Chapter 5

"Alex..." Stella called out softly.

A few seconds earlier, Ethan had finally walked away after whispering a chilling sentence that made Stella's blood freeze: that she would never be able to escape his grasp.

Not long after, Alex emerged from behind the glass door and walked straight toward her. Without hesitation, the man roughly gripped Stella's chin. "Have you been out here this whole time?"

"I was just looking at the garden for a moment. It's so pretty," Stella said, trying to cover up her overwhelming nervousness.

"My brother is about to arrive. We need to go inside right now and meet him, along with both my parents and the rest of the Vance family. Remember, don't humiliate me, Stella. Your cards are in my hands," Alex threatened, his eyes narrowing sharply.

Alex and Stella finally walked side by side into the main dining room—a grand, spacious hall designed in a classical style, where all the family members had already gathered. Stella forced a stiff smile at the people there, but that smile vanished the instant her eyes locked onto the figure sitting at one of the main seats.

Ethan. The man looked back at her while flashing a thoroughly annoying, cunning smirk.

"That's Ethan Vance. You've never met him before, have you? My brother has been extremely busy all this time, but he's willing to carve out time for you. I hope you behave well around him," Alex whispered with heavy emphasis.

At that exact moment, Stella's knees felt weak. She gripped the hem of her gown tightly, cursing her fate inwardly. What kind of bad luck is this? Oh, God...

"Sit down," Alex commanded.

"Hold on, I need to go to the restroom for a second. I'm... I'm just too nervous in front of your family," Stella made an excuse, her breathing ragged, before hurriedly turning around and walking swiftly away from the dining room.

However, Ethan had no intention of letting her slip away just like that. The man followed her footsteps in silence. Right at the corner of the quiet mansion corridor, a strong hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and shoved Stella's back hard against the cold wall.

"Where are you going, Ms. Moore?" a low voice whispered right near her ear.

Stella looked up, breathing heavily, her eyes wide with horror. "You... you're Ethan Vance?" she stammered, barely believing what she had just heard.

Ethan smirked faintly, relishing the deathly pale expression on the woman's face. "That's right. I'm the most influential and powerful man, just like you said in the garden earlier."

Stella's body trembled violently. Her legs felt like jelly. She never, in a million years, expected that the stranger she had surrendered herself to that night—the man she had dismissively thought of as a gigolo—was actually Alex's stepbrother and the CEO of Vance Group, her own future brother-in-law.

"Ethan... I'm sorry, but please help me," Stella pleaded, her voice shaking and on the verge of tears. "Keep that secret, I'm begging you... don't let anyone else find out."

Ethan chuckled softly, his baritone voice sounding sarcastic in the quiet corridor. "Nothing in this world is free, Stella..."

"I'll pay you, no matter how much!" Stella cut in quickly, her desperation stripping away her common sense. "As long as you don't tell Alex about our relationship, I'll give you whatever you want."

Ethan raised a single eyebrow, looking down at the woman before him with a probing gaze. "You still want to marry my brother? Even after we've shared a bed."

"I can't cancel my wedding to Alex. Please... just tell me what you actually want from me," Stella begged, tears already welling up in her eyes.

Ethan leaned closer, whispering a definitive sentence right into her ear. "You already know the answer, Stella. You know exactly what I want." A brief pause before he continued in a low, commanding voice, "Your body... I want your body."

Before Stella could respond or protest, Ethan immediately leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then trailed his kisses down to Stella's slender neck. At first, the touch felt soft, but it slowly turned into light suctions and small bites that left reddish marks on her fair skin.

"Ethan... please, stop..." Stella hissed under her breath, her hands gripping the lapels of the man's suit for dear life, trying to push him away while holding back any sound that might attract others.