The Threat.

Chapter 21.

Jasmine stared at the lady, their eyes never leaving each other.

If there was one thing Jasmine was certain about, it was that the lady standing here was a hater—and she, Jasmine, had all the confidence in the world to respond however she deemed fit.

The lady in yellow, Anna Smith—Jerald’s previous submissive—stood at an average height, her hair falling down her back in a loose curl.

She took a step closer to Jasmine, lips twitching into a smile—a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. From the inside, she was boiling. Just staring at Jasmine’s appearance made it damn hard to control the raging storm within her.

Jasmine was perfect. Too perfect. Even more than she had imagined. She had a very slim waist that gave way for her curves to shine. It was the kind of shape Anna had always wanted. The kind she’d once starved herself to achieve, but never quite reached.

“Is there a reason your eyes are hovering around my body like you need me?”

“Need you?” Anna Smith asked, her voice breaking into a scoff.

She looked at Jasmine, anger swelling inside her like a balloon on the verge of popping. Her master’s taste had really changed. Because how the hell was he dealing with someone as sharp-tongued and poised as Jasmine?

She cleared her throat in the air, stretching a hand forward. “My name is Anna Smith. Master’s last submissive.”

Jasmine’s eyes dropped to the stretched-out hand. She looked at it for a few seconds longer, her lips twitching slightly—almost amused—before finally returning her gaze to Anna’s face.

“How may I help you?”

Jasmine asked chin raised to sophistication. Her voice was calm, velvet-smooth, not even remotely interested in whatever storm Anna brought with her.

The question shot through Anna like a dagger. She glared at her own hand, still hanging awkwardly in the air, then back at Jasmine’s face.

Her veins boiled, fists clenched, and then she shut Jasmine with a dagger glare.

“You skunk!”

“Language, please…”

Jasmine’s voice was chilled. A perfect mix of unbothered and sarcasm, like a queen brushing off a buzzing fly.

Anna’s lips twitched and she scoffed. “Do you really think you can help me? I am here to help you! Dummy…”

Jasmine’s eyes darkened the word triggering something sharp in her. But she remained still, unmoved, unwilling to involve herself in something as baseless and petty as this. Her silence was sharper than any insult.

Anna took a step forward, and somehow, the space between them felt wider—like Jasmine’s poise had built a wall Anna couldn’t cross.

“I sent you that message yesterday thinking you’d be grateful to have a cordial relationship with me. But seeing you now…” she paused, letting her eyes roam disdainfully around Jasmine’s body.

“Seeing you now, you are nothing but a bitch who doesn’t know when and when not to speak loudly.”

Jasmine’s lips curled low, a sarcastic smile forming at the corner.

She took a step closer, her grin deepening with a darker energy. “If I may ask, Miss Smith? What are all these tantrums for? Huh?”

Anna shifted, visibly thrown off by Jasmine’s reaction. She was too chilled. And it burned her veins to see that Jasmine barely reacted to her jabs. Her indifference was humiliating.

“Well. Some minutes ago, I saw how your lips curled and how your eyes hovered around Master while he was giving his speech…” she sneered, her voice dripping with mockery.

“I want you to know that… Master will never look at you the way you do. He cares about no one. And you—” she leaned closer, venom lacing her tone— “you are no exception.”

Silence took over the air for a few seconds.

Jasmine’s face remained still. Blank. Unreadable. But the calm wasn’t weak. It was power.

Then, all of a sudden, her lips twitched, and an evil smirk tugged at the corner.

“Miss Annie, or whatever you call yourself… don’t you think you’re getting worked up over a situation that shouldn’t bother you?”

“If I looked at Master, that’s because my eyes are part of my body and they are meant to see. Leave me to bear the consequences. Okay?”

Her voice was like satin and smoke—cool, distant, and dismissive. And with that, she stepped back, leaving Anna frozen in place, boiling with rage but unable to shake the quiet control Jasmine held over the room.

Anna stood still, her fingers twitching in anger.

“You think the Master will fall for your little game because you live with him? Look here. Every single one of his submissives lived in that house and he provided us with essentials. Nothing is special about you. Because he sent you a dress for the gala doesn’t make you special! I am wearing this dress from the Master.”

Jasmine glared at her for only a second before a soft, sarcastic laugh forced past her lips.

Her eyes moved around Anna’s body, calmly trailing from her feet to her neckline with a composed, almost bored expression that made Anna’s blood burn even hotter.

“What’s funny?” Anna asked, her anger turning evident.

Jasmine hemmed, clearing her throat. “Even a baby would know that Jerald would never opt for a color as lousy as yellow. You might as well put your efforts away, because trying to make me jealous would not work.

“Unlike your pathetic, attention-seeking self, I am here for my money and I do not care how well your Master decides to treat you. If you need him so much, go search for him and stop being a nuisance.”

Anna’s jaw clamped. Her throat tightened. Jasmine had referred to Jerald by his name. Something they never got to do. She took another step closer, trying to tower over Jasmine—but it was impossible. Jasmine didn’t budge, didn’t flinch. She remained elegantly still, watching her like a queen observing a tantrum from a desperate servant.

“I know you want the Master. It’s obvious how your body can not even keep its desires away. But newsflash, sweetheart… because in two weeks, you will be just as useless as every one of us. When he sticks himself into your hole, he will never come back to you.”

Her smile stretched with venom. “Maybe you don’t know, but no lady has ever been to Master’s bed twice. And you… you will just be the same as every one of us.”

For a moment, Jasmine paused—unmoving. She stared at her, blank, not even blinking. A quiet thought flickered through her mind: was this psycho always this chaotic, or was her presence driving her mad?

Unexpectedly, Jasmine moved forward, slowly and confidently, closing the space between them completely.

Her hand moved gently, and with unbothered grace, she tucked a stubborn strand of Anna’s hair behind her ear.

“Miss Anna,” she said, her tone cool and dangerously calm. “I think what you should be worried about is his getting checkups. If Master has had lots of women in his bed, shouldn’t you be more concerned about being healthy?”

The tension in the air shifted like a snap. Anna’s knees bucked slightly at that statement, her confidence crumbling with the softness of Jasmine’s mockery.

A wave of satisfaction washed over Jasmine’s figure. She took a step away, slow and elegant, like she’d just handed down a royal verdict, and was now ready to move on.

But the moment she got beside Anna, her step faltered, and she stopped.

“For your information, psycho, I am too busy trying to get rich than trying to win your Master over. Everyone has different desires. If your desire is to get fucked by Jerald again, then go make it happen. I do not fight over men, and I advise you to do the same… because the person you are dying over would never choose you.”

“He won’t choose you either,” Anna snapped, anger brewing in her eyes like fire pressed under a glass lid.

“He has a lost love that he is waiting for. He will definitely not choose you.”

The words smashed against Jasmine’s ears like a plate shattering against the floor.

She stood still. For one second, something uncertain flickered in her eyes—but it vanished just as quickly as it came.

So it was true? Jerald indeed had someone he was waiting for.

The thought stirred something inside her. It clawed at the base of her chest, but she crushed it immediately. She tilted her head sideways, glaring at Anna’s side profile with a look that could slice steel.

“I am not the one begging to be picked, Anna. Even if Jerald doesn’t pick me, he won’t pick you… and this fight? This fight wouldn’t be worth it.”

“A piece of advice,” Jasmine leaned into her ear, her voice a deadly whisper. Her lips hovered just inches from Anna’s skin. The air between them was thin and sharp.

“Make money. Find someone to love you and stop walking around disturbing everyone like a pathetic little nuisance.”

With that, Jasmine gently patted Anna on the shoulder as if dismissing her presence, then turned and walked away, every step oozing elegance, graciousness, and superiority.

Anna’s fists tightened. Tears scorched her eyes from within. Anger brewed hot in her, crashing against her spine like a waterfall of shame.

She had always been superior to every submissive. She won arguments and watched them fall apart. But this time… it was the other way around. Jasmine didn’t just win—she humiliated her and the pain cut too deep. She couldn’t let go.

With a slightly raised chin, her lips moved with venom. “I will make you pay.”

Jasmine was still walking through the hall, her heart thrumming loudly in her ears from the buried anger, when she suddenly felt large hands gripping her into the corner.

She was going to shout—until she saw the face of the man.

Her body melted into his hands instantly. She didn’t resist. She allowed him.

Allowed him to slam her back gently to the wall, caging her between the cold surface and his tall, callused self.