Her wish, His command

THEA’S POV

Elias leaned in until I could feel the ghost of his breath against my lips. He was waiting for me to flinch.

"You think you’ve grown claws, Thea," He murmured, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous vibration. "But you’re still in my house. You’re still wearing the ring I bought you. And you’re still breathing the air I allow you to breathe."

He suddenly let go of my wrists, but he didn't move back. He straightened his tie with a slow, deliberate calm giving me a chilling smile.

"Stay here," He commanded. "Reflect on your investments while I go to the office and decide what to do with a wife who likes to play thief."

"I'm not a thief, Elias. I'm taking back what was stolen from me," I snapped, standing my ground even as my heart hammered against my ribs.

He reached the door and paused, looking back over his shoulder. A dark, cold smirk played on his lips.

"Then consider this your first lesson in business, sweetheart," Elias said. "The winner is the one who controls the exits."

He stepped out, and before I could even take a breath to retort, the heavy oak door slammed shut.

Click.

The sound of the deadbolt sliding into place echoed through the room. I lunged for the handle, twisting it with all my might, but it wouldn't budge.

"Elias!" I screamed, pounding my fist once against the wood. "Open this door!"

Outside, there was only the sound of his retreating footsteps fading away until the hallway was silent.

He had actually done it. He had locked me in.

For a moment, the old panic rose in my throat. I felt like the girl in the hospital bed again, trapped, helpless. My knees felt weak, and I almost sank to the floor.

But then, I looked at my hands. They were shaking, but they were alive.

"No," I whispered, my voice hardening. "Not this time."

Elias was gone. He had locked me in like a disobedient pet.

For the first few minutes, the old Thea took over. My chest felt tight. I felt the hot sting of tears behind my eyes. I wanted to scream. I wanted to bang on the door until my knuckles bled and beg him to let me out.

“Please, Elias! I’ll be good! I’ll do what you want!” That was what I would have said in my first life. I would have spent the whole day crying into a pillow until my face was puffy and red. But then I remembered the smell of the hospital. I remembered the cold way Maya looked at me while I gasped for air.

The tears dried instantly. I took a deep, shaky breath and wiped my face.

"Cry later," I whispered to the empty room. "Right now, you have work to do."

I knew Elias’s schedule. He wouldn't be back for hours. He thought he had cut off my legs by freezing my bank accounts, but he forgot one thing. He forgot that I had lived in this house for three years. I knew every corner.

I walked over to his private desk. It always smelled like his expensive cologne, sandalwood and cold rain. In my past life, I was too afraid to even touch his pens. I thought if I messed up his papers, he would hate me even more.

"Not today," I muttered.

I sat in his oversized leather chair and began opening the drawers. Most were locked, but I didn't need a key. I remembered a night from four years ago when Elias had come home drunk. He had fumbled with a hidden catch under the desk.

I reached underneath, feeling the cold metal. Click.

A secret drawer slid open. Inside was a thick, black leather folder. I opened it, and my breath hitched. It wasn't just business. It was a list of every person Elias owned. There were names of judges, police chiefs, and even my father’s business partners.

I flipped through the pages quickly. My eyes landed on a document titled "Project Red-Scale." My heart skipped a beat. I remembered this project was the reason my father went bankrupt in the fifth year of my marriage. It was a fake land deal that Elias had set up to trap him.

"So, you were planning to ruin him anyway," I whispered, a cold laugh escaping my lips. "You just wanted to wait until I was too broken to care."

I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. I began copying down the account numbers and the secret contact names. My brain was moving so fast. I didn't need a dictionary to understand this. It was simple greed. My father wanted money, and Elias wanted control.

I spent two hours mapping out the web. I wasn't going to be the stupid wife anymore. I was looking at the math, and for the first time in my life, it made sense. I saw exactly where my father was hiding the stolen money from my trust fund.

"I've got you," I said, my voice sounding like a stranger’s.

I finally felt like I was finally holding the knife instead of being the one getting stabbed.

*

*

ELIAS’S POV (At Vane Corp)

The boardroom was a mess.

"Sir, the Sterling stocks have hit a record low!" my lead analyst shouted. "Someone leaked the audit files. The public is calling for Arthur Sterling’s head!"

I didn't answer. I sat at the head of the long glass table, staring at my reflection in my tablet screen. I should have been happy. I had wanted to crush the Sterlings for a long time. But all I could think about was the woman I had left locked in my bedroom.

The way she looked at me this morning... it wasn't right. It was like she was looking through me.

"Adjourn the meeting," I said, my voice low. “We’ll discuss this later.”

"But sir, the merger—"

"I said adjourn it!" I snapped.

I could care less about Arthur Sterling and the shit he’s in. It wasn’t my problem as long as Thea wasn’t concerned about it.

The room went silent. My staff scrambled out of the door like frightened mice. Once they were gone, I pulled up the security app on my phone.

I had cameras in every room of the mansion, except the bathrooms. It was for security, but I knew the truth. I wanted to see her crying. I wanted to see her realize that she needed me to survive.

I clicked on the bedroom feed.

I stopped breathing for a second.

Thea wasn't in bed. She wasn't crying. She was standing in front of my private desk wearing a silk robe that slipped off one shoulder.

She was holding my black folder. My private ledger.

"What are you doing?" I whispered to the screen.

She was writing something down. Her movements were quick and sharp.

The math didn't add up. The Thea I married didn't know the difference between a stock and a bond. She was a girl who spent her days buying shoes and crying over old movies.

The last time her family had a mess, she had spent hours crying and begging me to help them.

But the woman on the screen? She looked like she didn’t give a damn. She looked like she could walk into this boardroom and take my seat without blinking.

How did she do it? How did she ruin a Sterling company in 24 hours between yesterday and this morning?

I watched her through the camera. She finished writing, tucked the paper into her robe, and then did something that made my blood run cold.

She turned around and looked directly at the hidden camera in the smoke detector.

She didn't look scared that I was watching. She tilted her head and gave the tiniest, darkest smirk I had ever seen.

“Come and get me, Elias,” her eyes seemed to say.

A rush of heat flooded my body. It wasn't just anger. It was a terrifying, hungry kind of excitement. I had spent years bored out of my mind with a wife like her.

I stood up so fast my chair hit the wall.

"She’s been lying to me," I muttered, grabbing my coat. "For three years, she’s been playing a character."

I walked out of my office, my heart thudding against my ribs. My phone buzzed in my hand. It was a message from my head of security: “Sir, your wife just asked for a laptop. She said if I don't give it to her, she’ll tell you I’ve been stealing from the wine cellar.”

I laughed. A loud, dark sound that made my assistant jump.

"Give her whatever she wants," I told him over the phone. "And tell the driver to move. I’m going home to meet my little wildcat wife.”