Chapter 2: A Parasite in an Expensive Suit

Back inside the ruined office, Julian carried me in from the balcony like I weighed nothing. His powerful arms wrapped tightly around my waist, pressing me against his broad, rain-soaked chest as if I already belonged there. Water dripped from both of us onto the expensive rug, forming dark pools that mirrored the chaos I had unleashed tonight.

In the center of the room, Markus lay pinned face down by three armed guards, his body shaking with quiet sobs.

“Please, Mr. Cross… I have a daughter. She’s only six. I was just—”

“Shut up,” Julian said coldly, without even looking at him. “I’ll deal with you later.”

The guard who had risked everything for me, the same man I had seduced with desperate promises and my beauty, immediately went silent. He pressed his face harder against the cold floor, defeated.

Julian turned his full attention back to me. I pushed myself up from the leather sofa where he had thrown me, my body soaked, shivering, and burning with rage.

“You ruined my father!”

The words tore out of me like a storm.

“You stole his companies, liquidated everything, and left him paralyzed in that hospital bed fighting for his life. You’re nothing but a parasite in an expensive suit.”

My accusation echoed through the shattered office like thunder.

Julian stood completely unfazed, towering over me in his wet white shirt that clung to every line of muscle. Those piercing blue eyes studied me with intense, almost fascinated curiosity.

The slap flew from my hand before I could stop it. My palm cracked sharply across his chiseled jaw, the sound echoing like a gunshot.

One of the guards lunged forward instantly, but Julian raised a single hand.

“Don’t touch her.”

His voice was lethal.

The guard froze mid-step.

Julian’s fist tightened at his side. For the briefest second, raw emotion flashed across his face. Then it vanished behind that impenetrable wall of ice.

Suddenly, a low chuckle escaped him. It grew into a deep, genuine laugh, rich and thrilled, like he had just uncovered the most fascinating toy in the world.

“What the fuck is so funny?” I spat, my chest heaving. “Call the police. Throw me in a cell. I don’t freaking care anymore.”

His laughter died instantly.

The room fell into heavy silence, broken only by the distant rumble of thunder and the patter of rain through the broken glass doors.

Julian reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and slowly pulled out a folded document. He held it for a moment, as if weighing it, then tossed it onto the desk in front of me. The papers landed with a soft thud.

“Clara Sterling,” he said, his voice low and commanding. “You are going to marry me.”

I stared at the document like it was a live grenade.

“You’re insane,” I hissed, taking a step back. “I’d rather rot in prison than tie myself to a monster like you.”

Julian said nothing at first. He simply watched me, those sharp blue eyes never leaving my face. The silence stretched, thick and overwhelming. He took one deliberate step closer, then another, until the heat of his body cut through the chill of my wet clothes.

“You’re one of the most powerful billionaires in the country,” I continued, my voice shaking with disbelief and fury. “Getting a woman to play your wife shouldn’t be a problem. Or do you not get girls, Mr. Cross? Is that why you need to blackmail one?”

A ghost of a smirk touched his lips.

“I don’t chase women, Miss Sterling. They come to me. Just as you came tonight, sneaking into my office, digging through my stuff.

“I’ve known who you really are since the day you walked into my building six months ago using that fake name, Vivian Vance. I knew the moment your application landed on my desk. But I let you stay. I wanted to see what your mission here was. Now I know.

“You came to steal from me.”

His words hit me like ice water.

He had known all along.

Every careful lie, every day I spent pretending, every moment I thought I was one step closer to justice, he had been watching, waiting, playing a longer game.

From the floor, Markus suddenly screamed in desperation, his voice cracking.

“Just sign the damn thing, you stubborn bitch! He’ll destroy us both! Can’t you see our necks are on the line here? Sign it! Please!”

Julian’s head snapped toward the guard.

“Shut your mouth,” he roared, the command cracking like a whip.

Absolute silence fell again.

Julian turned back to me, leaning in slowly until his breath brushed hot against my ear.

“Even a man as pathetic as him can see the truth. Sign the contract, Clara. One year as my wife. In return, I restore your father’s shares and wealth. Refuse, and not only do you go to prison for corporate espionage, but your father’s name burns forever. The choice is yours.”

My heart pounded violently. The document on the desk blurred through angry tears. My father, the only family I had left after losing my mother to cancer, lying helpless in that hospital bed. The thought of him dying with his legacy destroyed because of me was unbearable.

But marrying this cold, ruthless man…

Becoming his captive wife…

I picked up the pen with trembling fingers, my grip so tight it hurt.

“I will make your life hell, Julian Cross,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Every single day.”

I signed.

The pen scratched loudly against the paper, sealing my fate.

“Good girl.”

Julian’s smile was slow, dark, and full of sinful promise.

“Welcome to your new life, wife. Tomorrow, your nightmare truly begins.”

His gaze shifted to Markus.

“And you… Traitor.”

Julian’s voice boomed across the room.

“Call the police. Have an arrest team waiting downstairs. Make sure he never sees daylight again.”

“No! Please, Mr. Cross!” Markus begged, thrashing wildly against the guards’ hold. “I have a family!”

Guilt tore through my chest like a knife. I dropped to my knees in front of Julian, pressing my hands desperately against his wet trousers as I looked up at him. Rainwater still clung to my lashes.

“Stop. It was all me. I forced him into this. I lied to him. Punish me instead, but let him go.”

Julian stared down at me for three long, agonizing seconds. His blue eyes darkened as they took in my soaked, pleading form on the floor before him. Something shifted in his expression, a flicker of surprise, maybe even reluctant respect.

“Cancel the arrest,” he ordered coldly to the guards. “Fire him. Throw him out. If I ever see your face again, Markus, you will disappear for good.”

The guards released him. Markus scrambled to his feet and fled the office in frantic relief, not daring to look back.

Julian hauled me roughly to my feet, his strong hand anchoring firmly around my waist.

“Let’s go home, fake wife,” he murmured, the words dripping with both threat and dark possession.

He guided me out, his palm heavy and warm on the small of my back as we entered the private elevator. The ride down to the underground garage felt endless.

A sleek midnight Black Badge Rolls-Royce Phantom waited, its engine purring softly like a predator at rest.