, not only was Leo not weak, he was freakishly strong. He lifted me like I was a sack of potatoes, tossed me out of the room, and confiscated every last key I had on me. He looked at me with pure disgust, then slammed the door in my face. Tsk. What kind of person did he take me for? Did he really think I was that desperate for him? I turned on my heel and— 6 —climbed in through the window. There was a slight complication. All the food Leo had skipped over the past few days had ended up in my stomach. The catering, it seemed, had been a little too good. I was stuck. I flailed like a beached fish, wriggling uselessly, unable to move an inch forward or backward. Well, this was awkward. The commotion drew Leo's attention. He stared at me, his face a stony mask, but I could see a flicker of utter speechlessness in his dead eyes. It was clear he was officially out of ideas on how to handle me. I tried my best to ignore his gaze, affecting a casual air. "Ah, what a beautiful day!" I chirped. "The air is so fresh!" Leo’s voice was flat. "What do you want now?" I scrambled for an excuse. A brilliant idea struck me. "Those keys are my personal property! Do you know how much it costs to have a good key made? Give them back." A cold, humorless laugh escaped him. "So you admit you copied them." I… was speechless. Genuinely speechless. Leo just scoffed. "Hmph." Then he turned and walked away, as if he'd made some final, irreversible decision. My pride is basically nonexistent, so I kept at it. "Boss, are you really mad?" "It was a joke! Come on, for old times' sake? For all the hard work I did for you? Can you give me a hand?" "Help me." "Help me!" "Go, team! Rah rah!" Leo didn't even turn around. He just sat down at his computer. My heart ached. How could he just leave me here to die? Didn't our time together mean anything? A wave of sorrow washed over me, and I couldn't help but break into song. "It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now..." My tragic ballad had no effect on him. He was so unmoved, he even started watching a video. I immediately shut up and craned my neck to see what he was looking at. With my 20/20 vision, I realized he was pulling up security footage. Wait a second. Was he checking to see if I'd used my copied keys to sneak in and... do things to him? The nerve! I was deeply offended. What could I possibly have done? A sweet, innocent girl like me? All I did was maybe hold his hand... and touch his abs... and his other muscles... What else was there to do? I was heartbroken, sobbing uncontrollably. "Boss, how could you suspect me!" Leo fast-forwarded the footage to a clip of me standing outside his bedroom door with a positively lecherous grin on my face. I tried to salvage the situation. "Can't we have a little more trust between us? Tell you what, I'll give you fifty bucks to delete the video." The video continued to play. There was Leo, drinking the glass of milk I'd prepared for him, falling into a deep, unsuspecting sleep. And there I was, closing his door and standing over his bed, giggling like a maniac. A bead of sweat trickled down my back. "I really didn't do anything! There's nothing to see here, trust me." "Okay, fine! I admit I held your hand! Secretly!" "Please, I'm begging you, just stop watching." Leo ignored me completely. He even turned up the volume. And so, my own, completely unfiltered voice echoed through the room.
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